Senior User Researcher - Government Legal Department - G7
Government Digital & Data -
Location
Bristol, Croydon, Leeds, London, Manchester
About the job
Job summary
About Government Legal Department
From healthcare to artificial intelligence, energy to national security, we provide legal advice to government departments on nation-changing subjects.
At Government Legal Department we have a vital, single-minded purpose: to help the Government govern well within the rule of law. This is complemented by our exciting vision to be an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism and a brilliant place to work where we can all thrive and fulfill our potential.
Our work touches almost every aspect of public life. We are the largest provider of legal services across government, working on high profile matters.
Our respected professionals are involved in everything from regulation and litigation to advice on drafting legislation. They provide expertise to the full range of government departments. We are at the heart of delivering the government’s priorities and our success depends on our people.
GLD is a non-ministerial government department headed by the Treasury Solicitor, our Permanent Secretary, and employs nearly 3000 people, including over 2600 legal professionals. We have offices nationwide, in Bristol, Leeds, inner and outer London and Manchester. Our lawyers can also be located within other departments and overseas.
GLD also depends on a range of cross-government professionals to provide our corporate services. These play an essential part in helping GLD to achieve its purpose and truly deliver much more than law.
This is an exciting time to join GLD, with cutting edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service.
To find out more about what we do you can view our introductory film here and visit the GLD’s microsite. You can also read more about the future vision for GLD in our GLD Strategy 2024 – 2027.
The Digital, Data and Cyber Team is transforming the way GLD works through modern technology, data and digital services.
We are building a modern digital workplace that empowers our people, strengthens collaboration and enables the organisation to operate efficiently, securely and sustainably.
Through agile delivery and user-centred approaches, we design and deliver products and services in partnership with the people who use them, ensuring solutions meet real needs and deliver lasting value.
As part of the wider Government Digital and Data profession, we play a key role in transforming how government operates, enabling better outcomes for colleagues, stakeholders and the public we serve.
Job description
The Role
This role sits in the Digital Delivery team, which is responsible for the maintenance and continuous improvement of GLD’s existing digital services, and the development of new digital services to support GLD staff working across government.
We are looking for a Senior User Researcher who can plan and lead user research activities for digital products and services at all stages of the product lifecycle.
Key responsibilities include but are not limited to:
- Championing user-centred design, embedding research-led thinking and agile practices across teams.
- Driving user research and usability testing to shape and continuously improve products and services.
- Turning complex research into compelling insights that influence decisions and challenge assumptions.
- Collaborating across disciplines to transform evidence into service improvements that deliver real user value.
- Communicating research findings in compelling ways that influence decisions, drive change and improve services.
- Championing inclusive research practices, ensuring services are shaped by users of all abilities and digital confidence levels.
- Embedding ethical research standards that protect and support both participants and researchers.
- Line managing and mentoring junior user researchers, helping them develop their skills, confidence and careers while delivering impactful user-centred research.
- Assuring the quality of research delivered by external suppliers, ensuring best practice and compliance with government standards.
Learn more about what user researchers do in government.
Person specification
Behaviours
Below are details of the Success Profiles that make up this role. Demonstrating all the behaviours listed below is essential at either application or interview. You can read more about Success Profiles here.
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and influencing
Key Skills and Experience
Essential – must be demonstrated at application and interview
- Experience of embedding user research within Agile delivery to inform priorities and continuously improve services.
- You have turned diverse sources of evidence into strategic insights that influence decision-making at every level.
- Experience of helping multidisciplinary teams use research and data to make better decisions and deliver greater impact.
- You will have led inclusive and accessible research practices that ensure all users are represented.
- Experience of setting the standard for ethical, compliant and user-centred research across the organisation. Mentoring researchers, assuring research quality and developing organisational capability.
- You build trusted relationships across senior, operational and technical audiences to drive understanding, alignment and action, translating complex research into compelling narratives that influence priorities, secure buy-in and build consensus.
- Experience of leading the planning, design and delivery of research across complex, high-profile products and services.
- Confidence in selecting and adapting research approaches to suit different delivery stages, user needs and business challenges.
- Experience of embedding user-centred design practices within multidisciplinary teams and keeping user needs at the heart of decision-making, confidently challenging assumptions and shaping decisions through robust research and user insight.
