AMS PSR

On behalf of the Government Commercial Agency we are looking for a User Researcher (Inside IR35) for a 6 month contract. Hybrid working based in either Newport, Norwich, Birmingham, Manchester or York, 2 days per week.

Government Commercial Agency (GCA) is the largest public procurement organisation in the UK.

As a trading fund and executive agency of the Cabinet Office, we implement procurement policy on behalf of the government.

We use the collective buying power of our customers and our commercial expertise to help public sector organisations achieve value for money and provide great outcomes for taxpayers.

As a User Researcher your main duties will be to:

• Uncover the needs of buyers across the UK public sector, such as in Government departments, education, health & NHS, local authorities, charities, police, fire and other public bodies, along with the needs of suppliers and colleagues.
• Plan user research in collaboration with other user researchers and teams to ensure efficient collection, documentation, storage and access to user research assets
• Plan and conduct research to ensure the user need is fully understood for new concept and prototype developments (including user requirements gathering, early-stage testing, guerrilla research and other approaches)
• Call on a wide range of user research techniques to identify and apply the most appropriate user research methods for your work stream.
• Collaborate with the other work stream teams on shared user needs and dependencies.
• Work closely with product owners, delivery managers and developers to turn insight into actionable requirements and backlog user stories – validate the stories and user acceptance criteria with users.
• Present findings and related design/business recommendations and customer insights to senior decision makers
• Support the GCA research community and promote user-centred design principles and best practice.

Essential:

• Demonstrable experience as a User Researcher within agile digital delivery environments.
• Proven experience working in the Alpha phase of product development, helping teams understand user needs and shape potential solutions.
• Strong experience planning and conducting a range of user research activities, including surveys, interviews, usability testing and prototype testing.
• Experience evaluating and testing early-stage concepts and prototypes, translating findings into actionable recommendations for product and delivery teams.
• Ability to work effectively within a multi-disciplinary team, collaborating with product managers, designers, developers and other stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of user-centred design principles and how research informs product strategy and decision-making.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with the ability to advocate for user needs and evidence-based decision making.
• Experience working within UK Government or other public sector organisations.

Desirable:

• Experience researching user needs within Identity and Access Management (IDAM), authentication, authorisation or related service areas.
• Experience working in organisations with low digital delivery maturity and helping embed user-centred delivery practices.
• Experience operating within a low-centred design maturity environment, influencing teams and stakeholders to adopt user-centred approaches.
• Familiarity with Government Digital Service (GDS) standards, service assessments and agile delivery frameworks.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

At GCA, we actively support, promote, and celebrate our differences for the benefit of our employees, suppliers, and customers. GCA is proud to be an equal opportunities employer. GCA believes that diversity and inclusion is critical to our success, and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Disability Confident 

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, GCA guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".