Job Description
Job title: User Researcher
Location: Liverpool & London / travelling to sites across the UK
Salary: up to £50k
Vargo is recruiting for an experienced User Researcher to join our team and support large-scale public sector service transformation programmes.
You will lead high-quality user research across discovery, alpha, beta and live phases, ensuring services meet real user needs. Working within multidisciplinary teams, you will generate actionable insights that inform service design, policy interpretation and delivery decisions.
This role requires strong research skills, confidence in engaging diverse user groups, and experience in GDS-aligned environments.
Key Responsibilities
Plan, design and conduct qualitative and quantitative research.
Select suitable research methods (e.g., interviews, usability testing, surveys, diary studies).
Engage diverse user groups, including vulnerable or hard-to-reach populations.
Synthesise findings into clear, actionable insights.
Ensure research is ethical, inclusive and accessibility-compliant.
Lead research across Discovery, Alpha, Beta and Live stages.
Develop research plans and participant recruitment strategies.
Enable evidence-based decisions in service design and delivery.
Support preparation for GDS service assessments.
Work closely with Service Designers, Business Analysts, Product and Delivery Managers.
Facilitate playback sessions and insight workshops with stakeholders.
Build user-centred capability within client teams.
Support development of service performance and user satisfaction measures.
Embed feedback loops and ongoing research into live services.
Contribute to iterative improvement and optimisation of services.
Requirements
Conducting user research in complex public sector or digital environments.
Strong understanding of GDS Service Standard and user-centred design.
Experience working in agile, multidisciplinary delivery teams.
Skilled in qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Ability to communicate complex findings clearly to senior stakeholders.
Designing and conducting accessible and inclusive research.