Lead User Researcher in London

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government. Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government by:

• joining up public sector services
• harnessing the power of AI for the public good
• strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
• elevating leadership and investing in talent
• funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
• committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol. The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale. Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You will solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.

We are recruiting for a Lead User Researcher for the GOV.UK App to lead research that informs strategy and supports delivery, ensuring user-centred and evidence-based decision-making. You will be a core part of the App leadership group, working closely with the product director and App multidisciplinary leads to ensure research delivers impactful outcomes for defining product offering, understanding risk, realising short-term operational delivery goals, and informing mid-and-long-term strategic direction.

As a lead user researcher for GOV.UK App, you’ll:

• develop and implement research strategy in a highly complex and dynamic environment, ensuring research is prioritised, effective and efficient in helping GOV.UK achieve their short-term goals and long-term strategies
• ensure the use of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods/data to yield high-quality insights that better our understanding of the risks/needs/adoption of different types of users/cohorts, and uncover data that directly feed into design iterations
• be responsible for operational research delivery for App to ensure researchers are working on the right thing at the right time, and that all research outputs are at the highest standard and best practices are applied
• work with other research leads across the directorate to ensure that research is joined up and collaborative
• identify research opportunities and lead strategic/innovative research for important, long-term and strategic initiatives so that we have proactive insights for the product director and senior stakeholders
• lead App researchers in further development of their research skills and expertise, stepping in and collaborating directly with researchers where hands-on support is identified/required
• be the user insights and knowledge expert for App, proactively sharing important learnings with the product director, leadership groups, senior stakeholders and wider
• help colleagues understand when and when not to do research, advocate the value of research and demonstrate the importance of research by making sure the great impact made by research is tracked and visible to others
• be a visible leader and model in your area, building positive and influential relationships with multidisciplinary leaders and colleagues from product, design, delivery to senior stakeholders

We’re interested in people who can demonstrate:

• experience in leading research for App products including product launches and ongoing iteration
• extensive practitioner experience of conducting research with a diverse range of user groups, using a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research in the context of user experience and product development
• the ability to be a proactive self-starter who excels at identifying overlooked yet critical research opportunities
• execution of research projects to a high standard with best practice, delivering high impact results that have directly influenced product and business direction
• strong ability in navigating complexity and uncertainty, thriving in the delivery pressures of a fast-paced and ambiguous environment
• strong critical thinking and analysis skills to distil hidden and actionable insights through a wide range of data
• tenacity, creativity and proactivity in problem-solving and enabling change
• successfully embedding a diverse range of effective research methods in challenging environments
• proven ability to build trusted and influential relationships with senior stakeholders and cross-functional multidisciplinary colleagues
• master's degree or Doctorate in the field of HCI, Human Factors, Psychology, Anthropology, Behavioural/Social Science, Information Architecture or a related field/equivalent work experience

Sponsorship: DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

Seniority level: Mid-Senior level

Employment type: Full-time

Job function: Information Technology and Design

Industries: Government Relations Services, Government Administration, and IT Services and IT Consulting