User Researcher

Bristol, Darlington, Manchester, Wolverhampton

Job Summary

We are MHCLG

At the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people’s lives. We have over 3,500 staff who are based in 20 offices across the UK.

Whether it’s through the homes we live in, the work of local councils, or the communities we’re all part of, our work is central to the political agenda. With ambitious and far-reaching goals this year, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.

The Local Digital team sits within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and supports councils across England to deliver more secure, user-centred, cost-effective local public services through open, collaborative and reusable work. A key part of our work is supporting the local government sector to be more cyber resilient and deliver on the ambition of the Government Cyber Security Strategy to be resilient to known vulnerabilities and attack methods no later than 2030.

To Achieve This, We Work Closely With Councils To

• Understand the risk — improving visibility of digital assets, assessing vulnerabilities, and sharing intelligence so councils and MHCLG can make informed decisions about how best to reduce cyber risk.
• Manage the risk — strengthening cyber security posture through continuous improvement, addressing systemic weaknesses, and coordinating effective incident response.
• Strengthen partnerships — promoting collaboration across local government and with national partners to reduce duplication, share resources, and build collective resilience.

We are now seeking a User Researcher that will support the development of the CAF (Cyber Assessment Framework) for local government, will build compelling stories about user needs across the sector, and work closely with colleagues to design and lead user research activities.

Please note – In addition to the above role in Local Digital, the department is also looking for an SEO user researcher to deliver across our Publishing team – providing insight on the department’s internal and external publishing activities. This role will utilise the same skillset detailed in the below person specification. Appointable candidates not selected for the Local Digital role may be contacted regarding this opportunity.

Find out more about our Digital teams and what they are working on through our MHCLG Digital blog. Please note that MHCLG do not offer visa sponsorship and applicants will need a valid visa for the duration of your employment.

Job Description

As a User Researcher, you’ll:

• Work as part of a design team to develop and improve the CAF for local government to meet the needs of different users
• Ensure user research is conducted with a diverse range of users across the planning system and advocate for their needs when engaging with internal teams
• Plan, design and conduct user research with key user groups to understand their needs and experiences and to understand how the implementation of policies or programmes are impacting them
• Work with community and collaboration and engagement managers to gather intel about users’ experience using the CAF to inform prioritisation of service and product design
• Support the development of routes to recruit participants for research and support the design of a feedback loop for our research and that inclusive research is embedded into all user research practices, ensuring research is conducted with a diverse range of users
• Identify appropriate research methods to meet the aims of the research. Analyse and synthesise user research data to present clear user insights and actionable findings
• Communicate user findings with a range of relevant stakeholders in a clear and engaging way, including senior officials, and advocate for the user needs and experiences using the CAF for local government
• Support the team to develop strategic insights and recommendations from all user research conducted and ensuring user needs, confirming experiences and impacts are embedded into the system mapping and visualisation work

As a User Researcher, You’ll

• Work as part of a design team to develop and improve the CAF for local government to meet the needs of different users
• Ensure user research is conducted with a diverse range of users across the planning system and advocate for their needs when engaging with internal teams
• Plan, design and conduct user research with key user groups to understand their needs and experiences and to understand how the implementation of policies or programmes are impacting them
• Work with community and collaboration and engagement managers to gather intel about users’ experience using the CAF to inform prioritisation of service and product design
• Support the development of routes to recruit participants for research and support the design of a feedback loop for our research and that inclusive research is embedded into all user research practices, ensuring research is conducted with a diverse range of users
• Identify appropriate research methods to meet the aims of the research. Analyse and synthesise user research data to present clear user insights and actionable findings
• Communicate user findings with a range of relevant stakeholders in a clear and engaging way, including senior officials, and advocate for the user needs and experiences using the CAF for local government
• Support the team to develop strategic insights and recommendations from all user research conducted and ensuring user needs, confirming experiences and impacts are embedded into the system mapping and visualisation work

Person specification

As a User Researcher, You’ll Have

• Experience or work as a user researcher in a complex policy or delivery environment with an excellent working knowledge of user-centered design practices
• Knowledge of a range of qualitative research methods, knowing how to apply different methods for different projects
• Experience in designing and delivering inclusive user research with a wide range of users
• Skills to be able to involve internal stakeholders in user research activities including co-designing research with multidisciplinary team and raising awareness of the importance of conducting robust monitoring and evaluation of their work
• Skills to be able to analyse research data to generate actionable and implementable insights involving teams to ensure buy-in for those findings
• An ability to meet ambitious deadlines and deliver high-quality work on schedule, including research plans, playbacks and reports
• The ability to present clear and compelling research insights to internal and external stakeholders in a range of formats that suite the audience and delivered in a way that teams can understand and use those insights
• An understanding of and the ability to work with complexity, uncertainty and organisational constraints in a political context
• Experience of working in an open and collaborative way as part of a multidisciplinary team

Alongside your salary of £44,004, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £12,747 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Application and Selection

The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience , Technical

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

Experience & Technical: Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the job description.

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead sift question listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to interview.

Lead sift question (Experience): Tell us about a time you planned or adapted your research approach to make it more inclusive. What did you do, and what did you learn?

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours: “Communicating and influencing”, “Working together”, “Delivering at a pace”
• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.
• Technical: Technical questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 13th July 2026.

Interviews are envisaged to take place shortly after and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.

How We Recruit

Find out everything you need to know before applying here..

• Applying
• Sifting
• Interview
• Interview Results & Feedback
• Reserve List
• Near Miss
• Civil Service Grades
• We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer
• Reasonable Adjustments

How To Apply

What you need to know before applying.

• Security Clearance Requirements
• Civil Service Nationality Requirements
• Right to Work
• Artificial Intelligence
• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles
• CV Declaration
• Sponsorships
• Salary and Grade
• Existing Civil Servants
• Conflict of Interest
• Location and Flexible Working
• Fixed Term Contracts
• Internal Fraud Database – Internal Fraud Register
• Appeals and Complaints
• Conflict of Interest

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office: BPSS + SC

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

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)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

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 (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job Contact

• Name : Digital Data Jobs
• Email : Digitaldatajobs@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Digitaldatajobs@communities.gov.uk

Further information

About

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team – Recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:

• a procedural irregularity
• an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy
• exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.

It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at Recruitment@communities.gov.uk.

If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk