Senior User Researcher

London, United Kingdom | Posted on 28/10/2025 Scrumconnect Consulting is a UK national SME award-winning software development consultancy with over 300 consultants across the UK. We work with UK Public sector clients to build impactful, award-winning digital services that improve millions of lives. We take as much pride in our people, culture and work-life balance as we do in making services that improve millions of lives. Collaborative, entrepreneurial and dedicated to problem-solving, we bring the step change our customers need to sustain innovation. 3 ways we are different We’re not just a consultancy. We’re a community. Our knowledge-sharing, learning/unlearning, problem‑solving culture benefits our consultants and our clients. All our people are highly experienced. Our consultants typically have at least 10 years experience of solving difficult business problems. Handpicked high‑performing teams with high empathy, trust and a mindset of continuous learning. Senior user researcher A senior user researcher practitioner who is able to plan and lead user research activities in larger teams and on more complex services. At this level, you will be expected to: Build user‑centred practices in new teams Align user research activities with wider plans to inform a service proposition Supervise and develop other user researchers to assure and improve research practice Skills needed for this role Analysis and synthesis. You understand and can help teams apply a range of methods to analyse research data and synthesise findings. You know how to engage sceptical colleagues in analysis and synthesis. You can advise on choice and application of techniques, and can critique colleagues’ findings to assure best practice. (Relevant skill level: practitioner) Inclusive research. You can help teams understand the diversity of users of government services. You know how to include all kinds of users in appropriate research activities. You can advocate for inclusive practices and help teams design and deliver accessible services that work for all users. (Relevant skill level: practitioner) Research skills. You have experience of, and can help teams adopt, a wide range of user research methods. You can plan user research for services with challenging user needs and complex user journeys. You can advise colleagues on the choice and application of research methods to assure best practice. (Relevant skill level: practitioner) Society and technology. You understand the social and technological context for government services. You can align user research activities to help your team understand changing user behaviour. (Relevant skill level: working) Strategic insight. You understand what problem the team is trying to solve. You can align user research activities to inform decision making and action. (Relevant skill level: working) Technical understanding. You know about the technologies used to build and operate digital services. You can collaborate closely with colleagues in different digital disciplines. (Relevant skill level: practitioner) User‑centred and agile practices. You understand and have experience of a range of user‑centred practices. You can help inexperienced teams adopt user‑centred practices and embed them into their agile workflow. You can advocate for user research and engage sceptical colleagues and stakeholders. (Relevant skill level: practitioner) Requirements As discussed below are the details. Address for London office: 20 Great Smith St, London SW1P 3BT Inside IR36. 4/5 months with potential extension, 2 days from site (Coventry or London). I will call tomorrow as planned. About the client: The Apprenticeship Service is an award‑winning and GDS‑assured digital service, which was established as a key element of the Apprenticeships Reform Programme. Part of the programme was to develop an end‑to‑end service in response to the reforms required, and later the transition of all non‑levy employers onto the service. The service now supports circa 180,000 employers. It delivers the key functionality to provide an employer‑led service and create a consolidated support service that ensures a positive user experience and cost savings for DfE. Project Objective This is a specialist going in a multi‑disciplinary teams. Current key areas of focus for the project are: Managing quality and demand for apprenticeships through further improvements to our vacancy services [Recruit an Apprentice and Find an Apprenticeship], employer and apprentice feedback mechanisms, managing standards through the register, supporting new accountability measures and progress tracking. Work has been agreed to schedule further Quality Strategy items later in FY22‑23. Enhancing our services and improving user journeys in response to feedback from providers and SMEs to simplify elements of the service. This is supported by Minister Burghart who has set out his intentions to ensure a ‘friction‑free’ service for these users. Deliverables in this space include a simplified payments process, changes in response to college feedback, and streamlining QA processes. Areas have been identified to simplify service capabilities that will be incrementally introduced throughout FY22‑23. Developments to enable greater flexibility and uptake in the delivery of apprenticeships through flexible apprenticeship models, including portable (now flexi‑job apprenticeships), and accelerated apprenticeships – all of which require payment mechanisms and business processes. This also includes developing the capability to integrate Flexi‑job apprenticeship agencies and their delivery model into the relevant points in the digital user journey across the Service. Wider value of capabilities to DfE including Customer Support tools [e.g. Zendesk], curated content and content architecture, single sign‑on capability, marketing platforms, provider register automation and employer demand. Implementing recommendations from the Employer Compliance Taskforce in order to mitigate fraud and compliance risks, and supporting further compliance work associated with the phase 3 extension of employer incentive payments. Success Criteria Milestones High quality user research to plan, facilitate, analyse, and manage research data effectively. Research plan created and maintained and provided with relevant methods, questions, and hypotheses at each phase of work and is signed off at each phase according to COP product ownership processes. Informed consent gathered from participants before research sessions. Evidence of researching with users with accessibility needs and low digital skills throughout the project. Approved by Senior User researcher / Head of Customer Experience. Projects to be completed by 16th June. Timely outputs and research data managed, analysed, and reviewed to inform product development. Information captured, documented, and approved according to COP approval process and shared with team through ceremonies. Research data recorded on the planning software (i.e., Jira, Trello, Lucid Spark etc.) and saved in agreed repository at each phase of the project. Raw research data stored in secure area aligned to government storage regulations. Research gathered approved by Senior User Researcher / Head of Customer Experience. Research documentation updated and findings re‑used as required for iterative development across customer groups and wider service approved according to COP approval process. Sharing research findings across the service to help create empathy with our users. Service user needs articulated. Evidence of user needs to inform stakeholder of emerging trends and priorities for product/service development. Build internal stakeholder and team capability through sharing knowledge and best practice. All relevant and useful information to be sufficient and shared in order to build capability of relevant stakeholders. Share any knowledge of risks or potential blockers on the team with the Head of Customer Experience / Senior User Researcher. Facilitate continuous improvement and coach team / give individual support to apply the most appropriate research tools and techniques to delivery. #J-18808-Ljbffr