Lead User Researcher

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK’s largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social, and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution, and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime, and migration.

Research informs policy, proposition, service, content, and interaction design so that services work well for users and achieve their policy intent.

User researchers plan, design and carry out research activities with users that help teams get a deep understanding of the people that use government services. This research informs policy, proposition, service, content, and interaction design so that services work well for users and achieve their policy intent.

This is a unique opportunity to help shape one of the UK's largest and most important public services. As a User Researcher for Census 2031, you will lead the planning and delivery of user research activities that inform the design of services, processes, and experiences that enable everyone across the country to take part in the census. Working collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams including User-Centred Design professionals, social researchers, statisticians, operational experts, and delivery specialists, you will ensure user needs, behaviours, and evidence are at the heart of decision-making.

You will develop and own the research plan, lead complex research studies, and translate insights into actionable recommendations that drive design and service improvements. As a line manager for a junior User Researcher, you will help build research capability while fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement. This is an exciting and challenging role in a highly collaborative design environment, offering a rare opportunity to influence the future of a once-in-a-decade national programme and help create a census that is inclusive, accessible, and works for everyone.

The Role

A lead user researcher is an expert practitioner, leading and aligning user research activities across several teams.

At this role level, you will:

• Ensure that teams take a user-centred, evidence-based approach to service design and delivery.
• Develop and assure good user research practice.

Could include:

• Leading user research within a multi-disciplinary team across multiple products, or a simple product that is especially complex, high risk, or sensitive.
• Advising colleagues of the appropriate methodology and assuring user research to ensure best practice.
• Developing, reviewing, overseeing user research processes and artefacts for ONS.
• Upskilling and line managing user researchers and junior colleagues new to the profession.

Responsibilities:

Lead user researchers:

• Act as a core part of the leadership group for their responsible area(s) and work closely with the senior stakeholders, multidisciplinary leads and research leadership groups to ensure research delivers impactful outcomes.
• Design and implement research strategy based on ONS visions and strategic outcomes. This includes proactively identifying research opportunities, getting buy-in for important research initiatives that can provide high quality strategic insights/foresights for senior stakeholders.
• Conduct a wide range of qualitative research, including using advanced, innovative techniques.
• Support or pair up with researchers to develop and ensure best practices are applied in their work and the work delivered is high-quality, reliable for decision making and meeting the delivery pace.
• User insights and knowledge expert for their area of responsibility. Proactively shares important learnings with senior leadership groups, wider organisation and beyond.
• Help colleagues understand when and when not to do research, the diverse range of research methods, advocate the value of research and demonstrate the importance of research by making sure the impact made by research is tracked and visible to others.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals 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) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for 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

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Security Clearance

For ONS the requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for 3 consecutive years immediately prior to applying and the department will consider eligibility by exception on a case-by-case basis. You will be asked to provide information regarding your UK residency during your application, and failure to provide this will result in your application being rejected.

If you are unsure that you meet the eligibility above, please read the information available on Gov.uk on this link, or contact the recruitment email on the advert before applying to discuss, as failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected and any offer of employment being withdrawn.

At the point of SC application, you will need to provide or give access to the following evidence:

• Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
• Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
• Security Services records

ONS can offer visa sponsorship as part of this recruitment campaign. However, applicants must still hold valid right to work in the UK at the point employment commences.

To work at the ONS, candidates must meet both UK right to work and security clearance requirements (where applicable).

If you are unsure whether you meet the appropriate right to work or security clearance eligibility criteria, please refer to the guidance on Gov.uk or contact the recruitment email provided in the advert before applying. Failure to meet these requirements will result in your application being rejected and employment offers being withdrawn.

For full guidance in relation to the use of AI through the recruitment process, please read A candidate’s guide to artificial intelligence (AI) in recruitment

Please note that all campaigns may be subject to withdrawal at any stage if the internal resource position changes.

Application Process

Number of Stages: 2 stage process

Stage 1: Application

Stage 2: Interview

Stage 1 – Application

The assessment process at the application stage will be based on your work history, skills, experience, CV, and personal statement. It is important that your application is tailored to highlight the skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the role.

A personal statement is required at application stage, the maximum wordcount allowed is 1250, which should not be exceeded. You should provide evidence for each essential skill criterion listed in the person specification. As these criteria are scored, it is advisable to give clear examples for each one, including the impact of your actions, ideally utilising the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

Please note that Success Profiles Behaviour examples are not required at this stage of the application process.

When a high volume of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted. Candidates will be invited to interview based on their merit order, with those achieving the highest scores being prioritised. Applicants who score below the adjusted pass mark but still pass will be placed on hold and may be invited to interview at a later date.

Stage 2 – Interview

If invited to interview, you will be assessed using techniques aligned with the Civil Service Success Profiles framework, covering all behaviours listed in the job advert and any required technical skills.

A presentation will be required at interview against the behaviour "Communicating & Influencing"

Interviews will be in person from either Newport or Titchfield.

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.

The Sift will be conducted from 21/09/2026

Interviews will be conducted from 12/10/2026

For the full terms and conditions of the post, please see attachment.

Near Misses

We often have similar roles available at different grades. If a candidate is suitable for a similar role or a lower grade than they have applied for, we may offer the candidate that role without the need to go through a further selection process providing the role has the same behaviours and essential skills.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.