Postdoctoral researcher in Employee Experience and Service Design

Aalto University is an interdisciplinary community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. Aalto’s core strategy follows three cross-cutting themes: sustainable solutions, entrepreneurial mindset and radical creativity. Aalto University has six schools with nearly 13 000 students and more than 400 professors. Our campus is located in Espoo, Finland.  

The Aalto School of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS) is a Nordic leader in higher education for design, fashion, games, media, architecture, film, art education and fine art. We produce world-class research e.g. in design, digital media and visual culture, art education, urban planning and architecture. Our graduates innovate in and beyond their fields, drawing on over a century of tradition of our institution, a humane and forward-looking approach, and the latest technologies.

The Department of Design is a community of creative and responsible researchers and design experts. We educate front-line design professionals and visionaries for established, changing and emerging fields of design. (https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-design). 

We are looking for a Postdoctoral researcher in Employee Experience and Service Design.

The position will begin early September or as agreed, and is for 1,5 years with a possible extension of 6 months. 

Your role and goals

This postdoctoral researcher position is part of the HiFive research project in the Department of Design’s ENCORE (Engaging Co-Design) research group. HiFive is a Business Finland funded co-innovation project exploring meaningfulness in industrial work contexts to ensure smooth work and collaboration in hybrid human cyber-physical systems. The project consortium is comprised of three research partners (VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., University of Jyväskylä, and Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture) and five companies including Konecranes, Elomatic, Proverse, AInsinöörit, and Tasowheel.

HiFive project studies human-centered future of work at partner companies with the aims of improving the wellbeing of industrial workers and the attractiveness and inclusiveness of industrial workplaces. The project investigates the utilization of novel technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality), the emergence of physical and virtual, and demographic evolution at industrial workplaces. In order to attract a skilled workforce, it is necessary to develop meaningful jobs that involve 1) pursuing a purpose, 2) social relationships, 3) exercising skills and self-development, 4) opportunities for self-esteem through recognition, and 5) a high level of autonomy. Therefore, the HiFive Vision statement is: “HiFive will design and create meaningful, enjoyable, and productive hybrid industrial workplaces for tomorrow”.

As a post-doctoral researcher, you will study the meaningfulness of industrial work by conducting contextual interviews, workshops, and observations with workers from Konecranes. By visualizing current and future AI-assisted workers' workflows, your work will contribute to hybrid job design, employee experience, and service and interaction design concepts. This project and position are supervised by Professor Martina Čaić.


Your Experience and Responsibilities

We are looking to hire an ambitious colleague who has the capacity to contribute to continuous renewal of research. We expect you to have:  

• Demonstrable competence in employee experience and service/interaction design research
• Experience in qualitative research methods (e.g., interviews, observation, co-creation workshops)
• Some experience in academic publishing
• A doctoral degree in design, information systems, human-computer interaction, business, or in a relevant field
• Excellent verbal and written language skills in English, Finnish language skills are considered a plus. 

Successful applicant is expected to take on the following responsibilities:

• Conducting individual and group-based research meeting high international standards, including publishing.
• Collaborating with the researchers across the HiFive Consortium (i.e., VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., University of Jyväskylä, and Aalto University).
• Presenting research at national and international conferences.
• Advising MA and doctoral students’ work as part of the research project.­­
• Participating in regular research activities, such as research seminars, research group meetings, and workshops.
• Interacting in various ways with society, the project stakeholders in particular

What we offer

We offer the opportunity of working in a dynamic world-class community of creative professionals and researchers, with a remit to continuously explore the frontiers of design research and practice.
The salary is determined according to the applicant's experience and qualifications. Activities are located in the Otaniemi campus of Aalto University in Espoo, part of the capital region of Finland.

Aalto University provides its employees with occupational healthcare services and excellent learning and development opportunities. Finland is a healthy and safe living environment, offering many excellent state-subsidized services including affordable day care and free schools and universities, which are consistently ranked among the best in the world. 

More information about living and working in Finland:
Get to know Finland and Aalto | Aalto University
Aalto University follows EU rules and regulations on HR policies. Employment duties need to be performed in Finland. The specific responsibilities and salary are determined based on the applicant’s qualifications and level of position.

Ready to apply?

To apply, please submit the following application materials through our recruitment system Workday no later than August 5th 2024, at 23:59 EET (UTC+2). Aalto University’s employees should apply for the position by using their existing Workday user account!

The application material must be in English and must include the following documents in PDF format (‘lastname_firstname.pdf’): 

• Motivation letter
• Curriculum Vitae — please use the template recommended by The Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity -Template for researcher's curriculum vitae | Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK
• List of publications, with the maximum three most significant publications highlighted including at least one solo or first authored article. 
• Research statement —a concise (max 3 pages) self-reflection on the merits, long-term vision, and research plan.

We reserve the right, for justified reasons, to leave the position open or to extend the application period.

For more Information

Please contact Assistant Professor Martina Čaić martina.caic@aalto.fi and/or Senior University Lecturer Virpi Roto virpi.roto@aalto.fi.

In questions related to the recruitment process, please contact HR Partner Katju Helminen, katju.helminen@aalto.fi 
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