Lead User Researcher
Grade A: £55,172 (National) or £61,028 (London – for London office based or homebased workers within the boundary of the M25) – There is also an additional homeworking allowance of £600 per annum for those working from home.
Contracted Hours: Full-time, 37 hours per week.
Contract Type: Permanent.
Location: Home or office based, flexible location (or London office). Hybrid working (working two days a week from home). CQC’s offices are in London, Newcastle, Leeds, Nottingham, and Bristol.
Potential Interview Date: w/c 5 January 2026.
Every role at CQC contributes to our mission. As Lead User Researcher, you will work within the Content Design & Channel Management team to understand all our users’ needs and help design services around them.
Help improve the usability, accessibility, and clarity of digital services for thousands of our staff, tens of thousands of care providers, and millions of members of the public.
- Shape the way we publish information from our assessments of care services.
- Build a strong community of practice for user researchers.
Planning and leading user research activities across projects.
- Analysing research data and presenting actionable insights.
- Championing user-centred design principles within the organisation.
- Experience planning and delivering user research projects.
- Ability to present research findings to senior stakeholders.
- Knowledge of a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Some roles may also be subject to a satisfactory DBS check.
If you apply, you’ll need to create a profile and complete an online application form. If you’d like an informal chat about the role, contact Owen Griffiths, Deputy Director of Content Design and Channel Management at Owen.griffiths@cqc.org.uk. For general enquiries, please email recruitment@cqc.org.uk.
Annual leave starting at 27 days per year, rising to 32.5 days with service, plus bank holidays (usually eight days per year).
- Training and development opportunities.
- Wellbeing initiatives, such as gym discounts and meditation.
- NHS pension scheme, with around 14% employer contribution.
- Discount schemes (including eligibility for a Blue Light card, at a cost of £4.99 and valid for two years), reward vouchers, car leasing, and more!
Research shows they can cause some people to doubt whether they’re a good fit. If you’d like to chat, please contact recruitment@cqc.org.uk. We promote a workplace where fairness, respect and inclusion are a priority. Diverse teams make our work better, help us deliver our mission, and make our culture stronger. We welcome applications from everyone, and colleagues can find support and community among our many employee networks. Disability
We are guided by our core values, which shape our work and our culture.
We are a disability confident employer and a carer confident employer.
A Note on AI
AI tools can be great for research and refining ideas, but we want to learn about you. If you use AI or Chatbots to help you with your application, keep these points in mind:
- AI can support research, structuring, and refining your writing, but your application must reflect your real skills and experience.
- Spell-checking and condensing word counts are great ways to use AI effectively.
- Do not copy and paste AI-generated answers. These will not help you stand out; Providing false and insincere examples goes against our core values of honesty and integrity and may lead to your application being withdrawn or termination of your employment.