Senior User Researcher

Senior User Researcher - Local Government/Public Sector

Contract: 12 months
Location: London (2 days on-site per week)
IR35: Inside IR35
Experience required: Local Government/Council experience (essential)

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for an experienced Senior User Researcher to support a major Central Government digital programme focused on improving public-facing services and digital products used across the UK. You will conduct high-quality strategic research with citizens, service users, and local government teams to shape user-centred design, product direction and organisational decision-making.

This role requires someone with strong expertise in end-to-end user research and a background working with local authorities or councils to understand how public services operate at a local level.

What You'll Do

As a Senior User Researcher, you will:

• Lead and deliver a wide range of user research projects (discovery through to evaluative) involving local government officers and end users

• Plan, design and conduct research using both qualitative and quantitative methods

• Run research activities end-to-end: designing, recruiting, conducting sessions, analysing data and presenting insights

• Translate findings into clear, actionable insights that influence product, service and strategic decisions

• Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams including product managers, designers, policy specialists and developers

• Engage and involve stakeholders across local and central government throughout the research process

• Advocate for evidence-based decision-making and promote user-centred approaches

• Seek out new research opportunities and innovative methods to improve how services are understood and designed

Who You Are

We are looking for applicants who:

• Have extensive experience working within local government or council environments

• Are highly skilled in a wide range of research methods - from ethnography and diary studies to quantitative research and statistical analysis

• Can balance research rigour with practicality, understanding when to prioritise speed vs depth

• Have strong analytical skills and can extract meaningful insights from complex datasets

• Understand the social, policy and technological context of public-facing services

• Can translate research into real impact, influencing products, services and strategy

• Are confident engaging senior stakeholders and communicating insights in compelling, creative ways

• Have experience working within multidisciplinary teams in digital delivery environments

This is an excellent opportunity to drive meaningful change in public services and help shape digital experiences used by millions across the UK.

Candidates must have Local Government/Council experience to be considered.