Contract UX Researcher

The Opportunity

Neurabuild partners with research institutions to build technology that matters. We're looking for a contract UX researcher to lead in-person user testing for a tablet-based app designed for children of age 5–10 in South Africa.

The app is at an early stage, and this testing is designed to surface real usability issues before the product scales.

This is hands-on fieldwork: you will run moderated testing sessions, observe how kids interact with the product, and help us turn those observations into clear, actionable findings. Working closely with the project lead, you will be responsible for the research design and reporting.

What You'll Do

• Help the team to recruit and screen 8–12 child participants (ages 5–10, English as L1 or L2)
• Manage all participant and parent/guardian communications and scheduling
• Obtain informed parental consent
• Work with the team to ensure safeguarding procedures are in place for every session
• Facilitate in-person moderated user testing sessions with young children
• Observe and document usability issues, comprehension gaps, engagement patterns, and child behaviours in structured notes
• Contribute observations and practical recommendations to the findings report
• Collaborate with Neurabuild's project lead and domain experts on research design and session planning

What We're Looking For

Essential:

• Experience with children of ages 4–12
• You know how to build rapport with a young child, use age-appropriate prompts, and read non-verbal cues
• Demonstrated experience in-the-field: conducting qualitative research, usability testing, or moderated sessions
• Sound understanding of, or willingness to learn, POPIA considerations, child safeguarding principles and informed consent
• Structured observation and documentation skills — you record what happened, not just what you think it meant
• Based in or able to travel within South Africa to run sessions in person
• Reliable, communicative, and comfortable working as a named consultant on a client-facing project

Nice to have:

• An existing network for recruiting child participants (schools, after-school programmes, community groups, parent networks)
• Experience in education, edtech, literacy, numeracy, or child development contexts
• Awareness of South Africa's multilingual learning environment and how it affects facilitation with English L2 participants
• Ability to contribute to written research reports

What We Provide

• Research design support and strategic direction
• Report writing and client communication

How to Apply

Please don't send us a general CV, rather highlight to us in short-form:

• Your experience with children
• Your experience with in-the-field user testing or related activities
• How you would approach consent and safeguarding matters
• Availability from May 2026

Applications close: 27 April 2026