32652 - Lead User Researcher

£60,772 - £81,967
1
12 Months
London
London
10 SOUTH COLONNADE LONDON, E14 4PU
Grade 7, Grade 6
Ac
Permanent
Full Time, Part Time/Job Share, Flexible Working
Digital

Salary:​ £60,722 to £78,300 per annum, depending on skills and experience

Contract type:​ Permanent
Grade:​ MoJ Band Ac
Number of open roles:​ 1

Location:​ 10 South Colonnade, London

Hours:​ 37 hours/week (42 hours incl. lunch) Working pattern:​ flexible working, full time, part time Closing date for applications:​ 2nd February 2020 Interview location:​, London

Introduction

These are exciting times at​ ​MOJ Digital and Technology.​ ​We have a clear vision - to develop a digitally-enabled justice system that works more simply for users - and we’re looking for talented people to help us achieve it.

We’re making things better by building adaptable, effective services and making systems that are simple to use for staff and citizens. It can be challenging but it’s also important and rewarding.

As well as doing great work, we’re creating a place that’s great to do work in. We offer tip-top kit, brilliant training opportunities and support from expert colleagues. On top of that, you’ll find flexible working, an inclusive culture and a place where your opinion is valued.

To find out more about what we do and how we’re doing it, just​ ​read our blog​. The role

We’re looking for a talented and tenacious Lead User Researcher to join our digital team in London to take the lead in creating world-class services in the justice system. We use cutting-edge agile software development approaches to make rapid but meaningful improvements to public services that live up to the unique challenges of MOJ's responsibility to society.

  • Researchers on our team are
  • great at using quantitative and qualitative research method
  • comfortable with metrics and able to synthesise data quickly
  • great storytellers and communicators
  • Very good at collaborating in a dynamic, data-driven, creative environment

What you will do:

  • Develop and lead on the execution of a strategy for research on one of the three main user groups of the justice system
  • Manage, develop and mentor user researchers working across several teams and service areas
  • Align user research plans and activities with organisational objectives and priorities
  • Contribute evidence from user research to inform service propositions and roadmaps
  • Build user research capability and ensure best practice across your user group

What you will have:

  • Due to the nature of our current projects and team make-up at this time we are looking for experienced user researchers already working within multidisciplinary digital teams.
    If you have transitioned from a different role or digital profession into a user research role, in order to consider your application, you are required to provide evidence of the training that enabled your transition and what demonstrable experience you have gained to date.

While experience of training and working as a researcher in other arenas is valuable in user research, candidates must have a deep understanding of and provide evidence of extensive application of user research methods in product and service development.

  • Extensive experience of running user research as part of a user-centred design process

  • A degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors, Cognitive Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, or a related field

  • Experience of advocating for user research and engaging sceptical colleagues and stakeholders

  • Experience of leading user researchers and continually assuring, improving and innovating on user research practices

  • Experience of people and performance management

    What we offer:

  • The option to become part of a smart, dynamic and collaborative user research community

  • Fabulously complex research questions

  • The space and opportunity to impact the creation of simple solutions for people experiencing life-changing moments

  • The opportunity to do research for end-to-end services in a user-focused way, working within knowledgeable and experienced teams

  • Flexible working - working from home or your garden sometimes

  • Sun-dappled offices close to and in some of the oldest and most beautiful places in the UK

    Throughout the process we will assess your technical specialist skills and experience on the above requirements as well as competencies you will find on the job description

    We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status.

    Salary and working arrangements

    If successful, the salary we offer you will be within the advertised range and will depend on the skills and experience you demonstrate at the interview.

    Therefore in your cover letter it would be helpful to the hiring teams if you can indicate your salary expectations and if possible your notice period.

    You’ll also get:

  • Truly flexible working. Whether it’s working from home or remotely, working part-time, job sharing, or working compressed hours, we have people doing it and are happy to discuss options with you

  • Lots of training and development opportunities

  • A civil service pension with an average employer contribution of 22%

  • 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays), and an extra day off for the Queen’s birthday. No promises you’ll be invited to her party, though

  • Great maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!

  • Bike loans and secure bike parking (subject to availability and location)

  • Season ticket loans, childcare vouchers, and eye-care vouchers.

    Our selection process

    Candidates MUST submit the following:

  • a current and relevant CV, including a link to a portfolio showing your relevant work (if you don’t have a portfolio online, please upload it to Google Drive and include a link to it in your CV);

  • a Cover letter (1 page max) outlining why you are interested in the role and how you meet the essential skills and experience required;

    In the Civil Service, we use​Success Profiles​, a flexible framework, to assess candidates against a range of elements using a variety of selection methods, therefore giving you the opportunity to demonstrate the various elements required to be successful in the role.

    Through shortlisting applications and at interview we will be assessing how you meet the skills and experience outlined in the job description. We look for people who exhibit the core civil service behaviours:

  • Leadership

  • Communicating and influencing

  • Working together

  • Developing self and others

  • Making effective decisions

  • Delivering at pace

  • Seeing the big picture

  • Changing and improving

  • Managing a quality service

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status.

