Skip to main content
Post your CV and find your next job on Indeed!

Login Your jobs

Sort by: -

Job Post Details

Senior User Researcher - job post

Government Digital Service
4.0 out of 5 stars
London•Hybrid work
£57,171 - £70,834 a year - Full-time, Fixed term contract
You must create an Indeed account before continuing to the company website to apply

Job details

Pay

  • £57,171 - £70,834 a year

Job type

  • Fixed term contract
  • Full-time

Location

London•Hybrid work

Benefits

Pulled from the full job description

  • Childcare
  • Annual leave
  • Employee discount
  • Employee assistance programme
  • Company pension
  • Paid volunteer time
  • Cycle to work scheme

Full job description

Details

Reference number

466573

Salary

£57,171 - £70,834
£57,171 - £57,622 (Bristol & Manchester) £62,355 - £70,834 (London) Based on capability. The base salary of this grade is £61,620 for London and £56,850 for other locations. Offers made above this will be made up with a specialist pay allowance.
GBP

Job grade

Grade 7

Contract type

Fixed term

Length of employment

2 Years

Business area

GDS - Digital Centre Design

Type of role

Digital

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time, Compressed hours

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

  • Location
  • About the job
  • Benefits
  • Things you need to know
  • Apply and further information

Location

Bristol, London, Manchester

About the job

Job summary

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

  • joining up public sector services
    2. harnessing the power of AI for the public good
    3. strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
    4. elevating leadership and investing in talent
    5. funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
    6. committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.

Job description

GDS Local is a specialist unit within the Service Transformation Directorate, working at the point where central government platforms, local services and sector reform meet. We help councils and government partners create the conditions for better, more joined-up public services by unlocking usable data, accelerating adoption of common components, shaping a more open technology market and building stronger routes for collaboration.

Our work is focused on four connected objectives:

  • Creating a shared vision for local government technology, data and the market so councils can make better digital and procurement decisions
  • Unlocking usable, shareable data so councils and delivery partners can support people earlier, faster and more effectively
  • Making it easier to adopt common products and platforms such as GOV.UK App and One Login, while reducing the risk and cost of reuse
  • Building the conditions for collaboration across councils, sector bodies and central government so change can scale across the whole system

Our mission is ambitious and practical: to help make public services simpler, more responsive and more connected for local authority residents, especially those with complex needs. By improving how councils buy technology, share data, adopt trusted platforms and work with government, we are helping create easier lives for residents, better value for money across local government and greater public trust in digital services.

As a Senior User Researcher, you will lead user research that helps GDS Local and partner teams understand what works for local authorities and the residents they serve. You will ensure we take evidence led decisions and can credibly explain what we have learned and why it matters.

What you will do

  • Lead the planning, design and delivery of user research using a range of methods from discovery through to live
  • Carry out user research activities from recruiting participants, preparing discussion guides, and moderating research sessions
  • Analyse and synthesise research findings to create clear, actionable insights.
  • Work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team and wider stakeholders to inform decision making
  • Maintain research repositories and communicate findings through show and tells, briefings and written outputs
  • Support a strong, ethical research culture and inclusive practice
  • Advocate for user-centred practices to build knowledge and understanding of users

Person specification

We’re interested in people who have:

  • experience of using a wide range of research methods and knowing how to adapt approaches in complex environments, and helping teams adopt those methods.
  • strong analysis and synthesis skills, turning research into clear decisions or options, and using these skills to help influence sceptical colleagues
  • experience working with a diverse range users, and advocating for inclusive research practices to help design and deliver services that includes people with a wide range of access needs
  • experience working in agile teams, understanding strategic decisions so you can design appropriate research and support continuous improvement
  • confidence engaging and influencing stakeholders with differing perspectives and experience building long term strategic relationships with stakeholders

Benefits

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

  • flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
  • a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
  • 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
  • an extra day off for the King’s birthday
  • an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
  • career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
  • a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
  • job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
  • advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
  • death in service benefits
  • cycle to work scheme and facilities
  • access to an employee discounts scheme
  • 10 learning days per year
  • volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
  • access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning


Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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.

Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

  • a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV, cover letter of up to 750 words and to answer 1 application question. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
  • a 60 minute video interview that will feature a presentation. Details of the presentation will be shared with invited candidates prior to the interview.

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is: Please describe a time when you used findings from user research to influence team decisions through effective synthesis and stakeholder engagement to improve outcomes.

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

  • communicating and influencing
  • Working together
  • Managing a quality service
  • Changing and improving

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the Senior User Researcher role:

  • Agile research practices
  • Analysis and synthesis
  • Stakeholder relationship management
  • User-centred practice and advocacy

Want to know more about who Government Digital and Data are? Click Here

Recruitment Timeline

Virtual recruitment event: Friday 19th June at 12pm - 1pm

Sift completion: 2/7/26

Panel interviews: Starting from 9/7/26

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

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 and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Open Recruitment Session

To provide more information and context about GDS Local, we are holding an open recruitment session on the 19th June 2026, from 12:00 - 13:00. There will be a presentation followed by a Q&A Session. If you would like to be invited to the session, please email GDSrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.


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)
  • 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

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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 .
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.

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 and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans 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 : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk
  • Email : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk

Recruitment team

  • Email : gdsrecruitment@dsit.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact gds-complaints@dsit.gov.uk in the first instance.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission by email: info@csc.gov.uk Or in writing: Civil Service Commission, Room G/8 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.
Apply now
Let Employers Find YouUpload Your Resume