User Researcher

Please make sure you read the following details carefully before making any applications.

Location: Remote with office work 1-2 a month in London, Manchester, Newcastle or Portsmouth

Salary/Rate: £363 a day inside IR35

We are looking for an outstanding Senior User Researcher who can make a positive impact and contribute to the most demanding and exciting new digital service for the UK government. Better digital services in government will change the face of public services and have the potential to dramatically transform the future of millions of people.

You have a strong research background, with experience in the full range of user research and design methods and the ability to translate research findings into actionable recommendations. You should be ready to quickly get to work in an agile multidisciplinary team at HMRC. You will draw value from collaboration with others, actively seeking input from colleagues and valuing a multidisciplinary team.

You will be passionate about integrating user insights into the design process of a service, ensuring that quality user research is both carried out and delivered effectively into the design process and final service.

• Lead on research projects, working with a wider team of Designers, Analysts and Developers to help define and deliver the best methodology to address the specific needs in producing a responsive digital service.
• Familiarise yourself with the project’s user research work to date and devise a strategy for moving the work forward.
• Plan, design and conduct user research sessions on a regular basis, testing both high-level concepts and aspects of the service as it is designed and developed, and developing and maintaining a picture of the users.
• Collaboratively analyse the findings of user research to identify common themes and points of user contention and provide actionable recommendations to the relevant team members.
• Apply knowledge in human factors, ethnography, and the user-centred design process to product and service design in an iterative development environment.
• Use findings of user data to work closely with designers and analysts to iterate the developing service.
• Thrive working in an agile environment, using your own creativity, resourcefulness and initiative to maximise the quality of user research and its impact on the service development.
• Be visible within the team and be able to engage, build trust and energise a team culture that is responsive to the findings of user research.

• Extensive practical experience of qualitative research methodologies, in terms of design, execution and analysis.
• Experience of working within an agile project environment, and maintaining effective performance in difficult and challenging circumstances.
• Practical experience of quantitative research methodologies.
• An understanding of service design, visual design, frontend development and agile methodologies.
• Proven experience of gathering user requirements for web-based services.
• Proven experience of managing, executing and analysing usability test and research sessions.
• Proven experience of working in an agile development environment with User Experience teams, designers and developers to create new digital products and services.
• Experience of audience modelling and developing design personas.
• An in-depth understanding of the available research methodologies.

Notwithstanding any guidelines given to level of experience sought, we will consider candidates from outside this range if they can demonstrate the necessary competencies. Square One is acting as both an employment agency and an employment business, and is an equal opportunities recruitment business. Square One embraces diversity and will treat everyone equally. Please see our website for our full diversity statement.