Mid level User Researcher

NECSWS; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading digital studio in the UK is seeking a skilled User Researcher to lead user research activities across projects. The role involves working with multidisciplinary teams to deliver impactful user-centered design solutions while promoting inclusivity. Candidates should have a relevant degree or professional experience and demonstrate strong skills in qualitative research, facilitation, and project management. Additional responsibilities include defining practices and supporting business development efforts. This is a hybrid, full-time position with a comprehensive benefits package.

Benefits

Private Medical Cover

25 days paid holiday with buy/sell option

4x basic salary life assurance

Annual team and company away-days

Personal learning budget

Group Pension Plan with employer contributions

Free access to LinkedIn Learning

Qualifications

• Experience working on Public Sector Projects is preferred.
• Ethical user research practices ensuring user safety.
• Ability to manage time and budget on projects.

Responsibilities

• Plan and lead user research activities for various projects.
• Advocate for user-centered design approaches.
• Define and refine collaborative practice across disciplines.

Skills

Multidisciplinary teams

Inclusive research

User Research to GDS service standards

Qualitative analysis and synthesis

Facilitation

Service Design

Written communication

Proactive and autonomous

Education

Degree or professional experience relevant to User Research

Tools

SPSS

Python

Microsoft Word

R

Microsoft PowerPoint

Stata

Job description

What were looking for

Were looking for a skilled practitioner with significant experience in delivering user research projects. The focus of your role will be to plan, facilitate and lead user research activities on a variety of projects. Youll often be working with multidisciplinary teams on complex projects where autonomy and project management will be important.

Were on the hunt for someone who will champion our values : to care passionately be fluent in people believe in your craft push convention be open to change value each other.

We work with a broad range of clients some of whom are completely new to user‑centred design (UCD). This means youll also play a key role in championing our UCD approach.

The role may also involve :

• Defining and refining practice: Youll help to define the way our disciplines work together and progress the way NEC Digital Studio does inclusive sustainable design.
• Supporting new business: Youll help NEC Digital Studio find and win work by spotting opportunities with clients and helping with proposals and pitches.

Your skills and experience

We'd like to hear from you if you have skills or experience in some of these areas :

• Multidisciplinary teams – Leading elements of and advocating for the user research activities on a project. Working with the wider team (including Service Design and Digital roles) to deliver insightful project outcomes.
• Inclusive research – Conducting user research in an ethical way that ensures the safety of everyone involved. This includes actively identifying accessibility needs of users and being confident in making adjustments for these.
• User Research to GDS service standards – planning and conducting research activities across the different agile phases of a project.
• Qualitative analysis and synthesis – working with findings from user research to produce representative user journeys, user stories and user needs.
• Facilitation – skilled in a variety of sessions from user interviews and usability testing to co‑analysis and co‑synthesis sessions; guiding other stakeholders through these clearly explaining the processes to enable them to engage fully and contribute.
• Service Design – you have an interest in the discipline or some experience in service design thinking and outcomes.
• Written communication – write and share findings in an engaging and meaningful way to colleagues and stakeholders.
• Recommendation & implementation – work collaboratively with the wider design team experts and clients to produce clear insights that will enable project teams to make informed design decisions.
• Proactive and autonomous – being able to manage your own time and budget on both client and internal projects.

How we work

We work with central and local government, the NHS, justice organisations, voluntary and private sector organisations.

We work hand‑in‑hand with our clients and sometimes were embedded in their teams for projects. Youll move on to different sectors after 3‑12 months because we want you to get a variety of experiences from applying GDS (government digital service) standards to improving customer buy‑in.

Beyond individual projects NEC Digital Studios User Researchers support each other at weekly meet‑ups where we share our work, discuss its wider implications and learn about methods.

Youll also broaden your skills by working closely with members of the Service Design and Digital teams including interaction and content designers and developers.

All of our User Researchers are supported by more senior members of the Research & Service Design team. They look after your wellbeing, help you set goals and objectives and provide feedback to help you grow.

Qualifications :

We welcome applicants from all professional backgrounds. We acknowledge that we didnt all start out as user researchers and are proud of the varied expertise amongst our team. Our minimum criteria is that you have a degree or professional experience that is relevant to User Research and ideally experience working on Public Sector Projects.

Additional Information :

We pride ourselves in offering an excellent benefits package including an aboveaverage pension scheme. When you join the team at NEC Software Solutions you are provided with the following :

• Private Medical Cover funded by NEC for Employees (with the option to add family members at an additional cost)
• 25 days paid holiday with the option to buy / sell (FTE)
• 4 x basic salary life assurance cover funded by NEC (with the option to increase cover at an additional cost)
• Giveback days
• Annual team and company away‑days
• Personal learning budget of 200
• A Group Pension Plan with fantastic employer contributions up to a maximum of 8.5%
• A selection of flexible benefits to suit your individual needs
• All colleagues get free access to LinkedIn Learning. Over 15000 courses covering a huge breadth of subjects. Learn about what you like when you like how you like.

OTHER INFORMATION

• The role is a hybrid role with an expectation of 50% attendance in our studios and may include occasional travel related to projects.
• Candidates must be able to demonstrate a pre‑existing right to work and travel within the UK. Documentary evidence will be required.
• All offers are subject to satisfactory vetting references and occupational health checks.
• Depending on the nature of the role a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check may also be required.

NEC Software Solutions is an equal opportunities employer welcoming applications from all communities. If you require any reasonable adjustments or have specific accessibility needs during the recruitment or interview process please feel free to share these with us. We are committed to ensuring an inclusive and accommodating experience for all candidates.

We receive applicants from multiple sources – so the application process may vary. Once you have chosen to apply the key things we would like to see in your applications are :

• A CV
• A Cover Letter – tell us why you think you’d a good fit for the role and why you want to work for NEC Digital Studio. Please aim to keep your covering letter to 1000 words.
• A presentation of no more than 5 pages on a project or process that you led which demonstrates your qualification for the role. This could be based on an extract from your portfolio if you have one. The example should frame the context and the challenge demonstrate how you met that challenge and what the results were. If you are selected for an interview and you will have up to 10 minutes to present it to us.

Who We Are :

We’re NEC Software Solutions (part of global tech giant NEC Corporation). While you read this ad our software is helping to dispatch ambulances support families keep trains on the move locate missing people and even test the hearing of newborn babies.

Working with us youll be helping our 3000 employees push the boundaries of whats possible and support amazing public services.

We work with governments hospitals police forces housing providers local authorities and more. We help them pay financial support faster speed up treatments for patients and respond to emergencies in the right way. The more we do the more our customers can do for others. And together we make a world of difference.

We love your help. And we will support you all the way.

At NEC Digital Studio we believe in design practices that make the world more human.

NEC Digital Studio was created to put people at the centre of services positively changing how they experience the world. Everything we design, build and maintain is made for life.

Our mission is to empower organisations to be more effective inclusive and sustainable through tools systems and experiences that are intelligent integrated and intuitive for all.

As a people‑first digital studio we are designing and developing evidence‑led solutions at scale to transform the services used by everyone every day. We specialise in working with seldom‑heard voices and diverse user groups. We practice participatory co‑design and ethical teams are experts in accessibility and digital inclusion.

We love your help. And we will support you all the more at NEC Digital Studio Made for Life.

Remote Work : Yes

Employment Type : Full-time

Key Skills

Intelligence Community Experience, Python, Spss, Microsoft Word, R, Regression Analysis, Windows, Stata, Microsoft Powerpoint, Research Experience, Data Modeling, Writing Skills

Experience : years

Vacancy : 1