On behalf of DWP we are looking for a Digital User Researcher for a 12 Month (Inside IR35) contract. Hybrid working with 3 days per week required in Newcastle.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions, and child maintenance policy. As the UK's biggest public service department, it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers. As such, we operate on a scale that is almost unmatched anywhere in Europe and most people in Britain come into contact with us at some point in their lives.
Working with DWP, you will be helping us to drive our priorities to:
* Help people to move into work and support those already in work to progress, with the aim of increasing overall workforce participation
* Help people to plan and save for later life, while providing a safety net for those who need it now
* Provide effective, efficient, and innovative services to the millions of claimants who rely on us every day, including the most vulnerable in society
* Improve experience of our services while maximising value for money for the taxpayer.
As a Digital User Researcher your main responsibilities will be to:
* Plan and design user research programmes, testing both high level concepts and specific aspects of the services as it is designed and developed.
* Work within agile project teams, providing, to the team, a focus on user centred design.
* Generate new and useful insights related to DWP users for the project team to leverage, ensuring where relevant that the insights influence design decision.
* Communicate the insights gained from user research outputs to both the project team and wider stakeholder, helping to enhance organisational understanding of the users that drives decisions and actionable recommendations.
* Maintain and develop relationships across the product teams, guiding the team in understanding research appropriates and insights.
* Plan and conduct research that considers the diversity of users, keeping in mind access needs and the ethical nature of research.
* Conduct user research using a range of research methods, selecting the appropriate method, both qualitative and quantitative, depending on the requirements of the programme.
Essential:
* Previous experience of user research or appropriate experience of other fields of research.
* Demonstrable knowledge of a number of research methods relating to users and/or customers of a service.
* Experience of conducting contextual and discovery phase research.
* Proven experience of both quantitative & qualitative analysis of research data.
* Strong understanding of strengths and limitations of different research methods.
* Worked in different phases of user research - Discovery, Alpha, Beta, Live phase.
* Previous experience in identifying the appropriate research plan for a given objective
* Experience in user centred design practices and knowledge of how to embed them into an agile workflow.
* GDS knowledge and 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, DWP 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 exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.
Armed Forces Covenant
DWP guarantees to interview veterans or spouses / partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates / military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.
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".