Digital User Researcher

On behalf of the Met Office, we are looking for a Digital User Researcher (Inside IR35) for a 9 month contract. Hybrid one day a week in Exeter.

Note: SC Clearance is an essential requirement for this role, as a minimum you must be willing & eligible to undergo checks. Please note, due to the exceptional requirements of this position, (and speed at which we require a postholder in situ), preference may be given to candidates who meet all of the essential criteria and hold active security clearance.

This User Researcher role will sit within the Advancing Arctic Capabilities Programme aimed at enhancing the Met Office's meteorological and oceanographic capabilities for the Arctic region to better serve customer and user needs. The Programme vision is to lift the capabilities of the Met Office, collaborating closely with UK and international partners, to provide essential future weather and climate services for the Arctic region. This means enhancing our numerical models and observations capability, developing new weather products and services, such as forecasting the tracks of polar lows with the use of AI. It also means collaboration between scientists, universities, research groups, government departments, and Non-Government Organisations across the UK and internationally.

You will initially be supporting the programme in its discovery phase, identifying potential users of the service in sectors such as defence, commercial, and shipping and understanding their context so we can provide value. They will be responsible for identifying user needs and problems to be solved, as well as identifying the current landscape of services for the Arctic region and pain points. They will support the programme by gathering user evidence through Alpha and beta phases to deliver products and services that are useful, usable and discoverable for end users.

This role will be Embedded in a multidisciplinary team and will be responsible for planning and carrying out user research activities. The User Researcher represents the voice of our diverse range of users by using user-centred design methodologies to deeply understand their needs. The role will form part of the Met Office dedicated User-Centred Design team, championing user-centred design best practice within projects to help build a user focused culture.

You will:
. Be expected to work independently on a team
. Plan and carry out user research activities for the Advancing Arctic Capabilities programme
. Recruit participants for user research and schedule research for the Advancing Arctic Capabilities programme
. Conduct user research to provide insights that inform the creation of Met Office products and services
. Analyse and synthesise user research findings using a range of methodologies and techniques
. Create clear findings that help the team continuously improve the service, based on data and evidence
. Present findings and user insights to stakeholders, teams and users to help align and inform decision-making
. Involve the team in user research to help everyone develop a deep understanding of the users
. Use the best tools and approaches to understand the user needs
. Be an active member of the user-centred design (UCD) team to support other UCD colleagues and workstreams
. Be an active member of the UX Community of Practice to support a user-centred culture across the organisation

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.