Current jobs related to Senior User Researcher - London, Greater London - UK Government - Department for Business and Trade

Details
Reference number

442017

Salary

£44,586 - £59,466

London: £48,485 to £59,466 / National: £44,586 - £55,649 (including allowance). Your salary will be determined by your skills and capability as assessed at interview.

GBP

Job grade

Senior Executive Officer

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

DBT - CS - Digital, Data and Technology

Type of role

Administration / Corporate Support

Digital

Information Technology

Project Delivery

Other

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Part-time

Number of jobs available

2

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Salford

About the job
Job summary

About us

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has a clear mission - to grow the economy. Our role is to help businesses invest, grow and export to create jobs and opportunities right across the country. We do this in three ways.

Firstly, we help to build a strong, competitive business environment, where consumers are protected and companies rewarded for treating their employees properly.

Secondly, we open international markets and ensure resilient supply chains. This can be through Free Trade Agreements, trade facilitation and multilateral agreements.

Finally, we work in partnership with businesses every day, providing advance, finance and deal-making support to those looking to start up, invest, export and grow.

The Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) directorate develops and operates tools and services to support us in this mission. The team have been nominated four times in a row for 'Best Public Sector Employer' at the Women in Tech awards

Job description

As a Senior User Researcher, you'll play a key leadership role in our User Centred Design Community working as part of a multidisciplinary team collaborating with teams across DBT. You will be conducting your own research, championing quality, innovation, and creativity in how we approach all aspects of design and how we bring concepts to life for stakeholders to effect change. Within your role you will understand the importance of inclusive research practices, taking pride in ensuring research is representative of a wide range of people and communities that DBT serve.

Senior User Researchers at the Department for Business and Trade plan, design and carry out research activities with users that help teams develop a deep understanding of the people that use government services, citizens, businesses, and government. User research informs policy, proposition, service, content, and interaction design so that services work well for users and achieve policy intent.

As a Senior User Researcher, reporting to a Lead User Researcher, you will need to be an experienced practitioner who can plan, design, and conduct user research activities in larger teams and on complex government services.

Main responsibilities

You will:

• Conduct user research in complex subject areas, and supervise and develop other user researchers to ensure research practice is high quality, ethical, and safe
• Build user-centred practices in multi-disciplinary teams using agile and iterative user-centred design methods
• Effectively communicate user research findings to the team and the wider organisation, to influence delivery
• Help teams to research inclusively with a wide range of users, including those with additional needs and other hard-to-reach groups
• Take a dynamic role in the DBT user research community, helping develop and improve our practice across the department
• Help teams build services that apply the Government Service Standard, supporting teams to prepare for service assessments in line with GDS guidelines for building a good service
• Identify metrics and other data that's available to support user research and use this data to enhance your team's understanding of user needs
• Lead on planning, designing and preparing a range of user research activities to support the design, development and continuous improvement of our services

Person specification

Skills and experience

It is essential that you have:

• Experience of designing and delivering inclusive user research with a range of users
• Experience of qualitative research methodologies and knowing how to apply different methods to different research projects
• The ability to create actionable, evidenced-based insights using a variety of techniques to tell compelling stories
• Experience of developing user research practices and a good understanding of the key standards in assuring the quality of user research
• To be able to explain the value of research practice. navigate stakeholder landscapes and gain support for research plans, findings, and ways of working
• Experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team, working directly with other professions to ensure effective and timely delivery

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• Agile research practices
• Analysis and synthesis
• Inclusive research
• Research management, leadership and assurance
• Stakeholder relationship management
• User research methods
• User-centred practice and advocacy

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know
Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

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

At the interview stage for this role, you will be asked to demonstrate relevant Technical Skills and Behaviours listed above, from the Success Profiles framework. These are role specific and in line with the DDaT Capability Framework.

How to apply

As part of the application process you will be asked to upload a two-page CV and complete a 750 word personal statement outlining how you meet the essential skills and experience listed above. You can use bullet points and subheadings if you prefer.

Sift will be from week commencing 12th January 2026

Interviews will be from week commencing 19th January 2026

Please note these dates are indicative and may be subject to change.

If there is a high volume of applications, we will sift looking at your personal statement only. You may then be progressed to full sift or straight to interview.

How we offer

Offers will be made in merit order based on location preferences. If you pass the bar at interview but are not the highest scoring you will be held on a 12-month reserve list in case a role becomes available. If you are judged a near miss at interview, you may be offered a post at the grade below the one you applied for.

This role requires SC clearance. DBT's requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. Failure to meet this requirement will result in your application being rejected and your offer will be withdrawn.

Checks will also be made against:

• departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
• your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
• security services record
• location details

More about us

This role can only be worked from within the UK, not overseas. If you are based in London, you will receive London weighting. DBT employees are contracted to work in a hybrid pattern, spending 2-3 days a week (pro rata) in the office. Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DBT, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

You can find out more about our office locations, how we calculate salaries, our diversity statement and reasonable adjustments, the Recruitment Principles, the Civil Service code and our complaints procedure on our website.

Find out more about life at DBT, our benefits and meet the team by watching our video or reading our blog

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check .

See our vetting charter .

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) 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)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for 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
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles .

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants
Job contact :

• Name : DDaT Recruitment
• Email :

Recruitment team

• Email :

Further information

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DBT by email at If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Civil Service Commission Complaints

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