The job advert lists the essential, specialist skills and experience as well as key Civil Service competencies required for the role.

At the CV review/sift stage we will use the technical/specialist skills and experience to determine your suitability for the role.

At the Interview the panel will ask you open-ended questions to which they are seeking answers/evidence of essential, previous skills, experience and behaviours in order to guide their hiring decision.

Note: due to the volume of applications we receive we are unable to provide feedback after the CV review (sift) stage.

Salary and working arrangements

If successful, the salary we offer you will be within the advertised range and will depend on the skills and experience you demonstrate at the interview. Therefore in your cover letter it would be helpful to the hiring teams if you can indicate your salary expectations and if possible your notice period.

Benefits​:

  • A ​generous pension scheme​ on average of up to 22%

  • 25 days leave, plus bank holidays, plus 1 privilege day usually taken around the Queens’ birthday

  • 1 additional day of leave for every year you work, up to a maximum of 5 extra days

  • Flexible working - whether it’s working from home or remotely, working part-time, job sharing, or working compressed hours, we have people doing it and are happy to discuss options with you

  • Access to training and development through Civil Service Learning, ​GDS Academy​ and Pluralsight

  • Great maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!

  • Bike loans and secure bike parking (subject to availability and location)

  • Season ticket loans, childcare vouchers, and eye-care vouchers.

  • Some offices may have a subsidised onsite Gym.

  • Up to 5 days paid leave for voluntary work you may wish to undertake

    Things you need to know

    Security and Immigration checks
    Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.
    Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed Candidates will be subject to​UK immigration​ requirements as well as​Civil Service nationality rules

  • If you're applying for a role requiring security clearance please be aware that foreign or dual nationality is not an automatic bar. However certain posts may have restrictions which could affect those who do not have sole British nationality or who have personal connections with certain countries outside the UK.

    Nationality requirements

    Open to the UK,​Commonwealth​ and​European Economic Area (EEA)​ and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available ​here​.

    Eligibility

    Candidates in their probationary period are not eligible to apply for vacancies within this department.

Working for the Civil Service

The ​Civil Service Code​ 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​.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. Contact point for applicants- for further information regarding this role please contact MoJ D&T Recruitment.

Further information

All Civil Servants will adhere to the ​'Civil Service code’​, which outlines the Civil Service's core values, and the standards of behaviour expected of all civil servants in upholding these values.

Note for current Civil Servants:​ If successful, the salary offered would normally be determined by applying the MoJ salary progression rules. If the appointment is on level transfer your substantive salary (excluding any allowances) will remain unchanged, unless it exceeds the maximum stated within the MoJ pay band, and unless your current salary is below the relevant MoJ grade minimum. If the appointment is on temporary or substantive promotion the salary will be increased by the appropriate promotion percentage or moved to the minimum of the relevant MoJ grade minimum, whichever is the greater.

Note for non Civil servant applicants:​ This post is open to UK Nationals, Commonwealth Citizens, EEA Nationals of other member states and certain non-EEA family members. There must be no employment restrictions or time limit on your permitted stay in the UK. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for at least 3 years and in some cases 5 or even 10 years preceding your application due to the requirement to have a checkable history for security vetting purposes. If you answer 'No' to the questions regarding nationality then it is unlikely your application will be pursued. If you are unsure as to your eligibility on any of these points, please contact the recruitment team for clarification or advice.

22/02/2020, 23:55 hours.

If you require any assistance please call 0845 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com Please quote the job reference - 32652.

To apply for roles in MOJ you will need to confirm your employment history for at least 3 years prior to the date of application so that pre-employment checks (BPSS) can be undertaken. If you have spent significant time abroad (a total of 6 months in the past 3 years) you would be required to give a reasonable account of the reasons why. 

For some roles you will be required to successfully complete National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorism (CTC), Security Clearance (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) level as a condition of appointment. To meet CTC/SC/DV requirements you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least 3/5/10 years prior to the date of application (The level of checks that are required are stated in the advert).

If you do not meet the above requirements, you may still be considered if, for example:

  • You've been serving overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of HM Government
  • You were studying abroad
  • You were living overseas with parents

In such cases you will need to be able to provide referee cover for the period(s) of residence overseas. The duration of overseas residence and the country of abode will also be taken into account.

Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please click here for further guidance.

if you feel that your application has not been treated in line with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance

We have provided detail of the assessment stages and areas being assessed to help you prepare for completing your application form, and to advise of what will be assessed following this, if you successfully pass the application stage.


Application form stage assessments

Interview stage assessments

There is 1 interview stage for this vacancy.

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit : https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans

Redeployment Interview Scheme

Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ are committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.

MoJ are able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidate's will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.

For further information and to apply for this position please see the following link: https://app.jobvite.com/j?cj=oIa9cfwX&s=Civil_Service_jobs.

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) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families

· 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) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

This Vacancy is closed to applications.