About the job

Job summary

As the Head of User Experience you will lead and manage the User Experience practice made up from the User Research team and Interaction Designer team in an exciting and specialised MoD organisation which develops navigation products for the Royal Navy and the worlds commercial merchant fleet. Our office is a new state of the art modern office in Taunton, Somerset, reflecting our values as a centre of excellence for hydrographic and marine geospatial data. At this level, you will be an expert practitioner who can define and assure best practice, influence UKHO’s strategy and priorities, and collaborate with colleagues across the business and wider government.

By being a leader in User Experience, you will expertly lead your team to create business impact through the delivery of end user insights and product and service design prototypes.

 You will lead the User Research team to Focus on our current and potential future markets, propositions for those markets, existing and potential partners and competitors in those markets and the related technology landscape. You will lead the Interaction Design team to deliver accessible, enjoyable, reliable, intuitive user interfaces that are aligned to our corporate identity. You will lead the team to translate high-level requirements into interaction flows, and transform those into tested and validated interfaces between the business and the consumer, ensuring all products and services meet end user expectations.

 

Hybrid Working

There will be a minimum of an initial 2 weeks of training in the office, after which more training may be required depending on the team you are placed in. There may also be further in-office training required when you change teams as part of your role rotation.

The office is currently moving to 60% office attendance in the Taunton Office

[Please note our Policy on informal hybrid working (arrangements available as agreed with the line manager) does not extend to working overseas].  

Job description

·       An expert in senior leadership and guidance, you will influence and change UKHO structures to ensure that best practice User Experience is embedded into the culture effectively. You will lead on the User Experience strategy for the UKHO, marrying business needs with end user needs. You will make and justify decisions characterised by high levels of risk, impact and complexity. ·       An expert in strategic thinking, you will apply strategic thinking in how to provide the best service for the end user. You will lead the design and implementation of strategy, directing the evaluation of strategies and policies with regards to User Experience, to ensure business requirements are being met. ·       An expert in community collaboration, you will solve and unblock issues between teams or departments at the highest level. You will demonstrate an understanding of the psychology of the teams and employ strong mediation skills to resolve issues. You will coach the organisation on team dynamics and conflict resolution while also building and growing the User Experience community. ·       An expert in digital perspective, you know about the wider digital economy and advances in technology and how these impact on the UKHO. You will make decisions that set the standards for others to follow. You understand working using agile methodology at an organisational level. You will create an environment for success within your team and across the wider business. ·       An expert in communication skills, you will mediate between people and form excellent relationships, communicating with stakeholders at all levels. You will manage stakeholders’ expectations and facilitate discussions across high risk and complexity or under constrained timescales. You will speak on behalf of and represent the User Experience community to large audiences inside and outside of the UKHO and across wider government. Typical tasks would include:- 1. Communicate purposes and objectives to team members and other UKHO departments and senior stakeholders 2. Effectively manage User Experience teams and/or subcontractors to deliver against corporate and project objectives 3. Develop personal effectiveness skills in yourself and your team members to ensure impact across the business 4. Encourage, steer and support other teams in meeting business objectives 5. Create a climate of trust and mutual respect, successfully collaborating with other departments and stakeholders 6. Provide input to and influence the annual business plan and 5 year corporate plan through evidence of customer needs to ensure the UKHO strategic direction is built on a customer focused ethos and culture.

Person specification

DDAT Expert Level - Leadership and guidance. You know how to lead on the strategy for your practice, marrying business needs with innovative analysis. You understand the psychology of a team and have strong mediation skills. You can coach the organisation on team dynamics and conflict resolution. DDAT Expert Level – Communication skills. You know how to manage stakeholders’ expectations and facilitate discussions across high risk and complexity or under constrained timescales. You can speak on behalf of and represent the community to large audiences inside and outside of UKHO. DDAT Expert Level – Evidence- and context-based design. You know how to design systems for use across multiple services relevant to Defence and the wider commercial shipping industry and can identify the simplest approach out of a variety of approaches. DDAT Expert Level – Digital perspective. You know about the wider digital economy and advances in technology, specifically within the Defence & the Commercial merchant shipping industry. DDAT Expert Level – User focus. You are experienced in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels, specifically the Defence and commercial shipping end users. You can bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure these are met by the business. You know how to apply strategic thinking in how to provide the best service for the end user. DDAT Expert Level – Research Skills - You can help an organisation adopt a wide range of user research methods. You can lead a community of practice to help an organisation continually assure, improve and innovate their user research. DDAT Expert Level – Prototyping. You are experienced in using a variety of methods of prototyping. You know how to share best practice and can coach others. You can look at strategic design end to end.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £57,686, UK Hydrographic Office contributes £15,575 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

How to Apply:  

When you click "Apply Now" you will be asked to input your CV and a 1250 word personal statement on how you meet the person specification, as well as the shortlist criteria listed below.

Timeline:  

• Advert Closes for applications:  1st January 2023
• Shortlisting: week commencing:   3rd January 2023
• Interviews: week commencing:  7th January 2023

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates. 

Pre-Sift Criteria:

All applications are processed anonymously. We will conduct an inital pre-sift on the following crieria:

• NNG qualifications in User Experience or equivalent

Sift/Shortlist Criteria:  

Those who pass the pre-sift will be short-listed against the following criteria:

• How well you meet the Person Specification (listed above) - assesed by 1250 word perosnl statement
• Experience and understanding of the navigation requirements, limitations and constraints of Defence users (i.e. the Royal Navy) and the Commercial Merchant users and how UX at UKHO is could be used in satisfying those requirements - Assesed via CV
• Experience of working to understand the user needs and then build navigation solutions to meet Defence and Commercial shipping requirement - Assesed via CV

Interview Criteria:  

You will be interviewed against the following criteria: 

Civil Service Behaviours (Level 4): 

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture

Technical Skills: 

• Context Based Design
• Digital Perspective
• User Focus

See here for further information: Success Profiles - Civil Service Behaviours (publishing.service.gov.uk)  

Lead Criteria:

In the event of a large number of applications or a tie at interview we will use the follwiing lead crtieria:

• Experience and understanding of the navigation requirements, limitations and constraints of Defence users (i.e. the Royal Navy) and the Commercial Merchant users and how UX at UKHO is could be used in satisfying those requirements.

Interview Process:   

• Single Stage Interview via TEAMS. You will be contacted to book a suitable slot if you are shortlisted (see our Candidate Pack for further information) 
• Interview will be with a panel of no more than 2 people and will last approx. 45 mins 

Onboarding Checks:  

In the event you are offered a role with us, you will be required to go through Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks which will include Employment and Right to Work Checks.  Please see our attached Candidate Pack for further details and Terms. 

Please note, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship.

Residency Requirements:

BPSS – non reserved: This is a Ministry of Defence non-reserved post and is open to UK, British Commonwealth, and European Economic Area nationals. Successful applicants will be required to pass the Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and will therefore need to provide evidence if they have resided outside of the UK for a period of 6 months or longer within the last 3 years. This is not a bar to employment, but a successful applicant will be required to provide sufficient evidence to allow the UKHO to conduct meaningful background checks. Please contact the recruitment team on the email address below if you have any concerns regarding this. 

Eligibility 

Due to the secure nature of our work, there may be eligibility restrictions if you hold dual nationality or are not a British Citizen. We will consider each application on a case-by-case basis. We will ask you in our application form to confirm your place of birth and details of any dual or previous nationalities. 

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.