Senior User Researcher - updated

Grade B: £39,784 (National Framework) or £45,456 (London Framework - if you are London office based or homebased and live within the boundary of the M25) - There is also an additional homeworking allowance of £581 per annum for those working from home.

Contracted Hours: Full-time 37 hours per week or talk to us about compressed/flexible hours.

Contract Type: 2 Fixed term or secondment opportunities, both for 9 months.

Location: Home-based, or office based within London, Leeds or Newcastle. Occasional travel to user research sessions and team away days.

Closing Date: Tuesday 15 April 2025 at 11.59pm

This role is 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role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected, and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

Are you committed to helping us regulate health and social care within England?

When thinking about what drives you every day in your job, what keeps you motivated and passionate about your work what comes to mind? For 3000+ people at the CQC we end each day knowing that we have made a difference to the lives of those most in need in our communities. We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and encourage care services to improve. We are looking for people who are caring, demonstrate integrity and work well as part of a team to join with us and share in this sense of achievement. If you would like to help us make a positive impact to health and social care within England, then read on.

About the role...

This is a brilliant opportunity for a Senior User Researcher to join CQC's Content and Channels Design Management team.

As a Senior User Researcher, you will support the design and delivery of high-quality services by establishing a deep understanding of the needs of users at the heart of the teams working on them.

The User Research team regularly interact with internal and external stakeholders (providers and their representatives, CQC colleagues and members of the public) to support improvements to our systems, ways of working and guidance.

In this role you will:

Plan, design and prepare user research activities (including interviews, focus groups and useability testing) to support the design, development and continuous improvement of services for all our users

Prepare discussion guides and scripts to support user research sessions

Moderate user research sessions

Lead analysis of research data and produce clear and actionable findings, including working closely with colleagues to create a rich picture of user behaviour

Communicate user research findings to help the team and wider organisation develop a deep understanding of users and their needs

Work closely with product managers, content designers and developers to turn user research findings into stories and actions that lead to valuable product and service features

Essential skills required...

The ideal candidate will:

Have previous user research experience - ideally in a health and social care or regulatory environment - including running workshops and focus groups for discovery and useability testing

Be confident managing multiple projects in an Agile-style environment

Possess excellent oral and published written communication skills

Be experienced in helping teams adopt user-centred service design

Possess the ability to understand complex problems a team is trying to solve, and align user research activities to inform decision making and action

Have a good understanding of how to include all kinds of users in appropriate user research

What we offer you...

27 days of leave per year, rising to 32.5 days with length of service, plus bank holidays (usually 8 days per year).

Opportunities and support for in house and external training and development.

Free, unlimited access to Headspace meditation app.

Sports and gym discounts.

Free employee assistance service 24 hours a day.

NHS pension scheme, with around a 14% employer contribution.

Discounts to high street stores, supermarkets, restaurants and more.

Eligibility to apply for a Blue Light Card, which cost £4.99 and are valid for 2 years.

Fleet home electronics and car leasing salary sacrifice scheme.

Cycle to work scheme up to the value of £5,000.

Internal reward scheme where you could win a voucher or two!

We want to make working for CQC a great experience for everyone, and to role model a diverse and representative culture. To support an inclusive environment where colleagues feel empowered to bring their whole self to work, we support a variety of staff networks, including the Race Equality Network, LGBT+ Equality Network, Carers Equality Network, Disability Equality Network and Gender Equality network.

Please note some roles may be subject to a satisfactory DBS check

Please click the link below to access the Job Description: -

Req2546 Senior User Researcher - CCM.docx

For an informal discussion or further information about this role please contact Hiring Manager - Vicki Johnson, Lead User Researcher vicki.johnson@cqc.org.uk and for general enquiries contact recruitment@cqc.org.uk

Individual adjustments...

We are committed to being open and transparent around our processes and we endeavour to offer every candidate the opportunity to perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. We seek to support candidates to identify potential challenges and work with them to identify and facilitate reasonable adjustments as appropriate. Should you require assistance and/or would like to request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, please contact a member of the team via email: recruitment@cqc.org.uk

Note for internal candidates:

As this is a secondment/fixed term opportunity it is important that you read our recruitment and selection policy relating to secondments and you must discuss your application with your line manager before applying. Your line manager will need to consider the implications of the release, agree whether you can be released for a specific time and that the secondment represents a development opportunity/meets business needs.

Note for external candidates:

CQC are currently working through an organisational transformation programme which includes the creation of a new target operating model. This role is offered as a fixed term contract as part of the transition process to that new model. For further information on this please visit https://www.cqc.org.uk/about-us/jobs/information-applicants

CQC is committed to promoting a fair and inclusive workplace where all our people can flourish and reach their full potential. We know diverse teams allow for a more creative and productive environment and therefore encourage applications from everyone regardless of: age, gender/sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

Candidates must ensure that all information provided in their application is detailed in their own words and is factually accurate. Any examples provided must be taken from personal experience. CQC abides by honesty and integrity as part of its core values, if evidence of plagiarism or generating answers from other sources is found, applications may be withdrawn.

Our Values

Excellence - Meeting our challenge to be a high-performing organisation

Caring - Treating everyone with dignity and respect

Integrity - Demonstrating our passion for 'doing the right thing'

Teamwork - Enabling us to be the best we can