This is a fast-paced, adaptive delivery environment where the ability to pivot quickly is essential. You will work at the heart of live service teams, ensuring that decisions are rooted in evidence and aligned with Government Digital Service (GDS) Standards. The role is predominantly remote, Outside IR35, with very occasional on-site collaboration days in Newcastle.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead end-to-end user research across live services, ensuring insight continuously informs service improvements.
- Plan, conduct, and analyse a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research activities.
- Work closely with product managers, designers, service owners, and delivery leads to embed user-centred thinking.
- Evaluate services against GDS Service Standards, ensuring ongoing compliance in Live.
- Prioritise research in a fast-moving environment, adapting approaches as new information and delivery needs emerge.
- Communicate findings clearly and persuasively to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Champion evidence-based decision-making and influence strategic direction across cross-functional teams.
- Support the ongoing enhancement of research practices and frameworks within the programme.
- Maintain a deep understanding of diverse user groups, including those with assisted digital or accessibility needs.
- Contribute to service performance monitoring in Live, identifying issues and opportunities for iterative improvement.
Skills & Experience:
- Extensive experience as a Senior User Researcher within central government.
- Strong understanding of GDS, Government Service Standards, and service assessment requirements.
- Experience working on live digital services, ideally in iterative or continuous improvement teams.
- Ability to conduct research at pace, pivot quickly, and manage competing priorities.
- Skilled in multiple research methods (remote and in-person), with the ability to choose the right method for the problem.
- Excellent communication, storytelling, and stakeholder-engagement skills.
- Strong analysis and insight-synthesis capability, producing clear, actionable recommendations.
- Proven ability to influence product and service direction through evidence.
Desirable:
- Experience or exposure to tax, payments, compliance, or large operational government environments.
- Experience supporting multidisciplinary Agile teams within large consultancies or major digital programmes.
- Familiarity with accessibility research and designing for users with complex or constrained needs.
What This Role Offers:
- The chance to shape large-scale, high-impact live services.
- A flexible, remote-first working model.
- Long-term contract potential through rolling 6-month extensions.
- Fast-moving, impactful work where your insights directly improve real-world services.
