User Researcher

As the living, growing home of our national story, The National Archives is a special place to work. We’re an institution nearly 200 years old with a collection spanning 1,000 years of history. We’ve set ourselves the challenge of becoming the 21st Century national archive - a different kind of cultural and heritage institution: Inclusive, Entrepreneurial, Disruptive.

We are seeking 2 User Researchers to help create outstanding user-centred digital services. The roles sit within Digital Archiving / Digital Services at The National Archives, the official archive of the UK Government and for England and Wales. We care for millions of public records spanning government, courts and parliament. Our oldest records are from over a thousand years ago. We are committed to making these collections accessible through high-quality digital services for future generations.

As a User Researcher, you will help teams understand user needs and behaviours through evidence-based research. Using a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, you will generate insights that inform service design, support decision-making and ensure our products and services meet the needs of diverse users. You will work closely with multidisciplinary teams to identify opportunities, shape solutions and advocate for users throughout the product lifecycle.

This role would suit someone who is curious, analytical and motivated by solving complex problems through research and evidence. You will enjoy working collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams, communicating insights to a range of audiences and helping teams make better decisions based on user needs. You will be comfortable balancing short-term delivery priorities with the development of longer-term organisational understanding of users and their behaviours.

Essential Experience and skills

• Experience conducting user research for digital products and services
• Demonstrable experience using qualitative and quantitative research methods to maximise insight with a strong desire to stay up to date with emerging methodologies and standards
• Ability to collaborate within a multidisciplinary team, stakeholder groups and User experience community
• Experience of following ethical research practices, collecting and managing personal data safely in compliance with GDPR
• Familiarity with accessibility guidelines and digital inclusion principles and how they apply to user research
• Paying attention to detail with strong critical thinking and analytical skills
• Effective communication with an instinct to work in the open by sharing research workflows and breaking research findings down into actionable insights
• Organisational skills with experience planning and iterating research work and managing documentation over the lifespan of a service

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the government digital service standard and experience of applying user research to digital services at different stages of development (Discovery, Alpha, Beta, Live)
• Awareness of the technologies used to build and operate digital services
• Experience researching systems that use AI or Large Language Models
• Qualification in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, Social science, Digital marketing, Product design or similar disciplines

This is a full-time post. However, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share arrangements will be considered subject to business needs. A combination of home and office working is available. Successful candidates must be able to travel regularly to our Kew site and work on-site for at least 60% of their time. Occasional travel for user research activities and very occasional out-of-hours working may be required.

Alongside your salary there is a generous benefits package, including pension, sports and social club facilities, onsite gym, discounted rates at our on-site cafe and opportunities for training and development.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Applicants will be required to submit work history and answer three questions about your work experience, related to the essential criteria listed above. Your work history and your question answers will be assessed against the criteria.

Successful candidates will be invited to interview onsite at The National Archives. This will include a practical activity designed to give you the opportunity to show us how you approach research.