Design Researcher (Warmer Homes London)

Package Description

Responsible to: Retrofit Strategy and Services Director

Starting salary: £52,344 per annum

Working Hours: 35 per week

Contract details:  Permanent. Full time. Monday to Friday. 9:00 am to 5 pm. Hybrid working (two days in the office).

Please direct any queries you may have about the role to our recruitment inbox - recruitment@londoncouncils.gov.uk. 

Please be advised of the following:

• Application deadline: 11:59pm on April 2nd 2026
• Interviews: are anticipated to be held during the week commencing April 20th 2026

Job Introduction

Help redesign how London delivers retrofit 

Warmer Homes London, launched by London Councils and the Mayor of London, is tackling the systemic barriers preventing retrofit at scale - focusing on social housing, low-income homeowners and private renters most vulnerable to fuel poverty.  

We’re looking for a Design Researcher to help us test, learn and improve how retrofit programmes are delivered across London. 

Why join us? 

• Work on one of the largest retrofit programmes in England
• Help shape how London delivers warmer, greener homes at scale
• Be part of a purpose-driven team tackling fuel poverty and climate change

Main Responsibilities

 Working within a multidisciplinary data, design and delivery team, you’ll run research, prototyping and pilots that generate real evidence about what works in large-scale retrofit programmes. 

 You’ll: 

• Design and run mixed-methods research with residents, boroughs and delivery partners
• Translate insights into prototypes, service mock-ups and pilot tests
• Support a “test and learn” approach to improving retrofit programme delivery
• Produce clear, compelling insights and recommendations for senior decision-makers
• Develop artefacts such as journey maps, service blue prints and opportunity maps

Read about the job activities in more detail in the Job Description and Person Specification document attached below.

The Ideal Candidate

We’re looking for someone who: 

• Has strong qualitative and quantitative research experience
• Can turn complex findings into clear narratives that influence decisions
• Is comfortable working in fast-paced, experimental environments
• Enjoys collaborating with designers, analysts and delivery teams

Read about the job activities in more detail in the Job Description and Person Specification document attached below.

About The Company

Warmer Homes London is a new organisation designed to make Londoners’ homes greener, healthier and more affordable to heat by being more energy efficient. It is funded by the boroughs, the Mayor of London and London Councils. This new initiative is set to forge bold new partnerships, working with all levels of government, as well as with housing associations, builders, community energy groups, and training organisations.

Warmer Homes London will deliver its mission by:

• working together: we will overcome systemic barriers to change the fragmented approach towards retrofitting social and low-income private housing
• providing the data insights: we will drive better value for public money and turbo-charge efforts to make London’s homes warmer at scale and at pace
• Making Londoners’ homes more comfortable all year round: enabling practical measures to be installed by suppliers, such as- wall insulation that keep heat in; heat pumps that are cleaner and cheaper to run; and solar panels giving clean renewable energy.

To find out more about – please visit: www.warmer-homes.london

London Councils is the collective of London local government, the 32 boroughs and the City of London Corporation. They come together through London Councils to work in collaboration to deliver their shared ambitions for London and Londoners.

Through lobbying, collaboration and partnership, we ensure the voice of the London boroughs are united, and heard at a local, regional and national level.

We also run a number of services on behalf of the boroughs including the Freedom Pass, Taxicard and Health Emergency Badge (HEB) and London Lorry Control Scheme (LLCS).

Read more about London Councils - London Councils

Our Recruitment Approach

The application process involves answering a small number of application questions aligned to the essential criteria for the role. All applications will be processed using a blind sifting method. This means that personal identifying details will be removed to ensure fair and unbiased shortlisting of applications.

The panel sees only the anonymised generated CV that Tribepad builds from the Education and Employment History sections of the application form.
Uploading a personal CV is optional and only helps auto-populate these sections - it does not replace completing them.
Please ensure these sections are fully completed. If they’re left blank, key information won’t appear in the anonymised pack and fair review becomes harder.

Your full details and original CV are not shared with the panel until after the shortlist is agreed and you are invited to interview.

We are committed to equal opportunities and encourage applications from all backgrounds. Reasonable adjustments will be made to support candidates during the recruitment process.