User Researcher – Government Digital Services

Inside IR35: £425-£450 per day
Predominantly remote – ad hoc travel to London and Leeds
ASAP – until the end of March 2027 initially

We are looking for an experienced User Researcher to support complex digital services across major public-sector health and education programmes. Working within multidisciplinary teams, you will plan and deliver research throughout the service lifecycle, building a strong evidence base around user needs and ensuring findings directly inform product, design and delivery decisions.

Role responsibilities

• Plan and deliver user research across discovery, alpha, beta and live service environments.

• Select appropriate qualitative and quantitative research methods based on programme needs.

• Conduct research with service users, professionals and internal stakeholders.

• Analyse findings and translate evidence into clear, actionable recommendations.

• Work with product managers, designers, delivery professionals and technical teams to embed user needs.

• Present research findings confidently to delivery teams and senior stakeholders.

• Maintain user-needs documentation and contribute to research repositories.

• Ensure research is inclusive, ethical and accessible to participants with varied needs.

Key experience and requirements

• Strong hands-on user research experience within complex digital-service environments.

• Previous experience working on UK government or wider public-sector programmes.

• Good knowledge of GDS standards and user-centred design principles.

• Experience applying a range of qualitative research methods across different delivery phases.

• Ability to turn detailed research findings into practical recommendations for multidisciplinary teams.

• Strong stakeholder engagement, facilitation and research-playback skills.

• Experience within health, education or another complex public-service environment would be beneficial.

• Availability for ad hoc travel to London and Leeds when required.