Research Operations Specialist

5 months ago


Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Full time

Are you interested in solving user research problems at scale?

Defra has 80+ user researchers working across a portfolio of digital programmes and projects. Defra's Research Operations (ReOps) team works to enable user researchers to do their best work.

We are looking for three Research Operations Specialists to join our vibrant team on a permanent basis.

ReOps Specialists enable user researchers to develop a deep knowledge of users, creating efficiencies in the way Defra works.

ReOps Specialists see that the user research profession is effectively supported to deliver high quality and consistent research, while managing and reducing risks to the organisation.

You will work in tandem with user researchers and other specialisms across Defra (recruitment, finance, legal, and Human Resources). You will join with user research leadership to deliver programmes of work that deliver against the wider user research strategy.

You’ll help to solve problems like:

- freeing up researcher time with better ways of working
- ensuring compliance with research professional standards: ethical, legal, quality
- making research insights findable and reusable
- managing research participant data securely
- balancing project timescales with recruiting the right research participants.

To learn more about user research at Defra, read our blog post, ‘User Research - what’s it all about?’.

**Person specification**

**Responsibilities**
- Developing policy, procedure, templates, and guidance for user researchers across the board to work to.
- Introducing methods and new ways of working to improve performance in the user research team, in line with ambitions set out in the user research strategy.
- Developing onboarding processes for new starters - including standards, guidance, ways of working, accessibility standards and participant consent processes.
- Developing and delivering timely communications to the user research community, responding to queries from researchers at varying grades.
- Overseeing the procurement, management and compliance of tools and technology used by user researchers, in line with best-practice and legal obligations.
- Working with stakeholders across Product and Experience, Defra, Arm’s Length Bodies, and government to deliver programmes of work across the eight pillars of Research Operations.
- Identifying, escalating, resolving, and managing risks at various scales (operational, fiscal, legal, data and security etc.)
- Supporting the growth and development of ReOps in Defra through team recruitment campaigns and line management of ReOps staff.

**Skills and experience**
- A working level knowledge of user research methods, tools, and best practices and knowledge of legal and compliance aspects of research.
- Experience of using or helping users working on Qualtrics, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft 365.
- Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills.
- Experience of working with stakeholders in cross-functional environments to establish business needs and aligning delivery to these needs.
- A proactive, flexible, and problem-solving attitude, with a commitment to continuous learning and development.
- A high level of attention to detail, quality assurance, risk management and commercial acumen.

**Please keep reading.**

So, if you think you have what it takes, but do not necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch.

We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of disability, neurodivergence, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender and gender presentation, marital status, sexual orientation, culture, or religion.

**Job Types**: Full-time, Permanent

**Salary**: £39,439.00-£47,039.00 per year

**Benefits**:

- Additional leave
- Canteen
- Casual dress
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee discount
- Flexitime
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Sick pay
- Work from home

Schedule:

- Holidays
- Monday to Friday

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Newcastle Upon Tyne

Reference ID: 345108



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