Public Services User Researcher (GDS-aligned)

UBDS Group; Greater London; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Training

Private medical cover

Discretionary bonus

Holidays

EV leasing

Pension

Death in service

Job summary

UBDS Group is seeking a User Researcher to join multidisciplinary delivery teams, planning and carrying out user research to inform service design and delivery. You will ensure decisions are grounded in evidence and work across Discovery, Alpha, Beta and Live phases to shape public services.

You’ll work in fast-moving public sector environments, turning insights into actionable design decisions while upholding inclusivity, ethics, and safeguarding considerations.

Qualifications

• Experience conducting user research in public sector or complex service environments.
• Strong understanding of a range of user research methods and when to use them.
• Experience working across different phases of delivery (Discovery, Alpha, Beta, Live).
• Ability to synthesise research into clear insights that directly influence product and service decisions.
• Experience working with or aligning to GDS standards, including Service Standard and accessibility requirements.
• Awareness of research ethics, data protection and consent, particularly in public-facing services.

Responsibilities

• Plan and conduct user research to understand user needs, behaviours and pain points across digital and non-digital public services.
• Choose and apply appropriate qualitative and quantitative research methods (e.g. interviews, usability testing, surveys, diary studies).
• Work closely with product managers and designers to shape problem statements, hypotheses and research questions.
• Synthesize research findings into clear, actionable insights that inform design and delivery decisions.
• Communicate research outcomes through clear artefacts such as insight reports, personas, journey maps and playback sessions.
• Support teams to iterate services based on evidence, testing and learning throughout discovery, alpha, beta and live phases.
• Ensure research activities are inclusive, ethical and aligned with accessibility and safeguarding considerations.
• Work in line with Government Digital Service (GDS) standards, supporting service assessments where required.
• Contribute to building research capability in teams by sharing methods, insights and good practice.

Skills

User research methods

Public sector experience

Delivery team collaboration

Synthesis of research insights

GDS standards familiarity

Ethics and safeguarding awareness

Job description

UBDS Group is seeking a User Researcher to join multidisciplinary delivery teams, planning and carrying out user research to inform service design and delivery. You will ensure decisions are grounded in evidence and work across Discovery, Alpha, Beta and Live phases to shape public services.

You’ll work in fast-moving public sector environments, turning insights into actionable design decisions while upholding inclusivity, ethics, and safeguarding considerations.