A s a User Researcher you will: Work independently to plan and carry out research projects from preparation through to sharing of research outcomes. Make use of the most appropriate research methods and tools to turn research insights into recommendations that align with the department's goals and/or delivery outcomes. Be responsible for communicating with the users and championing core research principles to team members. Test high level and specific aspects of a service, presenting the research findings to help gain consensus and take action based on research findings. Plan and design user research programmes, testing both high level concepts and specific aspects of the services as they are designed and developed. Conduct user research using a range of research methods, selecting the appropriate method, both qualitative and quantitative, depending on the requirements of the programme. 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 and drive decisions and actionable recommendations. Maintain and develop relationships across the product teams, guiding the team in understanding research findings and insights. Work within agile project teams, providing, to the team, a focus on user centred design. Person specification See selection process for further details If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact Oliver.Canham1@dwp.gov.uk Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: Research - Understands and has experience of basic user research methods. Understands when to use those methods and how to apply them correctly. Knows how to involve their team in research activities. Benefits Alongside your salary of 44,447, Department for Work and Pensions contributes 12,876 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. We also have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes: Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours. Generous annual leave at least 25 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (prorata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave. Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme. Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly). Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 years continuous service. Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes. An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Womens Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more. This job role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business need but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for you, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post. Salary Information Pay for this role is from 44,447 to 46,547. New entrants to the Civil Service will join on band minimum. Existing Civil Servants who secure a new role on lateral transfer will maintain their current salary. Existing Civil Servants who gain promotion will either move to the bottom of the grade pay scale or get a 10% increase to their current salary whichever would be the greater. Things you need to know Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills. Stage 1: Application Your application will consist of four parts: 1. A Personal Details application form. 2. Employment history - this should contain your work experience and any skills, qualifications and accomplishments relevant to the jobs you have completed based on the essential criteria. 3. Personal statement - up to 1250 words. This statement should be used to provide examples of how you meet the essential criteria below: User research or appropriate experience in other fields of research Using a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, selecting the most appropriate method depending on the requirements Planning and conducting research that considers the diversity of users, keeping in mind access needs and the ethical nature of research Generating new and useful insights for a project team to leverage, ensuring where relevant that the insights influence decisions Communicating insights from research to project teams and wider stakeholders or clients, to inform their decisions and make actionable recommendations 4. Technical statement (up to 250 words). The following statement is aligned to the required technical skill of research. Please provide an example from your work history that showcases your research experience, covering all aspects of the research process, including rationale, design, conducting, analysis and presentation of findings. The sift panel will use the information in your employment history, personal statement, and technical statement to assess your experience, skills and knowledge. An initial sift will be conducted using the technical statement stated above. Candidates who pass the initial sift will progress to a full sift. For Hints and Tips on completing your application visit Applying for jobs at DWP Digital. Applications will be sifted at regular intervals from the date the posts are advertised. Please apply as soon as you can, do not wait until the end of the campaign. Sift dates to be confirmed. Important Information You will be asked to complete your employment history. Any information that you would customarily share on a CV should therefore be entered onto the application form. Personal details that could be used to identify you including your name, contact details and address must be removed for your application to be considered. If your employment history/personal statement contains any personal details your application will be withdrawn. Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application; however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate, and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own), applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. A candidates guide to artificial intelligence (AI) in recruitment. Stage 2: Interview If youre successful at sift stage you will be invited to a video interview via Microsoft Teams. There, you will be assessed against the following essential criteria: User research or appropriate experience in other fields of research Using a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, selecting the most appropriate method depending on the requirements Planning and conducting research that considers the diversity of users, keeping in mind access needs and the ethical nature of research Generating new and useful insights for a project team to leverage, ensuring where relevant that the insights influence decisions Communicating insights from research to project teams and wider stakeholders or clients, to inform their decisions and make actionable recommendations You will be asked to do a 10 minute presentation on a specific topic. Further details will be provided to candidates invited to interview. Interviews will take place from late October. Interview dates to be confirmed. To help you prepare and settle into the interview you will be sent the questions 5 working days prior to your interview. These questions should be treated as confidential and should not be shared. The interview panel may ask you other questions which will not be shared in advance, including follow-up questions, and those about your technical abilities. Candidates should be asked further probing questions if their response is deemed to require further information to determine suitability for the role. Candidates are strongly encouraged to secure their interview slot promptly to ensure fairness in preparation time with the questions provided in advance. Other information: If high application volumes are received, the benchmark for candidates to proceed to the next stage may be raised. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to advance all candidates applying under the DCS who meet the minimum standard. However, we may only progress those candidates who best meet the required standards. All successful candidates and those placed on reserve will be posted in merit list order by location. For these vacancies, we strongly recommend that applicants consult with an immigration specialist or qualified advisor to assess their eligibility for Visa Sponsorship before deciding to apply. Please note that while we consider sponsorship requests in accordance with current DWP guidance and Home Office policy, sponsorship cannot be guaranteed. For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional jobs offers. Further Information Find out more about Working for DWP A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve list candidates will be posted in merit order by location. The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Applications will be screened and if evidence of plagiarism or copying examples/answers from other sources is found, your application will be withdrawn. Internal DWP candidates may also face disciplinary action. Reasonable Adjustment At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via DigitalRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. Complete the Reasonable Adjustments section in the Additional requirements page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if youre deaf, a Language Service Professional. For further information on reasonable adjustments, terms and conditions and how we recruit visit the How We Recruit, page Feedback Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality requirements This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). Apply and further information This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window). Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job contact : Name : Oliver Canham Email : Oliver.Canham1@dwp.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : digitialrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk Further information Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles. If you wish to make a complaint, please find further details here: https://careers.dwp.gov.uk/how-we-recruit/. Attachments DWP Terms and Conditions January 2024 Opens in new window (docx, 17kB) Success-Profiles-Candidate-Overview-Accessble-Version Opens in new window (docx, 70kB)