User Researcher (Public Sector)

IBM Computing; Manchester; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Work-life balance programs

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

IBM Consulting UK FutureNow is seeking a Senior Experience Consultant focused on Research to lead end-to-end user research programs across government services. You will design studies, synthesize insights, and influence policy and service design with senior stakeholders.

You will mentor researchers, develop artefacts, and champion evidence-based decisions, contributing to accessible and equitable public services at scale.

Qualifications

• Experience leading planning, design, and execution of end-to-end user research using varied qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Shaping research strategies that drive decisions and align with client needs.
• Provide guidance, mentoring, and quality assurance to researchers.
• Develop artefacts such as journey maps, research frameworks, and behavioural models.
• Facilitate workshops with senior stakeholders to prioritise research needs.
• Communicate complex insights clearly to diverse audiences, including senior leaders.
• Champion user-centred design principles across multidisciplinary teams.
• Stay current on accessibility standards and research methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Develop comprehensive user research plans aligned with project goals.
• Design and conduct research to deepen understanding of users across government services.
• Document insights producing personas, journey maps, and research summaries.
• Champion user research and ensure evidence informs policy and service design.
• Ensure research informs content and interaction design across lifecycle.
• Mentor and contribute best practices within research teams.

Skills

End-to-end research

Research strategy

Mentoring researchers

Artefacts & frameworks

Workshops with stakeholders

Communication of insights

User-centred design

Accessibility testing tools

Tools

Accessibility testing tools

Job description

Introduction

At IBM Consulting UK FutureNow, you'll build a career at the forefront of hybrid cloud and AI, working with leading clients across the public and private sectors.

You'll collaborate with top industry professionals, gain hands on experience with cutting edge technologies, and deliver solutions that create real business impact. From day one, you'll work on meaningful, high profile programmes that stretch your skills and accelerate your growth.

We invest heavily in you--supporting continuous learning, in demand skills development, and long term career progression. You'll thrive in a flexible, inclusive environment that values curiosity, encourages reinvention, and recognises what makes you unique.

We offer:

• Tools and policies to support your work-life balance from flexible working approaches, sabbatical programs, paid paternity leave, maternity leave and an innovative maternity returners scheme

• More traditional benefits, such as 25 days holiday (in addition to public holidays), private medical, dental & optical cover, online shopping discounts, an Employee Assistance Program, life assurance and a group pension plan through salary sacrifice.

Your role and responsibilities

A Senior Experience Consultant specializing in Research provides strategic leadership in shaping, delivering, and championing user research across digital services. The role leads complex research programmes, oversees methodological decisions, and ensures insights directly influence policy, service design, and delivery across the lifecycle. This includes advanced qualitative and quantitative approaches such as ethnographic studies, generative discovery, large‑scale surveys, workshops, prototype testing, and accessibility evaluations. Senior researchers interpret complex data, synthesise insights at scale, and guide teams in understanding user needs, behaviours, and systemic challenges.

Key activities:

• Develop comprehensive user research plans, aligned with project goals and wider organisational priorities.

• Design and carry out research activities that help teams develop a deep understanding of users and their needs across government services.

• Document user insights clearly and consistently, producing high‑quality outputs such as personas, journey maps, research summaries, and insight repositories.

• Champion user research

• Ensure research evidence effectively informs policy, propositions, service design, content design, and interaction design to achieve both user and policy outcomes.

• Actively participate in customer craft communities, contributing IBM best practices, frameworks, and thought leadership to strengthen capability.

Required technical and professional expertise

• Experience leading planning, design, and execution of end‑to‑end user research using a broad range of qualitative and quantitative methods.

• Skilled at shaping research strategies that drive decision‑making and align with client needs and organisational objectives.

• Provide guidance, mentoring, and quality assurance to researchers, improving research practice across teams.

• Develop advanced artefacts such as service‑level journey maps, research frameworks, behavioural models, and thematic insight repositories.

• Facilitate workshops and collaborative sessions with senior stakeholders to prioritise research needs and embed evidence‑based decisions.

• Conduct expert reviews, heuristic evaluations, and cognitive walkthroughs to assess and improve user experience quality.

• Communicate complex insights clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences, including senior leaders.

• Champion user‑centred design principles and influence product and service direction across multidisciplinary teams.

• Remain current on emerging research methodologies, accessibility standards, and best practices in user‑centred design.

This role is suited to a highly skilled, senior professional dedicated to understanding user behaviour and shaping accessible, equitable, and effective public services. If you are an influential, strategic, and analytically strong research leader able to drive impact at scale, we encourage you to apply.

This role is subject to pre‑employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personal Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NVS) may apply, this could include meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV).

Preferred technical and professional experience

• Experience with advanced analytics, A/B testing, card sorting, or contextual inquiry.

• Experience mentoring or line‑managing junior researchers.

• Familiarity with digital accessibility standards and specialised accessibility testing tools.

• Knowledge of behavioural science, service design, or systems thinking.

• Experience using insight repositories or researchOps platforms.

IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal‑opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, caste, genetics, pregnancy, disability, neurodivergence, age, veteran status, or other characteristics. IBM is also committed to compliance with all fair employment practices regarding citizenship and immigration status.