User Researcher

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

• joining up public sector services
• harnessing the power of AI for the public good
• strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
• elevating leadership and investing in talent
• funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
• committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.

We are hiring a number of User Researchers to work on GOV.UK.

GOV.UK is the trusted online home for government information and services. Every week millions of people rely on it to complete essential and often life-changing tasks. GOV.UK also supports government colleagues to publish content, ensuring accurate and accessible information is always available to the public.

As a User Researcher, you will:

• make an impact: work on and tackle challenges in public infrastructure, improving lives through solutions that are informed by high quality, evidence-based, insights.
• deliver work that matters: driving change, delivering better value and outcomes for users and government, to empower and transform.
• grow with us: thrive in a supportive research community that values experimentation, learning, failing fast and reflection as key steps to growth. With dedicated development resources, training and cross-government networks, you will have plenty of opportunities to grow.

Your main responsibilities are:

• Independently plan and conduct a wide range of user research activities aligned to team goals and priorities, including lean and iterative user research approaches that provide timely insights that support evidence-based decision-making and help teams deliver improvements at pace.
• deliver high-quality, end-to-end research: from planning, research design, and participant recruitment to analysis and actionable reporting.
• design and execute user research that drives the development and continuous improvement of government products/services, ensuring insights lead to informed decision-making.
• collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders throughout the research process, working closely with product managers, designers, and developers to transform user insights into impactful product and service features.
• advocate for the user by maintaining a clear focus on their needs and behaviours, while also understanding wider business goals - bringing both perspectives together to deliver impactful research that fosters empathy and supports informed, balanced decision-making.
• clearly and effectively communicate user research insights to teams, fostering a shared and deep understanding of research learnings.
• be a reflective practitioner - consistently explore and implement innovative ways to deliver better outcomes, whether by refining existing methods/practices or experimenting with new, creative approaches.
• manage time effectively to deliver high-quality research on time, while sharing ideas and learnings to support team growth and contribute to research libraries and reusable knowledge - helping to shape the future of the research community through collaboration.

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)

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• Application stage: you’ll be asked to submit a CV and respond to one knock out question. Failure to submit your CV and complete the application questions will result in your application being unsuccessful
• Panel interview stage: 60 minute video interview. We will use this to understand your work, experience, and assess in terms of competency and behaviours. You will receive a brief beforehand if preparation is needed. This will be conducted over video conferencing.
• Technical exercise stage: 120 minute video interview. This is a research technical exercise session. In this session, we will assess your research practices and skills using a series of practical tasks. You will receive a brief with more info about this before attending the exercise session. This will be conducted over video conferencing.

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

While we value the use of AI technology to enhance our daily work, we also value the personal touch and urge applicants to write cover letters without the use of AI to emphasise their own unique experiences.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is:

experience and understanding of established user research methods, including those related with planning, analysis, and sharing of findings - to generate insights that inform inclusive, human-centred design, grounded in an understanding of user behaviour and psychology.

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

• Seeing the big picture
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and influencing
• Working together
• Delivering at pace

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the the User Researcher role:

• Analysis and synthesis
• Inclusive research
• Research management, leadership and assurance
• Stakeholder relationship management
• User research methods
• User-centred practice and advocacy

Want to know more about who Government Digital and Data are? Click Here

Sift completion: 06/11/2026

Panel interviews: Wc 17/11/2026

Technical Interviews: Wc 7/12/2026

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Sponsorship

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

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