Description Are you interested in shaping a fairer, more inclusive digital future for Scotland? The Digital Ethics and Inclusion programmes in Scottish Government are key to putting the citizen at the heart of digital services and transformation. Without ethical and inclusive design and delivery, planned improvements will fail to deliver good public services to those who need it most. The Digital Ethics and Inclusion programmes cover Connecting Scotland, Ethical Digital Nation and connected ethics work. This role offers the opportunity to lead the next phase of development of this work, which aims to not only tackle digital exclusion, but to use the opportunities provided by bringing people online to make progress across priorities such as tackling poverty and inequality and improving access to services. As a Lead User Researcher, you'll play a key role in ensuring our digital services work for everyone, especially those who need them most. User researchers undertake research that supports teams to design policy and services, so that we can design services that work well for people and achieve policy intent. You will work with the team to develop a shared understanding of the people who use the service and what they need. You will plan, design, and undertake user research activities. You will contribute to the design of inclusive and accessible services. You will also be an expert practitioner who can influence and guide others on best practice and champion user research within teams. Responsibilities Continually assure, improve, innovate and communicate research standards to generate clear and valuable findings. Lead research across teams and the wider organisation by advocating for ethical and legal research, continually assure, improve and innovate the user research practice. Understand the strategic decisions the team needs to make so you can design appropriate research. Establish and align user research programmes and teams to meet organisational/strategic goals. Synthesise findings from research programmes, producing strategic insights to inform the organisation’s goals. Set and assure good practice user research standards for the organisation, including ethics and safeguarding. Align wider user research activities at a departmental and cross-government level. Engage with and contribute to the Scottish Government user research community of practice. Identify and work with stakeholders who can impact and direct organisational/strategic goals. Identify the most important challenges and opportunities for your team’s service development. Evaluate user research tools and approaches to achieve research goals, including evaluation and management of third party contracts. Advocate for accessibility, assisted digital, and inclusive design practices and help teams design and deliver accessible services that work for all users. Responsibilities Success Profile Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of skills, experience and behaviours candidates will be assessed on. Technical / Professional Skills: We will assess you against the following technical skills during the selection process: Analysis and synthesis (Level: Expert) Research management, leadership and assurance (Level: Expert) Stakeholder relationship management (Level: Expert) User research methods (Level: Expert) User-centred practice and advocacy (Level: Practitioner) Inclusive research (Level: Practitioner) This role is aligned to the User Researcher role within the User-Centred Design job family. You can find out more about the skills required, here. Experience: Your experience of helping teams and organisations to adopt and implement different user research methods, tools and practices, appropriate to different situations and contexts and understand their limitations and strengths. Your experience of managing third party services ensures that organisational goals are met; while maintaining appropriate standards of user research practice. Behaviours: Leadership - (Level 4) Communicating and Influencing - (Level 4) You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here. Qualifications How to apply Apply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 750 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the skills, experience and behaviours listed in the Success Profile above. You will not be tested on the Technical skills at sift stage. If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and DDaT assessment. All the behaviours, experiences and technical elements outlined in the Success Profile will be assessed at this stage. The sift is scheduled for w/c 17th March. Assessments are scheduled for w/c 31st March however this may be subject to change. About Us The Scottish Government is the devolved government for Scotland. We have responsibility for a wide range of key policy areas including: education, health, the economy, justice, housing and transport. We offer rewarding careers and employ people across Scotland in a wide range of professions and roles. Our staff are part of the UK Civil Service, working for Ministers and senior stakeholders to deliver vital public services which improve the lives of the people of Scotland. We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment along with a wide range of employee benefits. Find out more about what we offer. As part of the UK Civil Service, we uphold the Civil Service Nationality Rules. DDaT Pay Supplement This post is part of the Scottish Government Digital, Data and Technology (DDAT) profession, as a member of the profession you will join the professional development system. This post currently attracts a £5,000.00 annual DDAT pay supplement, applicable after a 3-month competency qualifying period. The payment will be backdated to your start date in the role. Pay supplements are reviewed regularly and there is one currently underway. Changes will be communicated when the review is concluded. Working Pattern Our standard hours are 35 hours per week, we offer a truly flexible working including full-time, part-time, flexitime, and compressed hours meaning you could work your full hours while working less than 5 days per week. We embrace a hybrid working style meeting in person when it is useful to do so where all colleagues will spend time in 5 Atlantic Quay, Glasgow or Victoria Quay, Edinburgh. Equality Statement We are committed to equality and inclusion and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation. Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them. Further information Find out more about our organisation, what we offer staff members and how to apply on our Careers Website. Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes. Apply before: 16th March (23:59)