User Researcher

at  Scottish Government

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA AND QUALIFICATIONS

No formal qualifications are required for this role.
To apply for this post, you will need to provide the information requested below via the online application process.
A CV (no longer than two pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements - this is accessed through the candidate profile.

A Personal Statement (no longer than 750 words) explaining why you consider your personal skills, qualities, and experience suitable for this role, with reference to the essential criteria below:

• Experience in a research role, choosing and delivering a range of research methods for different situations and contexts.
• Experience of communicating research approaches and insights effectively to different audiences, ensuring they are understood by your stakeholders.
• Experience of designing research sessions to ensure they are inclusive and meet the diverse needs of participants.
• Experience of managing personal data, consent processes and other ethical considerations when working with research participants.

When considering how your experience relates to the role, please tailor your CV and personal statement to reflect the role and the essential skills/criteria as described in the job description/person specification.
When reviewing your application, we will be assessing your career history and achievements against the essential criteria for the role. We are looking for examples of things you have previously achieved or your knowledge in a particular field which are relevant to the role.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

We have recently published our Corporate Plan for 2024-27, a key element of which is the digital and data strategy. Across these three years we have a vision to integrate our digital systems to provide a single end-to-end digital tax journey for taxpayers and their agents, as well as our tax operations and compliance teams. We are building our digital capability to help us realise this ambition, including user-centred design.
As a user researcher at Revenue Scotland, you will take the lead on user research activity as part of the service design function. You will design, recruit for, and carry out user research sessions with users, both internal staff and external taxpayers or agents, to understand how they use our services to submit and administer tax returns.

MAIN DUTIES:

• Designing and running user research using a range of methods (qualitative and quantitative) to best support business and project needs
• Working closely with teams to provide clear, actionable insights and support decision making
• Facilitating the inclusion of different types of users in research activities.
• Advocating for accessibility, assisted digital and inclusive design practices to help teams deliver accessible services that work for all.
• Supporting teams to continually improve their understanding of and engagement with users and their needs, embedding insight into their work.
• Managing the ethics and consent processes with research participants.
• Managing the use and licensing of user research tools and facilities.
• Supporting the development of data protection and equalities impact assessments.
• Understanding user-centred service design and delivery practices.
• Helping raise awareness of the social and technological context for government services.
• Contribute to the DDaT community by participating in events and reviewing processes, tools and guidance.

Below are details of the Competencies required for this role and you will be tested against these competencies if you are invited to attend the interview/assessment:

• People Management
• Communication and Engagement
• Improving Performance
• Analysis and Use of Evidence
• DDaT Technical Skill Assessment

Essential Criteria & Qualifications:

A Personal Statement (no longer than 750 words) explaining why you consider your personal skills, qualities, and experience suitable for this role, with reference to the essential criteria below:

• Experience in a research role, choosing and delivering a range of research methods for different situations and contexts.
• Experience of communicating research approaches and insights effectively to different audiences, ensuring they are understood by your stakeholders.
• Experience of designing research sessions to ensure they are inclusive and meet the diverse needs of participants.
• Experience of managing personal data, consent processes and other ethical considerations when working with research participants