Senior User Researcher
hace 1 día
Birmingham
As a Senior User Researcher, you will: • Lead on the planning and conducting of user research activities., • Lead on defining the problems in the area you will be placed and selecting the appropriate research strategies to tackle issues and understand user needs., • Mentor and potentially manage other user researchers, enabling quality research services and the growth of the user research community across the Department., • Advocate for user-centred design and champion its value within the Department., • Conduct user research using a range of research methods, selecting the appropriate method, both qualitative and quantitative, depending on the requirements of the programme., • Work with agile teams to develop and advocate appropriate research strategies within project areas, with the goal of understanding user needs for services, and continually improving services., • Develop recommendations based on a variety of research outcomes, evaluate those outcomes to inform the product or service decision., • Be accountable for the end-to-end delivery of research, developing and delivering research that considers the time & budget vs outcomes perspective., • Advocate for inclusive research principles, planning and conducting research that considers the diversity of users, keeping in mind any access requirements users may have and the ethical nature of research.Person specification See selection process for further details. If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: • Research Benefits Alongside your salary of 57,946, Department for Work and Pensions contributes 16,786 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. We also have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes: • Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours., • Generous annual leave at least 25 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (prorata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave., • Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme., • Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly)., • Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 years continuous service., • Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes. This role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. If a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for the role and for you, you will normally be required to spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted working hours from your DWP office. If you have a disability, caring responsibilities, or other circumstances that may affect your ability to meet the minimum office attendance requirement, please discuss this with us using the contact details in this advert. Salary Information Pay for this role is from 57,946 to 68,205. Our offer to successful candidates will be based on an assessment of your skills and experience asdemonstratedat interview. Existing Civil Servants who secure a new role on lateral transfer willmaintaintheir current salary. Existing Civil Servants who gain promotion will either move to the bottom of the grade pay scale or get a 10% increase to their current salary whichever would be the greater. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Experience and Technical skills. Stage 1: Application Your application will consist of four parts: 1. A Personal Details application form., 2. Employment history - this should contain your work experience and any skills, qualifications and accomplishments relevant to the jobs you have completed., 3. Personal statement - up to 1250 words. This statement should be used to provide examples of how you meet the essential criteria below: • Advising colleagues on the best research tools and methods to use to assure best practice in research., • Collaborating with other researchers on research projects., • Championing, planning and conducting research approaches which are inclusive of all users. Experience and understanding of the ethical and data governance requirements of conducting research., • Working with senior stakeholders/clients. Experience of persuading others on the value of research, defending research findings and challenging others on the use of research., • Working with constraints and adapting approaches to mitigate against constraints. 4. Technical statement (up to 250 words). The following statement is aligned to the required technical skill of Technical Skill: Research. • Pleaseprovide oneexample from your work history thatshowcasesyour experience of leading on a complex or challenging research project or programme of work. You should cover all aspects of the research process, including rationale, design, conducting,analysisand presentation of findings. Ensure that all examples provided in your statements are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. If you choose to use gen-AI to support your statements, you must follow the guidelines outlined in the Artificial intelligence and recruitment guide. The sift panel will use the information in your employment history, personal statement, and technical statement to assess your experience, skills and knowledge. An initial sift will be conducted using the technical statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift will be progressed to a full sift. If you do progress to a full sift, you will be provided with one combined overall assessment score for both your employment history and Personal Statement. For Hints and Tips on completing your application visit Applying for jobs at DWP Digital. Important Information • You will be asked to complete your employment history any information that you would customarily share on a CV should therefore be entered onto the application form., • Personal details that could be used to identify you including your name, contact details and address must be removed for your application to be considered., • If your employment history, personal statement or technical statement contain any personal details your application will be withdrawn. If youre successful at the sift stage, youll be invited to a video interview via Microsoft Teams. During the interview, youll be assessed against the experience criteria listed under both the essential and technical skill. Questions in Advance To help you prepare and settle into the interview you will be sent the experience-based questions in advance of the interview, 7 days prior to your interview. These questions should be treated as confidential and should not be shared. The interview panel may ask you other questions which will not be shared in advance, including follow-up questions, and those about your experience and technical abilities. Candidates should be asked further probing questions if their response is deemed to require further information to determine suitability for the role. Candidates are strongly encouraged to secure their interview slot promptly to ensure fairness in preparation time with the questions provided in advance. You will also be asked to deliver a 10-minutes verbal presentation on a specific topic. The use of visual aids such as PowerPoint is not permissible. Further details will be provided to candidates invited to interview. Interviews will take place from mid- January 2026. Interview dates to be confirmed. Other information: If high application volumes are received, the benchmark for candidates to proceed to the next stage may be raised. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to advance all candidates applying under the DCS who meet the minimum standard. However, we may only progress those candidates who best meet the required standards. All successful candidates and those placed on reserve will be posted in merit list order by location. For these vacancies, we strongly recommend that applicants consult with an immigration specialist or qualified advisor to assess their eligibility for Visa Sponsorship before deciding to apply. Please note that while we consider sponsorship requests in accordance with current DWP guidance and Home Office policy, sponsorship cannot be guaranteed. Reasonable Adjustment At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. Complete the Reasonable Adjustments section in the Additional requirements page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if youre deaf, a Language Service Professional. For further information on reasonable adjustments, terms and conditions and how we recruit visit the How we recruit page. Find out more about Working for DWP A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve list candidates will be posted in merit order by location. The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Applications will be screened and if evidence of plagiarism or copying examples/answers from other sources is found, your application will be withdrawn. Internal DWP candidates may also face disciplinary action. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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) (opens in a new window), • 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 (opens in a new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window) . 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 (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window) . Apply and further information This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) 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 : Oliver Canham Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles. If you wish to make a complaint, please find further details here: . Attachments DWP Terms and Conditions January 2024 Opens in new window (docx, 17kB) Success-Profiles-Candidate-Overview (18) Opens in new window (pdf, 635kB)