Job description

The Junior Design Researcher role at Dubai Design Lab, an action lab under the Dubai Future Foundation, focuses on uncovering human insights to inform the design of impactful policies, experiences, and systems aligned with Dubai’s vision of becoming one of the world’s most livable cities. The position involves planning, conducting, and analyzing qualitative and mixed-method research such as interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and co-creation sessions to explore user behaviors, motivations, and needs using human-centered approaches. The role emphasizes synthesizing research findings into clear insights, opportunity areas, and design principles, and translating these insights into creative direction that informs concept development and prototyping. The Junior Design Researcher collaborates within multidisciplinary teams across design, strategy, and policy, participates in iterative prototyping and user testing cycles, and supports the creation of tools, frameworks, narratives, documentation, and presentations that bridge research and design outcomes. The role also contributes to workshops, design sprints, exhibitions, and engagement with academic, government, and industry partners, supporting the lab’s thought leadership and knowledge-sharing initiatives while continuously learning from senior researchers and designers.