About the job

Job summary

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 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 work is structured into 3 pillars.

• We influence by advocating for user-centred thinking. We build awareness and understanding of UCD principles and practices across UKHSA. We influence decision makers to apply UCD standards and practices to policy making and service and product design, and delivery.
•  We enable by growing the UCD profession and giving all staff the tools they need to adopt user-centred practices. We provide a place for expert UCD capability to flourish, and the tools, guidance and frameworks to enable all staff to build UCD knowledge and skills.
• We deliver by embedding our expert capability into projects to help the organisation to solve problems. We improve products and services by making sure development is led by user needs.

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 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

As a User Researcher you will be part of a high performing, multi-disciplinary squad using agile methodologies to deliver user-centric services. You will be responsible for ensuring our design projects are rooted in a deep understanding of users and their needs ensuring we design accessible services that reduce friction and complexity across the whole user journey, helping UKHSA to achieve its public health objectives. 

You'll be expected to ensure quality, innovation and creativity in how we approach all aspects of user research and how we then play those back to our stakeholders. You’ll be keen to develop your skills and contribute to the wider user research community. 

The work will include delivering a range of research activities and methods and communicating actionable insights to project teams and clients.     

You will be a strong communicator, able to develop and maintain stakeholder relationships and influence others. You will have a good understanding of how to deploy the right research activities and methods at the right times.

You will have a strong user-focus and influence to ensure user needs are central to project delivery. You will embody inclusive behaviours. You will understand the importance of inclusive research practices, taking pride in ensuring research is representative of a wide range of people and communities.

You will be an active part of the user-centred design community, sharing insights and practices across the community and organisation. You will work under the guidance of a more experienced Senior User Researcher. You will be innovative with a real passion for building compelling user centric experiences that meet the needs of users.

Please refer to the attached JD for more information about this role.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Plan, design, and prepare user research for multiple projects and portfolios of work
• Carry out user research activities: recruiting participants, preparing discussion guides, creating information gathering artifacts, running and moderating user research sessions
• Engage in meaningful interactions and relationships with users via in-depth interviews, workshop facilitation and ethnography research techniques
• Collaborate with other disciplines to gain a deep understanding of user needs, bringing together insights to create a rich picture of user behaviour
• Create and improve user-centred research practices
•  Bring insights and learnings to life for stakeholders in the most appropriate way, including presentations and printed or online artefacts, communicating with clarity and confidence to create actionable strategic insights and service improvements
• Synthesise research findings rapidly, using appropriate tools and techniques, working closely with design teams to translate them into user stories and iterate appropriately
• Drive awareness of user research practices, influencing project roadmaps to embed effective and user-centred design
• Contribute to the maintenance of a central library of research findings and user needs, adhering to research best practice standard

For a full list of the main duties and responsibilities of the role, please refer to the attached Job Description. 

Person specification

Essential criteria:

You will be assessed on the below essential criteria, which have been selected from the Job Description

• Experience of working as a user researcher, or a degree (i.e. BA, BDes, BHSc) in a relevant subject and able to demonstrate an equivalent level of knowledge
• Experience of using user-centred design methods and practices with a good understanding of the key standards in assuring quality user research
• Able to build and manage relationships with a variety of internal and external stakeholders with different reporting relationships and work with them in a collaborative and co-creative manner to gain a deep understanding of user needs, bringing together insights to create a rich picture of user behaviour
• Experience of bringing insights and learnings to life for colleagues and stakeholders in the most appropriate way, including through presentations and printed or online artefacts, communicating with clarity and confidence to create actionable strategic insights and service improvements
• Able to carry out user research activities from recruiting participants, preparing discussion guides, creating information gathering artifacts, and running and moderating user research sessions
• Experience of engaging in meaningful interactions with users via in-depth interviews, workshop facilitation and ethnography research techniques

• Able to collaborate with other disciplines to gain a deep understanding of user needs and bring together insights to create a rich picture of user behaviour
• Able to bring insights and learnings to life for colleagues and stakeholders in the most appropriate way, including through presentations and printed or online artefacts, communicating with clarity and confidence to create actionable strategic insights and service improvements
• Able to synthesise research findings rapidly, using appropriate tools and techniques, working closely with design teams to translate them into user stories and iterate appropriately  
• Experience of influencing project roadmaps to embed effective and user-centred research practice

 Desirable criteria:

• Project and programme management qualifications or equivalent experience for example Prince 2, Managing Successful Programmes, Agile PM
• Experience of being assessed or assessing government services against the government digital service standards
• Experience researching with vulnerable and niche audiences, such as, those in financial hardship, with health concerns, young people, elderly or the disabled.  
• User research within a government or health setting
• Experience of running accessible and inclusive user research using a variety of research methodologies including interviews, online workshops, surveys, etc.  

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,724, UK Health Security Agency contributes £10,455 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

Selection Process:  

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your technical skills, experience, behaviour and knowledge.

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 you consider 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 

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
• Communicating and influencing
• Seeing the bigger picture 

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Frameworkand 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 1st July 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 your core location - Hybrid / Any core UKHSA location (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, 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).   

Security Clearance Level Requirement 

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard.

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 

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  

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

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.