User Researcher

The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do.

To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

The Government Property Agency is changing the way the Civil Service works and is at the forefront of Government's transformation agenda; reshaping the relationship civil servants have with their place of work. The Agency is central to the delivery of key Government policies including moving 22,000 Civil Service roles out of London by 2030 and tackling climate change by contributing to the Net Zero agenda. To do this we are delivering a major change programme across the UK and consolidating our portfolio in order to save £1.4 Bn over 10 years.

Beyond the bricks and mortar, the GPA is about providing great workplaces for our people. Through programmes like Hubs, Whitehall Campus and Smart Working you will be in the vanguard of creating model working environments and promoting flexible working practices.

This is an ambitious and exciting task, for which we need innovative people, with strong commercial acumen, who are passionate about visualising and implementing customer needs. Launched as an Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office in 2018, we’re a relatively new department and we are growing fast so we also need people who thrive in ambiguity, can adapt quickly to change and are comfortable stepping outside of their remit to drive outcomes.

The GPA is developing a user research capability as a core part of its approach to developing technology services. The senior user research will lead the development of this capability working alongside product managers, technical architects, delivery managers and service owners. Working with the people who work in our buildings to understand user needs and help translate these into technical requirements to ensure a quality service.

Key Responsibilities:

As a Senior User Researcher working in the Government Property Agency, you will:

• Plan user research activities that help teams gain a deep understanding of the people that use our services.
• Turn research data into clear findings that inform decisions by involving colleagues in analysis and synthesis to increase consensus and challenge assumptions.
• Understand the diversity of users by effectively including all kinds of users in appropriate research activities to help teams deliver accessible services.
• Understand and demonstrate experience in a range of user research methods and can apply them correctly for different situations and stages of the product life cycle.
• Align user research activities to inform decision making that will help the team with the problem they are trying to resolve.
• Align user research activities with organisational objectives to create strategic insights that inform policy and proposition.
• Have an understanding of user-centred design practices and how to embed them into an Agile workflow to produce timely findings.