Senior User Researcher PUBLIC SECTOR

Contract: 12 months

Rate: Up to £650 per day, Inside IR35

Working Pattern: Hybrid, 3 days per week onsite at any of these offices Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Blackpool or Cardiff

We are looking for an experienced Senior User Researcher to lead complex research across two connected programmes focused on understanding how public services and policy work in practice for users.

This is a highly strategic research role requiring someone who can work across user research, policy, operations and service design. You will bring together existing research, new qualitative research, analytics, policy and operational evidence to identify gaps, generate insights and turn findings into clear recommendations.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end user research across complex, interconnected services and policy areas.
• Plan and conduct qualitative research with service users, frontline colleagues and relevant stakeholder groups.
• Synthesise existing research alongside policy, analytics and operational evidence.
• Identify evidence gaps and design targeted research to address them.
• Translate research findings into clear implications, opportunities and actionable recommendations.
• Develop engaging research outputs including user profiles, journey insights, pain-point analysis, stories and visual artefacts.
• Facilitate workshops that help multidisciplinary teams move from research evidence to decisions and action.
• Work closely with policy, operational, product, design and research teams.
• Connect research insights to wider strategy, service vision and product roadmaps.
• Ensure research involving vulnerable or excluded users is conducted inclusively, accessibly and ethically.
• Support wider research capability and mentor other researchers where required.

Essential Experience

• Significant experience delivering complex end-to-end user research at Senior User Researcher level or equivalent.
• Previous public-sector experience is essential.
• Strong qualitative research skills across a range of appropriate methodologies.
• Strong experience of evidence synthesis, including combining user research with analytics, policy or operational evidence.
• Experience researching complex cross-service, cross-policy or end-to-end user journeys.
• Demonstrable ability to turn research evidence into actionable insights, opportunities and recommendations.
• Evidence of research directly influencing policy, service, operational, product or design decisions.
• Strong stakeholder management across multidisciplinary and senior stakeholder groups.
• Excellent storytelling, visual communication and facilitation skills.
• Strong understanding of inclusive, accessible and ethical research practice.
• Ability to work independently, lead research activity and manage competing priorities.

Desirable Experience

• Central government or policy-focused research experience.
• Experience working within GDS-aligned environments and knowledge of Government Digital Service standards.
• Experience researching welfare, benefits, financial hardship or other complex public services.
• Experience conducting research with vulnerable, excluded or harder-to-reach user groups.
• Service Design experience, particularly user profiles, design heuristics, opportunity mapping or journey mapping.
• Experience working with charities, advocacy organisations or lived-experience groups.

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry unleashes potential in people, teams, and organizations. We work with our clients to design optimal organization structures, roles, and responsibilities. We help them hire the right people and advise them on how to reward and motivate their workforce while developing professionals as they navigate and advance their careers. To learn more, please visit Korn Ferry at www.Kornferry.com