Lead User Researcher Newcastle upon Tyne, England
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About the job
Job summary
At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues; an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.
We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us and we offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career at HMRC accessible to you.
Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience
and skills needed to perform this role.
See what it’s like to work at HMRC: find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question. Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.
Job description
As a Lead User Researcher you will lead user research activities across programmes of work. You will build user-centred practices in new teams, and align user research activities with wider plans to inform service propositions.
You will lead other user researchers to assure and improve research practice. You will be a leader in your field. An experienced practitioner and a skilled team leader, confident in explaining user needs and the value of User Research to senior civil servants and delivery teams alike. You will be comfortable working with a range of stakeholders, and be able to quickly build credibility, and influence and be able to inspire others to deliver high-quality user research with commercial impact.
You will have the unique opportunity to work on some of the largest digital transformation programmes undertaken in Government and other sectors:
COVID19 and EU Exit. Your role is to ensure that user needs are intrinsic to the design and implementation of our services.
You will join and lead a lively and supportive User Research community with access to research labs and facilities. Our team is passionate and committed to
conducting robust research with real-world impact and brings varied expertise from the private, voluntary and public sectors.
This is an exciting time to join an organisation that probably doesn’t work how you’d imagine a government organisation would.
Our blog tells you a bit more about what we do and how we do it: https://hmrcdigital.blog.gov.uk/category/user-research/
Person specification
- Being a leader in your field, an experienced practitioner and a skilled team leader.
- Extensive practical knowledge of a range of quantitative and qualitative user research methods. Able to guide colleagues in the choice and effective application of research methods.
- Understand the Agile delivery framework, and how to get teams to deliver effective user research within it.
- Working in an open, iterative and collaborative way in a multidisciplinary team.
- Understanding organisational strategy and objectives. Aligning user research activities with objectives to create strategic insights that inform policy and proposition.
- Communication, presentation and interpersonal skills; communicating complex concepts clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels of the organisation.
- A degree in psychology, cognitive science, human factors, computer science, product/interaction design, human-computer interaction or related disciplines, or equivalent professional experience.
It is desirable that you have:
- Understanding of the Government Service Standard and GDS Service Manual.
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Research Skills
- Analysis and synthesis
- User centred and agile practices
- Strategic insight
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete:
- Your CV and employment history. This is all about summarising your skills, knowledge and experience.
- A personal statement, which should demonstrate how you meet the user research skills ensuring you give examples relating to your professional experience as a user researcher, referring to the essential criteria and technical skills above (1000 words max).
The sift will be conducted against your CV and personal statement and those with the best skills match will be selected for interview.
We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers.
Interview Stage:
-
You will be asked to bring a portfolio to showcase the work you have done. A portfolio could include summaries of projects, accomplishments, skills and
samples of work that provide evidence of what you have done. - We will ask you to complete a short user research exercise before the interview. Details will be provided before the interview if you are successful to this stage.
During the interview we will also ask questions that let you demonstrate your experience and technical skills relevant to the role. You can use your portfolio to provide examples for the questions.
Interview dates to be confirmed.
Desirable skills will only be considered in the event of a tie.
A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.
Eligibility
To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information
Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers:
Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role.
Reasonable Adjustments
We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.
If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments, and contact [email protected] as soon as possible.
Equality and Diversity
We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued, supported and comfortable being their true self at work.
We’re proud to be a diverse and inclusive employer, supporting social mobility by giving opportunities to people from all walks of life. We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us and offer a range of flexible working patterns and support. Our aim is to make a fulfilling career at HMRC accessible to you.
For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values.
Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.
Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.
The Civil Service runs 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.
Locations
HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.
Security Update
For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks
Further Information
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.
Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application/s will be withdrawn from the process.
Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn.
Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk
Problems during the application process
If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
If you think you’ve made a mistake on a submitted application (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact [email protected] at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application.
Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 283736 & vacancy closing date 26/05/2023.
For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details within reasonable adjustments section above.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Working for the Civil Service
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).
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Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
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