Lead Researcher

Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world’s money.
Min fees. Max ease. Full speed.

Whether people and businesses are sending money to another country, spending abroad, or making and receiving international payments, Wise is on a mission to make their lives easier and save them money.

As part of our team, you will be helping us create an entirely new network for the world's money.
For everyone, everywhere.

More about our mission and what we offer.

We're looking for a Lead Researcher to support Wise Business in London. You'll be part of Wise's global mission to build an open and fair financial system, especially for our Business customers.

At Wise, we've got a clear mission - money without borders. Built by and for people who live global lives. We're at a genuinely exciting time. Building more transparent and convenient ways to get paid has never been more important in achieving our mission.
 

Your mission:

Your mission is to understand how businesses get paid, the problems they face and how to create a convenient, instant and low-cost experience to get paid into Wise. You’ll work on everything from exploring new market opportunities to ensuring flows fit seamlessly into how businesses operate.

You'll join a thriving research community of 20+ researchers in London and work within the evolving the ‘Acquiring’ domain, which currently covers Payment Links, Invoices, QuickPay, card payments and e-commerce. You’ll be the first researcher to join the squad, but you may end up leading other researchers in the same problem space in the future.

As a Lead Researcher, you're evolving as a leader. You’ll contribute by:

• Setting priorities and direction - you’ll proactively set priorities for yourself and others, understanding how they ladder to squad and business goals

• Elevating craft and capabilities - you’ll lead by example and actively develop the research thinking and technical capabilities of individuals, the team and the squad

• Articulating strategy - you’ll effectively communicate research strategy to the team and key stakeholders, positively influencing the focus and priorities of the Acquiring squad

• Demonstrating impact through people - you’ll mentor and guide team members, ensuring their growth and improved performance creates downstream impact

• Leading with guts - you’ll set clear goals and direction for others, course-correcting when necessary, and champion quality, the user, and a human-centred approach

This role will give you the opportunity to:

• Lead a team — manage and develop researchers while driving direction and impact on how businesses get paid

• Shape strategy — influence squad priorities, articulating the now, next, and future of the Acquiring experience

• Grow as a leader — develop your leadership capabilities in people management, stakeholder influence, and strategic thinking at an inflection point (team splits, new payment methods, API/e-commerce launches)

• Be part of our mission to make money without borders the new normal

A bit about you…

• You have deep experience with both generative and evaluative research; exceptional problem-solving and holistic research thinking

• You have experience leading mixed-method studies — strong understanding of qualitative and quantitative methods including ethnography, usability, surveys, and card-sorting

• You’re able to guide teams on actioning insights and work closely with designers to ideate based on findings

• You’re a skilled negotiator capable of influencing teams, squads, and senior leaders to champion user-centerd approaches

• You have top-notch presentation and storytelling skills, especially when sharing impactful insights

You also have …

• Experience managing and developing researchers, with examples of elevating team capabilities and performance

• Proven ability to set clear goals and priorities for others that ladder to business objectives

• Skilled at influencing senior leaders and negotiating across teams and squads

• Track record of championing research quality, user advocacy, and human-centred design at the organisational level

Strategic Impact:

• Able to articulate research strategy and positively influence squad focus and priorities

• Deep understanding of how research connects to team, squad, and business goals

• Examples of mentoring others to create downstream impact through their growth

And as a heads up, this role probably isn't for you if:

• Your experience is primarily market research and/or academia

• You don't have demonstrable experience leading UX research within the tech/product industry

• You haven't managed or mentored researchers before

For everyone, everywhere. We're people building money without borders  — without judgement or prejudice, too. We believe teams are strongest when they are diverse, equitable and inclusive.

We're proud to have a truly international team, and we celebrate our differences.
Inclusive teams help us live our values and make sure every Wiser feels respected, empowered to contribute towards our mission and able to progress in their careers.

If you want to find out more about what it's like to work at Wise visit Wise.Jobs.

Keep up to date with life at Wise by following us on LinkedIn and Instagram.