Lead User Researcher

Salary details: £58209 - £61491

Location: We’re based in the heart of Woolwich, which is a great place to both live and work. Woolwich benefits from excellent transport links; buses, tubes, trains (just 21 minutes from central London and 10 minutes from The O2) and ferries, and  Crossrail expansion. 

Who are we looking for?

Our new Digital and Customer Service team are expanding and we are on the lookout for an empathetic, kind and strategic leader in user research. You will lead a multi-level team of five User Researchers.

It’s an exciting time to join our team, as we’ve recently published our first ever digital strategy and want you to be a part of making our strategy a reality. You will help us on our mission to make the Royal Borough of Greenwich a truly digital council and borough over the next four years and beyond.

It’s essential you’re open-minded, great at working in a team, have experience in developing people, growing practices, and applying a range of both qualitative and quantitative research, and most importantly are up for the challenge. Most importantly you are up for the challenge to make public service more outcome-focused and growing a new practice. We are a new team, so there’s plenty of scope for having your say!

What your role will involve:

You’ll be part of our brand-new in-house product function as part of the Digital and Customer service team. You’ll report to the Head of Product.

As a Lead User Researcher, you’ll take a lead role in the User Research community across Royal Borough of Greenwich, setting standards and leading user research of new, complex products and services. You’ll directly lead on our most complex, risky and interdependent priority areas, working as part of the multidisciplinary team and partner with service areas to help define research focus, frame problems, uncover needs, strength and constraints.

You will lead by example by being the senior practitioner of the team, working through the entire design and delivery process, from primary and secondary research, making research actionable to evaluating the impact throughout a design and delivery process.

What your day-to-day responsibilities will look like

• Build and lead a user research team and community at the Royal Borough of Greenwich; hire team members, codify ways of working, set standards of practice and behaviour based on modern industry standards and your experience.
• Lead on developing and growing the user research community of practice
• Act as ambassador for human-centred design, evidence-based approach and agile ways of working across the council.
• Work closely with different types of services across digital and non-digital channels, particularly large, complex service areas to help them build empathy and evidence, see opportunities to transform their areas, coaching them to build ambitious plans.
• Work in the open with people’s voice, participation and needs at the centre of all you do.
• Engage with our diverse community groups within the borough, acting as the bridge between data and lived experience and hearing how their voices and experiences can be translated into service delivery.
• Treat staff as equally valued users as residents. Build relationship and gain empathy to understand their service needs and guide delivery in the same evidence-driven way.  Help people see their services through a people lens with a design state of mind.
• Help stakeholders to reimagine their services and products to improve service outcomes and reduce the cost of delivery.
• Use data, evidence, design thinking and agile ways of working to solve problems, test ideas quickly to learn things that matter.
• Line manage people, develop talent and manage performance robustly.
• Actively look for opportunities to improve the internal processes of knowledge management, learning and development, getting feedback, running design critique and meetings, etc.
• Run events and give development opportunities.

Why join Royal Greenwich:

Royal Greenwich is proud to be a borough synonymous with first class modern services. A world class heritage site, our communities are vibrant and diverse, and we pride ourselves on being a well-managed, well-run authority.

We are going through a digital transition and are on the hunt to recruit like-minded team members to be a part of the challenge. We pride ourselves on our values, so you’ll be in an environment that promotes knowledge and skill sharing, so you’ll be working closely with other areas of the business.

Our vision is for a happier, healthier and more joined-up borough using modern technology and data. This was already an urgent need, but the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated both the urgency and the will to change.

Our Royal Greenwich values underpin the work we do:

• Improving residents lives and opportunities
• Demonstrating respect and fairness
• Taking ownership
• Doing things better
• Working together across the Council.

What we offer 

• 28 days’ annual leave 
• Flexible and partly remote working arrangements
• Mental health support, including an external counselling service
• Pension scheme 
• Long service awards
• Learning and development opportunities, including apprenticeships
• Staff networks for mental health, LGBTQ+ support, racial equality and more
• Vouchers for free eye tests 
• Annual season ticket loans 
• Childcare voucher scheme 
• Reduced-rate gym membership 
• Cycle to work scheme 
• Greenwich One Card which entitles you to discounts at local businesses 

Apply for this role 

To apply for this role you must: 

• complete an online application form 
• upload a CV
• write and upload a supporting statement in the form of a cover letter 

It is unlikely that we’ll shortlist you for an interview without a cover letter. A good cover letter will help us know why you’re right for this role. 

To apply, select the “Apply for this job” button. 

Hiring process  

Talk to us or ask any questions 

If you’d like an informal chat about the role, you can speak to Lingjing Yin (Head of Product) by emailing Lingjing.Yin@royalgreenwich.gov.uk

Please note, we do not accept application by email.

For an informal discussion about this opportunity, please contact Lingjing Yin;    lingjing.yin@royalgreenwich.gov.uk     .  

Diversity Statement: Royal Borough of Greenwich values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this. We therefore encourage applications from all sections of the community.

High Volume Applications: Royal Borough of Greenwich reserves the right to close any vacancy earlier than the advertised closing date should there be a high volume of applications received.

Advert Close: All vacancies close at midnight unless otherwise stated.

Interview Arrangements: During this time, our priority for all of our recruitment activity is to make sure our applicants, hiring departments and new starters are informed, safe and supported. Careful and thorough consideration will be given to interview arrangements and for any essential in-person recruitment, we will ensure this is held in a suitable, secure setting with additional arrangements to ensure any current safety requirements are fully adhered to.

Salary: Salaries advertised are for a standard working week of 35 hours unless otherwise stated. Please use this 'Salary Calculator to help you calculate a pro rata salary.

Interim Working Arrangements: As we review our ways of working, there may be interim working arrangements in place for some of our roles and some roles may still require full or partial essential office attendance. As restrictions ease, alternative working arrangements may be required - please be mindful of this and note the workplace location stated on this advert.

Our Staff Values: Our Staff Values are important to us. Candidates will be continuously assessed against our staff values throughout the recruitment process. Where candidates demonstrate views and behaviours that do not meet the standards of our staff values, we reserve the right to reject their application/ registration.