£46,725 - £50,220 (London) / £42,893 - £45,653 (National) Based on capability. The base salary of this grade is £46,169 for London and £42,382 for other locations.
Published on 7 March 2025 Deadline 16 March 2025
As a User Researcher, you are a key figure in the teams that design and deliver data products, services, and guidance across the journey to use and share government data in a trusted, ethical, and effective way. You will work within a multi-disciplinary team on a wide range of user research activities to help teams understand the needs of people, businesses, and government colleagues who use GOV.UK.
You’ll be expected to work independently, but with support and guidance from more senior user researchers.
Responsibilities
* Plan, design, and prepare a range of user research activities to support the design, development, and continuous improvement of data services.
* Carry out user research activities including recruiting participants, preparing discussion guides, and moderating research sessions.
* Analyse research data and synthesise clear and actionable user research findings to help the team and wider organisation develop a deep understanding of users and their needs.
* Work closely with product managers, designers, and developers to turn user research findings into insights that feed into product or service decisions.
* Mentor and guide more junior user researchers to assure and improve research practice.
* Contribute to the wider user research community, including presenting at meetups and writing blog posts.
Person Specification
We’re interested in people who have:
* Experience and understanding of a range of user research methods, quantitative and qualitative, when to use those methods and how to apply them correctly.
* A good understanding of the diversity of users of government services, and the ability to include many kinds of users in appropriate research activities to make services usable and accessible for everyone.
* The ability to understand what problem your team is trying to solve, and decide on user research activities to inform decision-making and action.
* Experience and understanding of a range of techniques for analysis of research data, synthesis of findings, and presentation of clear findings that colleagues can understand and use.
* Experience of involving your team in research activities, and in the analysis and synthesis.
* A good understanding of the social and technological context for government services, and the ability to align user research activities to help their team understand changing user behaviour.
* An understanding of agile approaches and experience of working in agile teams.
The Benefits of Working at GDS
There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:
* Flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours.
* A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
* 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days.
* An extra day off for The King’s birthday.
* An in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance.
* Career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development.
* A focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme.
* Job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK.
* Advances on pay, including for travel season tickets.
* Cycle to work scheme and facilities.
* Access to children's holiday play schemes across different locations in central London.
* Access to an employee discounts scheme.
* 10 learning days per year.
* Volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year).
* Access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning.
Things You Need to Know
The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:
* A simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above.
Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example, a phone interview or a technical exercise.
While we value the use of AI technology to enhance our daily work, we also value the personal touch and urge applicants to write cover letters without the use of AI to emphasise their own unique experiences.
In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is:
* Experience and understanding of a range of user research methods, quantitative and qualitative, when to use those methods and how to apply them correctly.
In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance, and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience, and behaviours that are relevant to this role.
We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework for the User Researcher role:
* User research methods.
* User-centred practice and advocacy.
* Agile research practices.
Recruitment Timeline
Role closes: Sunday 16th March.
Sift completion: Monday 24th March.
Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.
A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.
Other Information: Occasionally, business pressures, priorities, or critical delivery may mean that we move you into a different team or work area within GDS. This will always be within the same grade and discipline within which you were hired, but does mean that your focus or objectives may shift in order to deliver GDS business.
You may be aware that there are plans for the Government Digital Service (GDS) to move into the Department of Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT). This move is to bring together the digital transformation of public services into one core department. The move itself will offer huge opportunities whilst allowing DSIT to lead the way and drive forward the new Government's digital agenda.
As the announcement is relatively new, we are awaiting more detailed information. Therefore, we encourage you to apply for this role, and will keep you informed with updated information throughout the application process.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
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