Head of User Research

The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) helps businesses invest, innovate, export and grow across the UK. Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) helps deliver this by designing, building and running the services, platforms and technology that businesses and colleagues rely on every day.

Our teams work on a wide range of services and technologies, including:

• digital services that help businesses access government support, guidance and opportunities
• data and AI products that support decision making and enable innovation
• internal tools and services that help colleagues work more effectively
• secure technology and platforms that support critical government services
• cyber security services that protect systems, data and users

By joining DDaT, you'll work on services used by businesses, colleagues and citizens across the UK. You'll be part of multidisciplinary teams focused on improving services, solving complex problems and delivering better outcomes for users.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and supportive workplace. In recognition of this, we were named Best Public Sector Employer at the Women in Tech Employer Awards 2025!

As Head of User Research, you will provide senior leadership for the user research profession in BIST while contributing directly to high-priority user-centred work. This role is expected to be split broadly 50:50 between Head of Profession responsibilities and individual contributor work. The Head of Profession element includes line management, coaching, capability development, professional standards, quality assurance, community leadership, workforce planning and senior advocacy for user research. The individual contributor element could include enabling delivery teams without dedicated user research capacity to undertake appropriate lower-risk research activity, particularly usability testing, under clear guardrails. This would involve providing expert coaching, templates, assurance and advice so teams can generate useful evidence safely and proportionately, while ensuring more complex user research activity continues to be led by user researchers.

Main responsibilities

You will be:

• Provide senior professional leadership for user research across BIST, setting expectations for high-quality, ethical, inclusive and proportionate research practice.
• Line manage, coach and support Lead User Researchers and other members of the profession, helping them develop capability, confidence and judgement.
• Lead and sustain the user research community of practice, creating the conditions for researchers to share learning, support each other, improve standards and contribute to shared profession priorities.
• Assure the quality of user research across portfolios, including research planning, methodology, ethics, safeguarding, data handling, participant recruitment and the use of evidence in decision-making.
• Act as a senior escalation point where teams need expert user research judgement, particularly where delivery pressure creates risks to research quality, participant welfare, inclusion or the truthful representation of user needs.
• Work with senior portfolio leadership, service owners, delivery, product, policy and other UCD professions to ensure research is focused on the most important organisational priorities and is used to inform strategy, service direction and delivery decisions.
• Enable delivery teams without dedicated user research capacity to undertake appropriate lower-risk research activity, particularly usability testing, under clear professional guardrails.
• Provide expert coaching, templates, advice and assurance to help teams plan, run and interpret proportionate usability testing safely and effectively, while being clear about where light-touch activity undertaken by non-researchers is appropriate and where specialist user research support is required.
• Support workforce planning for the user research profession, advising on role design, recruitment, deployment, contractor use, capability gaps and sustainable line management arrangements.
• Represent user research in senior DDaT and cross-government conversations, advocating for user-centred, evidence-led decision-making and the value of understanding users in the delivery of public services.

As an individual contributor, you may also lead or support complex or cross-cutting research activity where senior expertise is needed. This could include shaping research for ambiguous or high risk areas, synthesising insight across portfolios, advising on strategic service questions, supporting service assessments, or helping teams use evidence to make proportionate decisions at pace.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

Head of User Research Company: Government Recruitment Service Salary: £74,639 - £96,980 Hours: Full-time Location: Darlington Job type: Permanent Posting date: 25 Aug 2026 Closing date: 7 Sept 2026

Summary The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) helps businesses invest, innovate, export and grow across the UK. Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) helps deliver this by designing, building and running the services, platforms and technology that businesses and colleagues rely on every day.

Our teams work on a wide range of services and technologies, including:

• digital services that help businesses access government support, guidance and opportunities
• data and AI products that support decision making and enable innovation
• internal tools and services that help colleagues work more effectively
• secure technology and platforms that support critical government services
• cyber security services that protect systems, data and users

By joining DDaT, you'll work on services used by businesses, colleagues and citizens across the UK. You'll be part of multidisciplinary teams focused on improving services, solving complex problems and delivering better outcomes for users.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and supportive workplace. In recognition of this, we were named Best Public Sector Employer at the Women in Tech Employer Awards 2025!

As Head of User Research, you will provide senior leadership for the user research profession in BIST while contributing directly to high-priority user-centred work. This role is expected to be split broadly 50:50 between Head of Profession responsibilities and individual contributor work. The Head of Profession element includes line management, coaching, capability development, professional standards, quality assurance, community leadership, workforce planning and senior advocacy for user research. The individual contributor element could include enabling delivery teams without dedicated user research capacity to undertake appropriate lower risk research activity, particularly usability testing, under clear guardrails. This would involve providing expert coaching, templates, assurance and advice so teams can generate useful evidence safely and proportionately, while ensuring more complex user research activity continues to be led by user researchers.

Main responsibilities

You will be:

• Provide senior professional leadership for user research across BIST, setting expectations for high-quality, ethical, inclusive and proportionate research practice.

• Line manage, coach and support Lead User Researchers and other members of the profession, helping them develop capability, confidence and judgement.

• Lead and sustain the user research community of practice, creating the conditions for researchers to share learning, support each other, improve standards and contribute to shared profession priorities.

• Assure the quality of user research across portfolios, including research planning, methodology, ethics, safeguarding, data handling, participant recruitment and the use of evidence in decision-making.

• Act as a senior escalation point where teams need expert user research judgement, particularly where delivery pressure creates risks to research quality, participant welfare, inclusion or the truthful representation of user needs.

• Work with senior portfolio leadership, service owners, delivery, product, policy and other UCD professions to ensure research is focused on the most important organisational priorities and is used to inform strategy, service direction and delivery decisions.

• Enable delivery teams without dedicated user research capacity to undertake appropriate lower risk research activity, particularly usability testing, under clear professional guardrails.

• Provide expert coaching, templates, advice and assurance to help teams plan, run and interpret proportionate usability testing safely and effectively, while being clear about where light touch activity undertaken by non researchers is appropriate and where specialist user research support is required.

• Support workforce planning for the user research profession, advising on role design, recruitment, deployment, contractor use, capability gaps and sustainable line management arrangements.

• Represent user research in senior DDaT and cross government conversations, advocating for user centred, evidence led decision making and the value of understanding users in the delivery of public services.

As an individual contributor, you may also lead or support complex or cross cutting research activity where senior expertise is needed. This could include shaping research for ambiguous or high risk areas . click apply for full job details