Senior User Researcher

Summary

Join Version 1 as a User Researcher and contribute to the success of GDS projects for public sector clients. You will plan, design, and conduct user research to deeply understand end-users, informing policy, proposition, service, content, and interaction design. Your role involves applying design thinking, evidence-based design, and user-centered design practices within agile, multidisciplinary teams. You will communicate research findings effectively to stakeholders and collaborate with colleagues. Version 1 offers a comprehensive benefits package, including profit sharing, career progression opportunities, flexible/remote work options, financial wellbeing initiatives, employee wellbeing programs, generous leave policies, educational assistance, and reward schemes.

Requirements

• Understand the diversity of users of services and know how to include all kinds of users in appropriate research activities to help teams deliver accessible services
• Understand and have experience of a range of user research methods, choosing appropriate methods for different stages of the product life cycle and situations
• Turn research data into clear findings that inform decisions and know how to involve colleagues in analysis and synthesis to increase consensus and challenge assumptions
• Have a strong understanding of design thinking
• Apply frameworks and approaches as appropriate to the circumstances of a project
• Take an evidence-based approach to design
• Seek to test your assumptions to ensure that your designs are the simplest feasible approach to solving problems for users
• Undertake basic user research activity as appropriate to your design work
• Collaborate with user researchers to understand your users and their needs and to test your designs to ensure usability and accessibility
• Design to meet a wide range of user needs, explain design decisions in relation to user needs and explain the constraints on your designs
• Evaluate concepts and prototypes and explain them to stakeholders and team members
• Select, apply and adapt appropriate design patterns, and participate in wider design community discussions and activities
• Have experience in communicating design processes and decisions effectively to gain the confidence of internal colleagues and customers
• Appropriately manage the stakeholders you encounter within your work, and know how to escalate issues and when to seek support in unblocking design work
• Understand user-centred design practices and know how to align your work to agile workflows across all stages of the development lifecycle
• Work in an open, iterative and collaborative way in a multidisciplinary team

Responsibilities

• Plan, design, and carry out research activities with users to help teams get a deep understanding of the end users
• Inform policy, proposition, service, content, and interaction design so that services work well for users and achieve policy intent
• Show your ability to understand users and design to meet their needs, work to relevant design standards, and effectively communicate your research findings

Benefits

• Share in our success with our Quarterly Performance-Related Profit Share Scheme, where employees collectively benefit from a share of our company's profits
• Strong Career Progression & mentorship coaching through our Strength in Balance & Leadership schemes with a dedicated quarterly Pathways Career Development programme
• Flexible/remote working, Version 1 is tremendously understanding of life events and people’s individual circumstances and offer flexibility to help achieve a healthy work life balance
• Financial Wellbeing initiatives including; Pension, Private Healthcare Cover, Life Assurance, Financial advice and an Employee Discount scheme
• Employee Wellbeing schemes including Gym Discounts, Bike to Work, Fitness classes, Mindfulness Workshops, Employee Assistance Programme and much more
• Generous holiday allowance, enhanced maternity/paternity leave, marriage/civil partnership leave and special leave policies
• Educational assistance, incentivised certifications, and accreditations, including AWS, Microsoft, Oracle, and Red Hat
• Reward schemes including Version 1’s Annual Excellence Awards & ‘Call-Out’ platform
• Environment, Social and Community First initiatives allow you to get involved in local fundraising and development opportunities as part of fostering our diversity, inclusion and belonging schemes