User Researcher - DV Clearance is required (UK Public Sector, Classified Programme)£760 per day | Inside IR35 | Hybrid (London & South of England)
I'm currently looking for a senior User Researcher to join a highly classified UK public sector programme delivering a critical national capability. This is a hands‑on, delivery‑focused role where your work directly informs business change, onboarding, operational processes, and service design in a secure environment. This isn't a theory‑heavy or UI‑led UX role. You'll be embedded with delivery teams and senior stakeholders, spending your time understanding how people really work, the constraints they operate under, and what needs to change to make services function effectively.
What you'll be working on
You'll plan and conduct qualitative user research onsite in classified environments, working closely with senior civilian and operational stakeholders. You'll translate what you learn into practical, decision‑ready outputs that feed directly into delivery.
Your day‑to‑day will include:
Conducting user research with constrained and specialist user groups
Engaging confidently with senior stakeholders who don't "speak UX"
Producing personas, journey maps, and process models that reflect real operations
Turning research into business change assessments, onboarding and IMPEX outputs
Supporting service wrap and operational design
Documenting findings using approved, secure systems
Working as part of an Agile delivery teamWhat you'll need to haveTo be considered, your CV must clearly show evidence of the following:
Active DV clearance (sole UK national - non‑negotiable)
User research experience within the UK public sector
Strong qualitative research and stakeholder engagement skills
Experience working with restricted or hard‑to‑reach user populations
Ability to translate research into business change and operational outputs
Confidence working with senior, time‑poor stakeholders
Experience working in Agile delivery environments
Comfort working onsite in secure, classified settings with constrained toolingExperience with the GDS Service Standard, producing business change documentation, or tools such as Jira and Confluence is helpful but not essential.
Important note on applications
Please make sure your submitted CV clearly includes all the required skills and experience listed above. DV Clearance is mandatory for this position. Profiles that don't explicitly demonstrate these will not be flagged as relevant for the programme.If this sounds like the kind of work you enjoy - practical, grown‑up research that genuinely influences how services and operations run - I'd love to hear from you.Happy to talk it through and give you more context before anything formal.
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