User Researcher - Bristol

Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you’re seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC. This role is in Chief Technology and Design Office, part of HMRC's Chief Digital and Information Office (CDIO). We are responsible for managing all IT demand and change coming into CDIO, ensuring User Centred Design is at the heart of everything we do. This enables us to ensure the solutions we deliver help users succeed the first time.

HMRC is looking for User Researchers who are passionate about User Centred Design to support the work of our Policy Lab team. HMRC's services are complex, and we are currently undertaking some of the largest digital transformation programmes across Government and other sectors. Our user researchers are at the core of keeping user needs central to design and implementation, providing an opportunity to shape and improve services that impact millions of users daily. You will be joining a thriving and supportive User Researcher community, with regular opportunities for insight sharing, training and discussion. Our team draws together expertise from a wide variety of backgrounds and sectors and welcomes new ideas on how we can continue to conduct robust research with real-world impact. You will be based at one of our CDIO Centres across the UK with access to research labs and facilities. This is an exciting time to join an organisation that is at the forefront of cutting-edge user research.

User Research in HMRC

If this sounds like the sort of thing which excites you, these are the jobs for you.

Person specification

As a User Researcher, responsibilities include:

• Lead on planning, recruiting and conducting user research for policies and services, including playing back user research to stakeholders and digital teams.
• Understanding the policy or service problem then aligning user research activities to influence and support decision making.
• Applying a range of techniques to analyse and synthesise user research insights, creating research outputs in an actionable way.
• Advocate for, and include, all kinds of users in appropriate research activities to help teams design accessible services for all users.
• Engage in a community of user researchers, contributing to areas of development.
• Manage and/or mentor Junior User Researchers.
• Participate in HMRC's cross-government research and conferences.

Essential Criteria:

You will already have experience and understanding of:

• The ability to understand what problem your team is trying to solve and align qualitative and quantitative user research activities to inform decision making and action.
• Robust research and analysis skills.
• Using a range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies including ethnographic techniques, usability testing, remote testing, and survey design.
• The ability to design and plan research projects for digital services, including the recruitment of research participants and utilising various channels and avenues for participant recruitment.
• Analysing and synthesising user research data to generate actionable recommendations.
• A good understanding of the diversity of users of government services, and the ability to include many kinds of users in appropriate research activities.
• Producing appropriate research outputs to demonstrate insights and recommendations.
• Presenting clear findings that colleagues can understand and use.
• Advocating for the value of user research and engaging sceptical stakeholders.
• Experience of running inclusive research including with those with barriers to access, accessibility needs and hard-to-reach users.
• An understanding of agile approaches and experience of working in agile teams.
• A degree in psychology, cognitive science, human factors, computer science, product/interaction design, human-computer interaction or related disciplines or relevant user research experience.

Technical skills

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• User research methods
• Analysis and Synthesis
• Inclusive research
• Stakeholder relationship management

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,110, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £12,778 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs. We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days. Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues' Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary. Family friendly policies. Personal support. Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it’s really like to work for HMRC, hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.

How to Apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:

• A name-blind CV including your job history, qualifications and previous experiences.
• A 750-word personal statement which will outline how you are suitable for this role and how you meet the essential and desirable criteria, providing evidence where possible.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Eligibility

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers:

This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need. Please consider the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the 'location preferences' section that you can travel to.

Additional Information

We are looking into ways to enhance the applicant experience. As part of our legitimate interests, we are testing the use of new technologies such as automation and/or Artificial Intelligence in the assessment for CV, personal statement and behaviour statement.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• Individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences. Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.