Lead User Researcher

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Job description

Role: Lead User Researcher

Hours: 35 hours per week

Salary: £55,017-£58,242

Location: We're based in the heart of Woolwich, which is a great place to both live and work. Woolwich benefits from excellent transport links; buses, tubes, trains (just 21 minutes from central London and 10 minutes from The O2) and ferries, and soon to be Crossrail expansion. During the current COVID-19 response you will be working mainly at home; when the pandemic has abated, you'll have a mixture of home and office-based working.

Who are we looking for?

Our new Digital and Customer Service team is expanding and we are on the lookout for an empathetic, kind and strategic leader in user research. You will lead a multi-level team of five User Researchers.

It's an exciting time to join our team, as we've recently published our first ever digital strategy and want you to be a part of making our strategy a reality. You will help us on our mission to make the Royal Borough of Greenwich a truly digital council and borough over the next four years and beyond.

It's essential you're open-minded, great at working in a team, have experience in developing people, growing practices, and applying a range of both qualitative and quantitative research, and most importantly are up for the challenge. Most importantly you are up for the challenge to make public service more outcome-focused and growing a new practice. We are a new team, so there's plenty of scope for having your say!

What your role will involve:

You'll be part of our brand-new in-house product function as part of the Digital and Customer service team. You'll report to the Head of Product.

As a Lead User Researcher, you'll take a lead role in the User Research community across Royal Borough of Greenwich, setting standards and leading user research of new, complex products and services. You'll directly lead on our most complex, risky and interdependent priority areas, working as part of the multidisciplinary team and partner with service areas to help define research focus, frame problems, uncover needs, strength and constraints.

You will lead by example by being the senior practitioner of the team, working through the entire design and delivery process, from primary and secondary research, making research actionable to evaluating the impact throughout a design and delivery process.

What your day-to-day responsibilities will look like

• Build and lead a user research team and community at the Royal Borough of Greenwich; hire team members, codify ways of working, set standards of practice and behaviour based on modern industry standards and your experience.
• Lead on developing and growing the user research community of practice
• Act as ambassador for human-centred design, evidence-based approach and agile ways of working across the council.
• Work closely with different types of services across digital and non-digital channels, particularly large, complex service areas to help them build empathy and evidence, see opportunities to transform their areas, coaching them to build ambitious plans.
• Work in the open with people's voice, participation and needs at the centre of all you do.
• Engage with our diverse community groups within the borough, acting as the bridge between data and lived experience and hearing how their voices and experiences can be translated into service delivery.
• Treat staff as equally valued users as residents. Build relationship and gain empathy to understand their service needs and guide delivery in the same evidence-driven way. Help people see their services through a people lens with a design state of mind.
• Help stakeholders to reimagine their services and products to improve service outcomes and reduce the cost of delivery.
• Use data, evidence, design thinking and agile ways of working to solve problems, test ideas quickly to learn things that matter.
• Line manage people, develop talent and manage performance robustly.
• Actively look for opportunities to improve the internal processes of knowledge management, learning and development, getting feedback, running design critique and meetings, etc.
• Run events and give development opportunities.

Why join Royal Greenwich:

Royal Greenwich is proud to be a borough synonymous with first class modern services. A world class heritage site, our communities are vibrant and diverse, and we pride ourselves on being a well-managed, well-run authority.

We are going through a digital transition and are on the hunt to recruit like-minded team members to be a part of the challenge. We pride ourselves on our values, so you'll be in an environment that promotes knowledge and skill sharing, so you'll be working closely with other areas of the business.

Our vision is for a happier, healthier and more joined-up borough using modern technology and data. This was already an urgent need, but the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated both the urgency and the will to change.

Our Royal Greenwich values underpin the work we do:

• Improving residents lives and opportunities
• Demonstrating respect and fairness
• Taking ownership
• Doing things better
• Working together across the Council.

We offer great benefits:

In return for your hard work, we offer a range of benefits:

• Annual Season Ticket Loan
• Childcare Voucher Scheme
• Learning and development opportunities to maximise your potential, including excellent apprenticeship opportunities at all levels
• Reduced rate Gym Membership
• Eyecare Vouchers
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Long Service Awards
• Generous Annual Leave entitlement and
• Excellent Pension Scheme
• Greenwich Card which entitles you to discounts at local businesses
• Employee Assistance Scheme including external counselling service
• A range of flexible working arrangements
• Staff networks

Make an application

If this sounds like it would suit you, or our mission is something you'd love to be a part of then get in touch!

To apply or for more information, please visit our website via the button below and apply online by 28th November.

You will need to complete the application form, and submit a CV and Cover Letter stating your intent and why you think you are suitable for this role. Please note we will not consider applications without a cover letter.

Royal Borough of Greenwich values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this. We want to hire the best people, regardless of their background. We encourage applications from all sections of the community.

What the hiring process will look like for you

Step 1 - Application: Complete the application form and we aim to get back to you within 1 week post the application closing date.

Step 2 - Invitation for interview: If you're among the top-scoring applicants, you'll be invited to a panel interview and prepare a 10 mins case study of a challenge you're proud of and how this shows your skill for this role.

Step 3 - Panel Interview: This will usually be a 60 minute video call with the hiring manager and other team members you would work with closely in the role. There will be two parts to it. The first 20 minutes will focus on the technical capabilities needed for this role through the case study you prepared. This will be followed by behaviour-based questions that address the essential criteria in the job specification. We will be asking questions like "tell us a situation when…"

Application close date: 9th January 2022

Royal Borough of Greenwich reserves the right to close any vacancy earlier than the advertised closing date should there be a high volume of applications received.