User Researcher

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 414236

**Salary**:

- £36,396 - £39,424
- A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

**Job grade**:

- Higher Executive Officer

**Contract type**:

- Permanent
Fixed term

**Length of employment**:

- 12 Months FTC

**Business area**:

- PINS - Corporate Services

**Type of role**:

- Digital

**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time

**Number of jobs available**:

- 2

**Contents**:

- Location
- About the job
- Benefits
- Things you need to know

**Location**:

- Bristol, South West England, BS1 6PN

**About the job**:
**Job summary**:
We are looking for an experienced, proactive and engaging User Researcher to help us design Planning Inspectorate digital services. You’ll be working with a multidisciplinary team to help deliver changes to our citizen facing and internal digital and data services that will change the way the Planning Inspectorate delivers value for our customers.

The Planning Inspectorate has a long and proud history in ensuring a fair planning system for England. The work we do has a significant impact on people’s lives, the communities where they live and the economy.

We want our colleagues to be able to work more flexibly and more collaboratively, exploring new and innovative ways to improve the way we provide services.

For further information on the Planning Inspectorate, please visit our careers page at Civil Service Careers

**Job description**:
We’re looking for a confident and collaborative User Researcher to help shape the future of digital services at the Planning Inspectorate. You’ll work closely with a multidisciplinary team to design and deliver improvements to both public-facing and internal digital and data services—transforming how we create value for our users.

You will work collaboratively with a multi-disciplinary project team, to gather and analyse user research feedback and outline and share research insight with the team, helping to ensure that services are user focussed and clear, and ensuring new ways of working are embraced and our services delivered in line with project goals and delivery cycles. You will be an integral part of the digital team whilst working on the project and helping to maintain design standards whilst improving processes, strategies, and methods.

**Role types and Salary details**

There are two roles available at different employment types:
1 x HEO Grade - Permanent - Salary Range £36,396 - £39,424

1 x HEO Grade - Fixed Term Contract 12 Months, Salary Range - £36,396 - £39,424

**Salary**

**Working hours**:
Standard working week is 37 hours, flexible working hours policy available.

**Office Attendance**

**Person specification**:
**Essential Criteria**
- Understanding and experience of a range of user research methodologies, and the ability to choose appropriate methods for web, digital services or software development.
- Experience of working in multidisciplinary teams to embed user-centred design practices and deliver continuous user research.
- Experience of advocating user research, and engaging colleagues and stakeholders in research activities and findings.
- Understanding of the diversity of users of government services and the need to make services usable and accessible for everyone.
- Experience of using qualitative and quantitative data about users to turn user focus into outcomes. Delivers analysis and information that addresses stakeholder needs and provides recommendations.
- Experience of presenting user research findings in a wide variety of formats.
- Knowledge of accessibility guidelines and how to ensure that digital services are accessible to all users, including users with low digital skills.
- Experience of designing and facilitating workshops.
- Relevant degree or professional qualification (e.g. Subjects such as psychology, social sciences, human-computer interaction, human factors/ergonomics, anthropology or related fields) or willingness to study for a qualification within a reasonable length of time.

**Desirable Criteria**
- Experience of working within an Agile environment using SCRUM, and experience of the full software development lifecycle.
- Experience of the Government Service Standard.

**Experience**
- See Essential Criteria

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

- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
- Communicating and Influencing

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

- Analysing user research findings and identifying insight from the feedback.

**Benefits**:

- Alongside your salary of £36,396, Planning Inspectorate contributes £10,543 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
- Flexible working options, including flexi-time, part-time, compressed hours and home working if suitable for the role.
- A working culture