Senior User Researcher

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Location

Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, London, Manchester, York About the job Summary

At the Government Digital Service (GDS), our mission is to build a simple, joined-up and personalised experience of government for everyone. Using our unique position at the centre of government, we develop services that work for the user, however complex the underlying systems may be.

We believe that ensuring things work for end users is the only way to realise the efficiencies that come with digital transformation. Our focus is on delivering five missions in the following areas:  as the single and trusted online destination for government information and services Joined-up services that solve whole problems and span multiple departments A simple digital identity solution that works for everyone Common tools and expert services Joined-up data across departments You can read more about these missions and our vision for the transformation of government in our  Strategy.

Job description

We are looking for a Senior User Researcher who has exceptional research skills and with track records of conducting strategic research to direct decision making. You will plan and lead user research projects, build user centred practices, and translate quality research into design, product and organisational decisions by informing propositions and directions.  is the best place to find government services and information, and user needs are at the heart of everything we do.

Our vision is for  to offer users joined-up, trusted and personalised interactions. As a Senior User Researcher, you’ll: lead and conduct a wide range of user research projects (from discovery to evaluative research, and from qualitative to quantitative research) by aligning with  vision and goals be bold and creative in trying out new methods and approaches, and actively seek out better ways to improve and do research run high quality research projects end-to-end: planning, recruiting participants, conducting the research, analysis and reporting findings and insights and ensure learnings are being acted upon involve colleagues and relevant senior stakeholders throughout the end-to-end research process produce impactful actionable insights to inform, guide (or even reset) design, product and strategic decisions at team and organisational level persuade colleagues and stakeholders on evidence-based decision-making and the introduction of new research initiatives be actively identifying research opportunities that would bring great value and impact to  and GDS in supporting our vision mentor less experienced researchers

Responsibilities

We’re interested in people who: are rigorous and have exceptional research skills, but who also understands the balance between scrappy and rigour, and knows when to adopt which. have extensive experience in a wide range of research methodologies and are able to execute them to high standards, from diary studies, ethnography to planning quantitative research and carry out data analysis using statistical techniques.

have strong analysis skills to distil hidden and longevity insights from research data have a good understanding of the social and technological context for product and services and align research to understand the changing user behaviour know it is not enough to report just interesting things about users and have a track record of translating research into real impact and value have experience working with a variety of multi-disciplinary colleagues and stakeholders and experienced in advocating user centred design and persuade sceptical colleagues and stakeholders are expert in communicating results and illustrate suggestions in compelling and creative ways to a broad and diverse audience including senior stakeholders.

Benefits
• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and average employer contributions of 27%.
• A minimum of 25 days of…