SC Cleared Lead UX Researcher

On behalf of The Home Office we are looking for a SC cleared Lead UX Researcher (Inside IR35) for a 8 month contract working remotely with occasional travel to Croydon.

The first duty of Government is to protect the public. Since 1782, the Home Office has led work to keep the country safe from those who seek to do it harm; in doing so, we make a vital contribution to HM Government's plan for a stronger, fairer, outward-looking and united Britain.

In this role you will work within a fast-paced delivery team - either across several smaller services or dedicated to one larger programme of work. Your research will inform policy, proposition, service, content and interaction design so that digital services work well for users and achieve their policy intent.

As a Lead UX Researcher you will plan and lead user research activities in large teams and on complex services. You will develop research strategy and test design, as well as leading on expansive discovery research and analysis within the broad problem space. You will lead research using a range of methods, including usability testing, contextual interviews, pop-up testing, and will lead on rapid analysis that involves the wider team whenever possible. You will also carry out mentoring, training and other activities designed to up-skill junior staff in primary research techniques.

As a Lead UX Researcher your main responsibilities will be:
. Leading the planning, design and execution of user research and usability testing to understand user needs and behaviours and inform the design and development of government services.
. Influencing how decisions are made and constructively challenging ways of thinking at both the team and senior stakeholder level.
. Taking a user centred, evidence-based approach by turning user research findings into actionable insights that influence service/product development.
. Supporting digital delivery teams to build accessible digital services by ensuring that participants with access needs and low digital skills are included in all research.
. Sharing insights from research and examples of best practice where they can help other researchers across the Home Office.
. Aligning user research activities with wider organisational objectives to provide strategic insights that inform policy and proposition.
. Presenting research findings and related recommendations to senior decision makers across government.
. Identifying, mitigating, or escalating risks to conducting and implementing research
. Taking an active role in the UCD community of practice in NLEDP.

Essential:
. An active SC Clearance is an essential requirement for this role, as a minimum you must be eligible and willing to undergo these checks.
. Experience of understanding and applying a range of user research methods correctly for different life cycle phases and advising others on these methods.
. Experience of communicating insights from research in a clear and impactful way that drives change in the design of services and informs policy and proposition.
. Experience of establishing an effective user centred design culture in a team and supporting them to embed user centred design practices into their agile workflow.
. Experience of convincing senior stakeholders about the benefits of adopting a user-centred approach, based on evidence.
. Experience of establishing and applying ethical research standards and practices to ensure the safeguarding and wellbeing of participants and researchers.
. Experience of researching diverse audiences to help teams deliver accessible and inclusive digital services.
. Public Sector experience.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, the Home Office guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".