About the job

Job summary

Job overview

At UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) our mission is to prepare for, prevent and respond to infectious diseases and environmental hazards to keep all our communities safe, to save lives and protect livelihoods.  We are a trusted source of advice to government and to the public, focusing on reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by threats to health.  
This is an exciting opportunity to join the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) as Senior User Researcher within our User-Centred Design (UCD) Team.  
The UCD Team are experts in design and delivery with a shared mission to support improvements to UKHSA services and products by better understanding users’ needs and experiences.
Our delivery squads take on a varied portfolio of work, with much of our input being focused on the discovery and alpha stages. As a Senior User Researcher, you’ll work as part of a multi-disciplinary squad collaborating with teams across UKHSA. You’ll help to shape product and service design, to support UKHSA to solve problems, improve public health outcomes and address health inequalities. Alongside this, you’ll help to embed UCD practice and principles, supporting UKHSA to become a high performing organisation.

Job description

Main duties of the job

As a Senior User Researcher, you will be an expert practitioner. You will be able to co-ordinate and prioritise user research activity across several teams, ensuring design projects are rooted in a deep understanding of users and their needs. As an experienced practitioner you will be comfortable assuring best practice, leading, coaching and mentoring others within the team, including coaching stakeholders and professionals from other disciplines in user research and user-centricity. 

You will work with the Lead User Researcher and the Head of UCD to embed the UKHSA approach to user research, ensuring quality, innovation, and creativity in how we approach all aspects of user research and how we bring findings to life for stakeholders to effect change. 

You will be an active part of the user-centred design community and as a senior leader within the user research community will actively encourage, facilitate, and demonstrate sharing of insights and practices within the community and across the organisation. 

You will report to the Lead User Researcher. As a member of the UCD team, you will embody inclusive practices and have a real passion for building compelling user centric experiences, designing stand-out, equitable and inclusive services, and transforming organisational culture.

Person specification

See attached full job description for the full list of responsibilities and essential and desirable criteria

Please be aware that we will assess on the  seven essential criteria stated on the advert rather than the full list on the job description document.

Essential criteria
•    Experience of working at a senior level within a user research role, conducting user research using multiple methods, leading user research projects and leading and developing a team of user researchers 
•    Significant experience of using user-centred design methods and practices in large, complex organisations, with experience of developing user research practices and a good understanding of the key standards in assuring the quality of user research
•    Ability to develop strategic approaches and explain the value of research practice and navigate stakeholder landscapes, leading and managing relationships with a variety of internal and external stakeholders to achieve the best results and gain support for research plans, findings, and ways of working
•    Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team - experience leading and planning the work of others across multiple teams, working directly with other professions to ensure effective and timely delivery
•    Significant experience of designing and delivering inclusive user research with a range of users, with a focus on qualitative research methodologies and knowing how to apply different methods to different research projects
•    Support service transformation by identifying common themes and pain points and communicating these with clarity and confidence to stakeholders to create actionable strategic insights
•    Comfortable working with complexity, uncertainty, and organisational constraints

IMPORTANT - please refer to the job description for the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £51,824, UK Health Security Agency contributes £13,992 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 and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

Stage 1: Application & Sift

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on essential criteria, and this will be in the form of  

•    a CV/ Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
•    a 750 word Statement of Suitability

This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria. 
The CV and Statement of Suitability will be marked together.
Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered.  
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & assessment. 

Depending on how many applications we get, we might include a pre-sift on the CV or include an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

Please do not exceed 750 words for the Statement of Suitability. We will not consider any words over and above this number.

Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview  (success profiles)

You will be invited to a 60 minute remote video interview. This may include a presentation on your understanding of UCD and user research, to help us understand more about you and your skills and experience. We will assess your experience of the priority Government Digital and Data skills and the behaviours set out below.
If we do include a presentation within the interview format, the scenario/question for the presentation, and instructions on how to prepare, will normally be sent approximately three days in advance. No presentation slides will be necessary, although candidates may choose to create one. Candidates can also refer to notes. 

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:
•    changing and improving (lead behaviour) 
•    communicating and influencing 
•    working together

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework and candidates should expect questions on the following skills during the interview:
•    analysis and synthesis
•    research
•    strategic insight
•    user-centred and agile practices

Interviews will be held week commencing 22/7/2024. Please note, these dates are subject to change.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Candidates who 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.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Location information

UKHSA operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow.  This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's locations (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London).  Specialist or regional roles will be based at the appropriate UKHSA site. 

Eligibility Criteria 

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).  

Disability Confident scheme  

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. 

Reserve List clause 

Candidates who pass the interview criteria but are not offered a post will be kept on a reserve list for 12 months and may be contacted if similar roles become available.  

If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available. 

Starting salary 

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.   

The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase.   

Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.  

For further details please refer to the Information Sheet- Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment 

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.