Senior User Researcher

Were looking fora Senior User Researcher who wants to make a lasting impact on how the Home Office delivers user-centred products and services. The Digital Corporate Enablement Office supports essential areas of the Home Office by creating, maintaining, and managing key technology solutions. We work closely with colleagues within and outside of Home Office Digital including Human Resources, Finance, Estates, Commercial, Security, Communications, and Science, Technology, Analysis and Research teams. Together, we enable smarter, more connected digital experiences across the Home Office.

We have one Senior User Researcher role available in the Digital Corporate Enablement Office, to work across a diverse range of impactful products and services. You could be part of a team shaping the Home Office intranet, enhancing our HR systems, or supporting the delivery in the Animals in Science e-licensing platform.

We champion user-centred design and are committed to delivering accessible, inclusive services that meet the needs of everyone who uses them.

You can learn more about design and research in the Home Office on our Digital and Data blog:

• Making ethics part of the way we design products and services.
• Using cooperative usability testing with our expert users.
• Establishing the Home Office User Research Ethics Board.

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. Where this is the case, employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in the office.  Applicants can raise any queries to the email address at the bottom of the advert.  

Watch this short video to hear from members of Home Office Digital talking about the projects they work on and their experience of working here: Working for Home Office Digital.

Your main day-to-day responsibilities will include:

• Planning and leading user research activities to ethical standards to understand user needs and behaviours and align with project goals.
• Sorting, categorising, and transforming raw research data into valuable information for complex projects.
• Effectively communicating user research findings to your team and the wider organisation to influence decision-making.
• Effectively communicating and advocating UCD principles and ways of working with stakeholders.
• Supporting the development of accessible services by ensuring that participants with access needs are included in all research.
• Mentoring and coaching user researchers in method selection, research execution, ethical research, data analysis and synthesis.

Working Pattern

This role is available on a full-time basis with the option of compressed hours working. This role is also suitable for part-time working hours, with a minimum requirement to work 3 days per week due to business requirements.

Essential criteria

As a Senior User Researcher, you will have experience of establishing and leading an effective user centred design culture in a team and supporting them to embed user centred design practices into their agile workflow. During the selection process, youll be assessed on your experience of this and the following technical skills:

• User Research: Understanding and applying a range of user research methods correctly for different life cycle phases, and advising others on these methods at a senior level.
• Managing People and Leading: Establishing an effective user centred design culture in a team, and supporting them to embed user centred design practices into their agile workflow.
• Analysis and Synthesis: Communicating insights from research in a clear and impactful way that drives change in the design of services and informs policy and proposition.
• Communicate, persuade and advocate: Convincing senior stakeholders about the benefits of adopting a user-centred approach, based on evidence.
• Research Ethics: Establishing and applying ethical research standards and practices to ensure the safeguarding and wellbeing of participants and researchers.
• Accessibility and inclusion: Researching diverse audiences to help teams deliver accessible and inclusive digital services.

SFIA capability framework 

Skills for the Information Age (SFIA) version 8 is the technical framework that sets the standard capability and development of all levels in the Home Office. This is a link to the capability framework:  All skills A - Z English (sfia-online.org).

We use set SFIA technical skills to form our interview questions and we will assess you against these technical skills during the selection process.

The essential skills listed above are reflective of the Home Office Government Digital and Data Profession Career Framework (based on the industry standard SFIA framework). Use the SFIA Levels of responsibilityto understand what would be expected for each technical skills listed below.