Bristol, Darlington, Leeds, Manchester, Wolverhampton
Job Summary
Here at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people’s lives.
Whether it's through the homes we live in, the work of our local councils, or the communities we’re all part of, our work is at the top of the political agenda. We have ambitious and far-reaching outcomes to achieve this year and, if you’re thinking of joining us, there’s never been a more exciting time.
We have over 3,500 staff who are based in 20 offices across the UK.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Funding Service is transforming how the department delivers £21bn annual grant funding. We work with policy and delivery teams to embed digital, user-centred approaches to grant funding.
We're looking for a great researcher to join our Funding Service team. We're aiming to improve how billions of pounds of funding is provided to hundreds of grant recipients. This is a large programme with several sub-teams. You will conduct user research for one or more sub-teams, delivering insights that put users at the centre of the design and delivery of the service.
As a Senior User Researcher, you'll play a key leadership role in the Funding Service's User Centred Design Community and will help manage and mentor user researchers. You'll also conduct your own research and make sure insights are shared across the Funding Service. You will need to deliver research that enables the team to shape the service in line with strategic goals and a changing policy landscape. Your findings will allow the team to continue to iterate and improve this critical service based on data and evidence from our users.
We particularly welcome candidates from an ethnic minority background and other underrepresented groups to apply, as we work to continually improve our ability to represent the places and communities we support through our work.
Job Description
As a Senior User Researcher, you’ll:
* lead on user research activities, engaging the user community, preparing discussion guides and moderating research sessions with end users
* lead on planning, designing and preparing a range of user research activities to support the design, development and continuous improvement of our services
* work closely with your team and stakeholders to understand the problem space that needs to be addressed with research and design
* lead analysis of research data and identify actionable findings and outcomes to enable us to have a clear picture of user behaviour
* communicate the findings of your research as actionable insights that can be taken forward by designers, developers and policy makers
* manage and mentor other user researchers and play an active role in the Funding Service's User Centred Design community
* identify ways the programme's user research practices could improve and be standardised
As a Senior User Researcher, You’ll Have:
* knowledge of a range of user research methods, techniques for analysis of research data, synthesis of findings and presentation of clear findings that are usable
* the ability to plan user research to address knowledge gaps in a complex problem space
* competence in leading research on agile multidisciplinary teams and helping teams adopt a wide range of user research methods
* expertise in communicating research insights to a range of audiences and working with stakeholders to implement recommendations
* experience of developing the capability of other researchers
Salary and Benefits
Alongside your salary of £54,531, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £15,797 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
* Learning and development tailored to your role
* An environment with flexible working options
* A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
* A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Selection Process Details
MHCLG want to bring in a diverse workforce at all levels.
Our application system is designed to remove as much bias as possible from the recruitment system – this means that a hiring manager does not know your name, your details, see your whole application in one go (or have your CV at review stage unless stated otherwise).
CV Declaration
We recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - this is called anonymous recruitment.
Please Remove References To Your:
* name/title
* educational institutions
* age
* gender
* email address
* postal address
* phone number
* nationality/immigration status
Experience
At sift, through your CV we will be assessing:
Technical
The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:
Experience
Technical
In full the campaign will test the below Success Profile Elements:
Experience: Yes - Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the person specification
Technical: Yes – Technical questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the person specification
We Do Not Consider Direct CV Applications – You Must Apply For This Role Via The Application Link On Civil Service Jobs
Grade 7 salary
* The salary for this role is £54,531 - £64,641 (National).
* For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. If you apply for a role that requires a transfer of location, for example if you are transferring from London to a National location, your salary will be adjusted in accordance with our policy on transfer between HQ pay ranges.
Geographical Location:
* Manchester
* Leeds
* Bristol
* Wolverhampton
* Darlington
Sift and Interview dates
Sifting is envisaged to take place from 18/04/2025 with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall.
Reserve List
In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@communities.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list.
Candidate Pack Information
Please see attached Candidate pack for further information.
Before starting your application it’s very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the MHCLG candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules.
Contact point for applicants
* Name : Digital Data Jobs
* Email : digitaldatajobs@communities.gov.uk
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