User Researcher

The National Archives; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 36,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension

Hybrid working

Learning and development

Professional communities

Collaborative projects with experts

Job summary

The National Archives in the United Kingdom is seeking two User Researchers to help design and improve user‑centred digital services. You will work within Digital Archiving / Digital Services to understand user needs and behaviours through evidence‑based research that informs service design and decision making.

As a full‑time, hybrid role, you will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, apply inclusive research practices, and share insights openly.

Qualifications

• Experience conducting user research for digital products and services.
• Qualitative and quantitative methods to maximise insight; stay up to date with methodologies.
• Collaborate across multidisciplinary teams and stakeholder groups.
• Follow GDPR and ethical research practices when handling data.

Responsibilities

• Research and analyse findings.
• Plan, design and conduct user research across digital services.
• Use qualitative and quantitative techniques to maximise insight and reduce bias.
• Apply inclusive, user-centred principles to research activities and ensure accessibility.

Skills

User research

Qualitative methods

Quantitative methods

Multidisciplinary collaboration

Ethical research practices

Accessibility knowledge

Communication & storytelling

Documentation management

Education

HCI / Psychology / Social science

Job description

Job Overview

Salary: £42,000 per annum

Contract type: Permanent

Band: E / Higher Executive Officer

Closing date: Thursday 17th September 2026 at midnight

About the role

We are seeking 2 User Researchers to help create outstanding user‑centred digital services. The roles sit within Digital Archiving / Digital Services at The National Archives, the official archive of the UK Government and for England and Wales. We care for millions of public records spanning government, courts and parliament. Our oldest records are from over a thousand years ago. We are committed to making these collections accessible through high‑quality digital services for future generations. As a User Researcher, you will help teams understand user needs and behaviours through evidence‑based research. Using a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods, you will generate insights that inform service design, support decision‑making and ensure our products and services meet the needs of diverse users. You will work closely with multidisciplinary teams to identify opportunities, shape solutions and advocate for users throughout the product lifecycle. This is a unique opportunity to undertake user research in an environment focused on complex information services rather than purely transactional services. You will work alongside experts from across our collections and research communities while contributing to the future access of public records through our digital services.

About you

This role would suit someone who is curious, analytical and motivated by solving complex problems through research and evidence. You will enjoy working collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams, communicating insights to a range of audiences and helping teams make better decisions based on user needs. You will be comfortable balancing short‑term delivery priorities with the development of longer‑term organisational understanding of users and their behaviours. To be successful in this role, you will be able to demonstrate experience of the following:

Essential Experience and skills

• Experience conducting user research for digital products and services
• Demonstratable experience using qualitative and quantitative research methods to maximise insight with a strong desire to stay up to date with emerging methodologies and standards
• Ability to collaborate within a multidisciplinary team, stakeholder groups and User experience community across
• Experience of following ethical research practices, collecting and managing personal data safely in compliance with GDPR
• Familiarity with accessibility guidelines and digital inclusion principles and how they apply to user research
• Paying attention to detail with strong critical thinking and analytical skills
• Effective communication with an instinct to work in the open by sharing research workflows and breaking research findings down into actionable insights
• Organisational skills with experience planning and iterating research work and managing documentation over the lifespan of a service

Desirable

• Knowledge of the government digital service standard and experience of applying user research to digital services at different stages of development (Discovery, Alpha, Beta, Live)
• Awareness of the technologies used to build and operate digital services
• Experience researching systems that use AI or Large Language Models

Qualification

Qualification in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, Social science, Digital marketing, Product design or similar disciplines (Desirable criteria will only be used if necessary, to differentiate between equally qualified top candidates during final scoring).

Working arrangements

This is a full‑time post. However, requests for part‑time working, flexible working and job share arrangements will be considered subject to business needs. A combination of home and office working is available. Successful candidates must be able to travel regularly to our Kew site and work on‑site for at least 60% of their time. Occasional travel for user research activities and very occasional out‑of‑hours working may be required. We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.

Benefits

• Generous benefits package, including pension, sports and social club facilities, onsite gym, discounted rates at our on‑site cafe and opportunities for training and development
• Hybrid working arrangements
• Learning and development opportunities
• Access to professional communities of practice
• Opportunities to work with partner researchers, collections specialists and digital professionals

Role and Responsibilities

This role aligns with the User Researcher role on the DDaT capability framework. As part of a multi‑disciplinary team you will:

• Research and analyse findings
• Plan, design and conduct user research activities across our digital services
• Use a range of qualitative and quantitative user research techniques and sources of data to maximise insight and reduce bias
• Apply inclusivity and user‑centred principles to everything you do including: Designing research activities to be representative of the diverse needs of our users and their accessibility requirements
• Analyse and collaborate with the delivery team including designers, performance analysts and developers to demonstrate user needs and the impact of the service
• Communicate findings to colleagues and stakeholders in an accessible and engaging way

Strategic Impact

• Stay up to date with latest user research practices and participate in discussions in wider public sector UX community
• Advocate for user needs in the design and development of services and products
• Synthesise findings into actionable insights for an agile, multidisciplinary team
• Make the impact of user research visible by working in the open, maintaining and sharing research documentation and demonstrating how the service has grown it’s understanding of users over time
• Support and evolve understanding around the impact of emerging technologies and changing user expectations

Professional excellence

• Maintain ethical research practices and standards especially when working with user data or on sensitive topics
• Support the growth of a UX community and capability within The National Archives

Benefits Additional Details

Annual leave entitlement of 22 days per calendar year (rising to 25 after the first year, and incrementally to 30 days after six years) and 10½ days public and privilege holidays per annum. Any move to The National Archives from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax‑Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

Reasonable adjustments

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non‑disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact The National Archives via [e-mail] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
• Complete the ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ section of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check. People working with government assets must completebasic personnel security standardchecks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• National of the Republic of Ireland
• National of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• National 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)
• 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

Working for the Civil Service

TheCivil Service Codesets 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'srecruitment principles. 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. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. This vacancy is part of theGreat Place to Work for Veteransinitiative.

The National Archives wants passionate, ambitious and innovative individuals to help us change the way people think about archives.

We employ more than 500 staff in a diverse range of roles, from records specialists and researchers to web developers and marketing assistants – and we want you to join us. To find out more about us, please visit our website: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk