Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Abbey Wood North, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, South West, BS34 8QW About the job Job summary Are you a dedicated person who is passionate about making a difference? Would you like to work for the Ministry of Defence? Defence Business Services (DBS) is one of the largest shared service organisations in Europe that provides a wide range of corporate services, to over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MoD civil servants and industry. DBS delivers large scale administration and smaller specialist services to enable the wider MOD to focus on its core aims, maintaining the UKs Defence and Security. Services include Human Resources, Pay, Veterans, Finance and Procurement. Our Vision - To support UK defence customers with outstanding service every time. Our Mission Together we will proudly support Defence, continuously improving and delivering flexible, timely, sustainable and value for money services that underpin the whole force and enhance operational capability. DBS is committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues. We are building an inclusive culture and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society. We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience. We also offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working. Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements. Come and join the DBS community today Job description User researchers plan, design and carry out research activities with users that help teams get a deep understanding of the people that use government services. This research informs policy, proposition, service, content, and interaction design so that services work well for users and achieve policy intent. As a Senior User Researcher, you will: Plan and lead a range of user research activities for internal and external government services. Carry out user research activities, from recruiting participants, preparing discussion guides, and moderating research sessions, to analysing research data, and delivering clear and actionable findings. Work closely with other SMEs (Subject Matter Experts), content, interaction and service designers, business and performance analysts and wider digital teams to interactively improve services for users in line with the GDS (Government Digital Service) Service Standard. Include all kinds of users in research to help teams design accessible services for all users. Engage in DBS, MOD, and pan-government user research communities. Manage and/or mentor Junior User Researchers. Support Service Owners and Delivery Managers by generating personas, user needs, user stories and other insights. Develop and own the DBS (Defence Business Services) User Research Strategy and its application as a standardised process across the organisation. Present your work for assessment by Government Digital Services and MOD Internal Assessment Teams Person specification Essential experience Extensive experience of conducting user research with a wide range of users using a variety of techniques Ability to segment and recruit users, particularly those who may be reluctant to engage or with low digital literacy Strong research and analysis skills with evidence of using a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods e.g. usability testing, remote testing and survey design. Ability to produce and present clear outputs to a variety of stakeholders Experience of meeting the requirements of the Digital Service Standard and presenting user research at assessment panels. Desirable experience It would be great if you also have: An understanding of agile approaches and experience of working in agile teams. Knowledge of gov.uk websites and services Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Leadership Communicating and Influencing Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: DDAT Senior User Researcher: Analysis and Synthesis DDAT Senior User Researcher: Inclusive Research DDAT Senior User Researcher: User Research Methods Benefits Alongside your salary of £44,590, Ministry of Defence contributes £12,917 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. An environment with flexible working options Monday-Friday 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years service (pro rata). In addition to 8 public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for HM The Sovereign's birthday Hybrid working where role permits An opportunity to be considered for Reward and Recognition - £250-£5000 per year Family-friendly policies including - parental leave and adoption leave Learning and development tailored to your role Professional and personal development of skills A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity Minimum of 15 days special leave in a rolling 12 month period for volunteer reserve commitments Special paid leave to volunteer up to 6 days per year A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97% Allowances The post does not offer relocation expenses. Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts. External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period. Employment Hours This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills. When choosing your Behaviour examples, please make sure you use real life scenarios that relate to your own experiences. Whilst technology may help to enhance your written submission, presenting the ideas of others or those generated by technology, could result in your application being rejected. Please ensure that at the application and interview stages of the campaign you review the Success Profiles Framework to assist you in the demonstration of your skills and experience. Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile elements that have been chosen for this campaign. Each element will be scored accordingly, and the successful candidate will be appointed on merit. Applications will be sifted on all Success Profile elements, but in the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted on your Primary: Career - Personal Statement. In this instance the remaining elements will be tested at interview. At application stage you will be assessed against the following: Experience: CV Personal Statement At interview you will be assessed against the following: Behaviours: Leadership Communicating and Influencing Technical: DDAT Senior User Researcher: Analysis and Synthesis DDAT Senior User Researcher: Inclusive Research DDAT Senior User Researcher: User Research Methods User researcher - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework In the rare case where individuals have exact matching scores, the order of merit will be determined based on the behaviour scores at interview in the following order: Technical - DDAT Senior User Researcher: Analysis and Synthesis Technical - DDAT Senior User Researcher: Inclusive Research Behaviour - Leadership Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing Technical - DDAT Senior User Researcher: User Research Methods If candidate scores are still exact, the merit order will then be determined on the sift score in the below order or priority: Career - Personal Statement Career - Previous Skills Career - Job History We want to offer opportunities to all who are successful at interview for our roles, but this isnt always possible, so we do hold candidates on an active reserve list for 12 months. Application sifting to take place week commencing: Early January 2025 Interviews are currently taking place via MS Teams and will be conducted week commencing: Late January 2025 A minimum of 2 full working days notice will be provided for interviews. We endeavour to stick to these dates, but these are subject to change around business needs. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeammod.gov.uk MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey we may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights. As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected, and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn. To assist with your application please find attached - DBS Candidate Information Guide - Working for Defence Business Services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (26) UK Ministry of Defence: Life, LinkedIn Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality requirements This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). Apply and further information This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job contact : Name : amanda moran Email : amanda.moran637mod.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeammod.gov.uk Further information Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commissions Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact DBS-EnhancedRecruitmentTeamMOD.gov.uk in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/ Attachments Defence Civil Servant Offer 2024 Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB) Share this page Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn GMail