Digital User Researcher - Public Sector

IO Associates; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 86,000 - 117,000; Full time

Job summary

IO Associates seeks an experienced Digital User Researcher to join a multidisciplinary team delivering public sector services from Bristol. The role focuses on understanding user needs and turning insights into practical design decisions.

You will conduct research across end-to-end journeys, work with service designers and product managers, and help create accessible, user-centred services within an agile environment.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a User Researcher using qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Ability to plan research that informs decisions and actions.
• Experience presenting findings to multidisciplinary teams.
• Ability to design inclusive, accessible research activities.
• Experience enabling evidence-based service improvements.

Responsibilities

• Plan and deliver user research activities across the full service journey.
• Facilitate user testing sessions with diverse users.
• Translate feedback into actionable insights for product teams.
• Collaborate with designers, developers and product managers.
• Support evidence-based decision making to improve user experience.

Skills

User Research

Qualitative Methods

Quantitative Methods

Research Planning

Synthesising Findings

Stakeholder Communication

Inclusive Research

Multidisciplinary Collaboration

Job description

Bristol

Digital User Researcher - Public Sector

Posted on Monday, 12th October 2026

Quick Apply

Digital User Researcher – Public Sector

Day Rate: £550 per day
IR35 Status: Inside IR35
Contract Length: Until March 2027 with potential for extension
Location: Bristol – 1 day a week onsite

The Role

We are looking for an experienced User Researcher to join a multidisciplinary User-Centred Design team working on Systems Delivery

The organisation invests in research, supports innovation and works with universities, businesses and research organisations to help advance knowledge, drive economic growth and improve lives across the UK

You will work closely with Service Designers, Interaction Designers, Content Designers, Developers and the Product Manager to ensure that services are designed around the needs of their users. You will plan and deliver research activities, facilitate user testing sessions and translate feedback into actionable insights that help shape simple, intuitive and effective services.

The research will cover the entire end-to-end service, including digital user journeys, policies, processes and ways of working, ensuring that solutions meet both user and business needs.

This is an opportunity to play a key role in influencing product and service development, helping teams make evidence-based decisions and continuously improve the user experience.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Proven experience as a User Researcher, with a strong understanding of a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Ability to understand the problems a team is trying to solve and plan research that informs decision-making and drives meaningful action.
• Experience selecting and applying appropriate research methods to different user and business challenges.
• Strong analytical skills, with experience analysing research data, synthesising findings and presenting clear, evidence-based recommendations.
• Ability to communicate research insights effectively to multidisciplinary teams and wider stakeholders.
• A strong understanding of user diversity and experience designing inclusive research activities that engage a broad range of users.
• Experience working collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams to plan and deliver continuous user research.
• Experience involving team members and stakeholders in research sessions, analysis and synthesis.

We are looking for a collaborative, evidence-led User Researcher who can champion user needs throughout the design and delivery process. You will be comfortable working with a range of stakeholders, influencing decisions through research and helping multidisciplinary teams turn user insights into practical improvements.

Interested in hearing more? Please get in touch with Rebecca Long on 0117 332 8100 / r.long @ ioassociates.co.uk