Senior User Researcher

Overview

Do you want to shape the delivery of Scotland’s Census, enabling governments and other public bodies to plan the services we all rely on and telling the story of Scotland’s people for generations to come? If so, this post could be for you.

Census is a major programme delivered by the National Records of Scotland (NRS). Planning for the next Census in 2031 has begun and will build on the successes of the Census in 2022.

We are looking for a skilled and motivated Senior User Researcher who will support teams in the design of end‑to‑end services that are user‑centred and evidence‑based. You will collaborate with teams across the programme – operations, statistics, technology, policy, communications, finance, procurement and commercial – and will also work closely with other census‑taking offices in the rest of the United Kingdom.

This is an exciting opportunity to undertake research that will support teams to design services for every household in Scotland.

A Senior User Researcher is an experienced researcher who can lead activity on complex services, undertaking research that supports teams to design policy and services. To design services that work well for people and achieve policy intent you will work with the team to develop a shared understanding of the people who use the service and what they need. You will plan design and undertake user research activities and contribute to the design of inclusive and accessible services.

• Analysis and synthesis

  Execute and manage analysis of complex research data. Help teams to apply a range of methods to analyse research data and synthesise findings. Engage a range of people, including sceptical colleagues, in analysis and synthesis. Advise on the choice and application of techniques and can critique findings to assure best practice and maintain research standards. Present and document clear findings that colleagues can understand, use and reuse across the organisation and practice.

• Inclusive research

  Help teams understand the diversity of users of government services. Champion the inclusion of a diverse range of users in appropriate user research activity to shape the service design, especially those who face the most barriers or are not currently using the service. Develop research that supports the delivery of an equitable service. Advocate inclusive practices and help teams design and deliver accessible and equitable services that work for all users.
  
  Understand the importance of assisted digital and champion the needs of people who are unable to use digital services.

• User research methods

  Demonstrate experience in a wide range of user research methods and help teams to adopt them. Plan and manage user research for services with challenging user needs and complex user journeys. Advise practitioners on the choice and application of research methods to assure best practice, identify and effectively manage participation of teams, stakeholders and users in research activities. Trial new methods or approaches to continue to develop the methodological toolkit.

• Agile research practices

  Advocate for agile working. Adapt how you design and conduct user research to respond to the complexity of the product environment. Understand the strategic decisions the team needs to make so you can design appropriate research. Influence decisions about priorities and agile processes in the team. Work in agile teams and help them to manage and visualise outcomes, prioritise work, define scope for research to deliver a minimum viable product (MVP) or change.

• Define the scope and purpose for the user research to align to project goals

  Assure and evaluate good practice user research standards for projects, including ethics and safeguarding. Implement and maintain legal and ethical research standards and processes and produce relevant documentation. Improve your practice through reflection and feedback. Create and document user research strategies and processes balancing business objectives and needs of users. Engage with and contribute to the Scottish Government user research community of practice.

• Stakeholder relationship…