Senior User Researcher

Job summary

This role is in the DfE (Department for Education) Funding Service Delivery team in the Funding and Financial Oversight Directorate within the DfE Digital, Data and Technology (DDT) function.

The Service Delivery division supports one of the largest funding operations across government, ensuring over £80bn of education and training funding is allocated, contracted and paid accurately and on time. This is delivered through a complex end-to-end service that spans policy design, operational processes, data and digital tools, and involves teams across the organisation working together to support providers. The service operates at pace and at scale to deliver a high-quality experience for users.

About the team

As a Senior User Researcher, you will join the Service Insight Team – a small but growing multidisciplinary team working across the Funding Service to improve how funding is designed, delivered and experienced.

We take a whole-service view of the education funding journey, spanning policy design, operational processes, data and digital tools. In this role, you will work closely with colleagues across the service to build trusted relationships, advocate for users at senior levels, and bring a whole-service view to complex decision-making.

You will work across projects to surface user needs, connect related work, and help teams see the bigger picture – whether that’s joining up user journeys, streamlining operational processes, or identifying strategic themes for improvement. You will also help shape how user research is done at scale across the Funding Service, improving how insight is generated, shared and used.

About the job

User researchers at Department for Education plan, design and carry out research activities with users that help teams get a deep understanding of the people that use our services, across education and social care. This research informs our policy, proposition, service, content and interaction design so that services work well for users and meet our policy intent.

Job description

As a senior user researcher, you will be an experienced practitioner who can plan and lead user research activities in larger teams and across programmes of work and more complex services.

Job Responsibilities

• Deliver user research in complex subject areas, and supervise and develop other user researchers to assure and improve research practice, ensuring that research is high quality, ethical and safe.
• Build user-centred practices in teams in your programme area, supervising other user researchers.
• Help teams to research inclusively with a wide range of users, including those with additional needs and other hard-to-reach groups.
• Be a service assessor, assessing DfE services against the government service standard.
• Effectively communicate user research findings to the team and the wider organisation, to influence decision making.
• Take an active role in the DfE user research community, helping develop and improve our practice across the department.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Experience of using a variety of user research methods, applied in complex problem spaces.
• Synthesising and communicating insights to teams and stakeholders, to influence decision making.
• Planning and conducting research with people with additional or different needs.
• Scoping and planning effective research in a team within budget, time or other constraints.
• Coaching, supervision or management of other researchers, including reviewing their work to ensure it is high quality and ethical.

Desirable Criteria:

• Planning and conducting iterative user research in multidisciplinary agile teams.
• Joining up user insights from different projects to give teams a holistic understanding of users and their journeys.
• Contributing to the development and innovation of user research best practice in an organisation.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,185, Department for Education contributes £16,856 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Application & Sift

At this stage, we will assess your experience through your CV and personal statement.

Your CV should include details of your past employment history, the roles held, and the skills and experience gained from those roles.

Your personal statement should be no longer than 750 words and should demonstrate how your experience meets the essential criteria of the role (listed in the advert).

Your CV and personal statement will be assessed together against the essential criteria listed in the advert and aligned to the DDT Capability Framework

In the event of a high volume of applications, we may conduct an initial sift against the first two essential criteria only, before moving to a full sift.

More guidance on personal statements can be found here – completing your application.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to provide feedback to candidates who are not shortlisted at this stage.

Interview and Task

If successful at sift, you will be invited attend an interview where candidates will complete a short practical research task, followed by four interview questions. Evidence from both the task and the interview responses will be used to assess the essential criteria, with a score given for each of the five essential criteria (as listed on the advert).

The task will assess the following essential criteria:

• Scoping and planning effective research in a team within budget, time or other constraints
• Planning and conducting research with people with additional or different needs

Interviews will be conducted by a panel via Microsoft Teams and will last approximately 60 to 90 minutes. If you are invited to interview, please ensure that you have access to this software and that you are able to use video.

Feedback will only be provided to candidates who attend an interview.

For more information on the selection process, including guidance on how to write a personal statement, answer behaviour and strength-based interview questions, and the STAR approach click here: Top tips for acing the application.

Other Information

In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.

This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment (opens in a new window).

Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:

• name/title

• educational institutions

• age

• gender

• email address

• postal address

• phone number

• nationality/immigration status

We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.

The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs

Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Please refer to the attached ‘Reasonable Adjustments Guide 05_2025 – accessible version’ at the bottom of the advert, for further information.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

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)
• 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)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Louise Robinson
• Email : Louise6.Robinson@education.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk

Further information

The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages

Attachments

DFE Terms & Conditions - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 215kB)Reasonable Adjustments guide 05_2025 - accessible version (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 723kB)OGD Transfer Supplementary information - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 327kB)