Head of Profession - User Research

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Head of Profession - User Research

Location: London/ National

Closing Date: 31/05/2022

Interviews: w/c 13th June 2022

Grade: 6

Salary: £54,274 - £75,000 (London) £50,427 - £69,000 (National) This will include an allowance of up to £20,726

Working pattern: Full time, part time, flexible

*We are currently offering hybrid working which includes 2 days per week in your local office. Office locations can be found here

We’re recruiting for a Head of Profession - User Research here at MoJ Digital & Technology, to be part of our warm and collaborative Justice Digital team.

To help picture your life at MoJ D&T please take a look at our blog and our Digital & Technology strategy.

The Role

As Head of Profession - User Research you will be responsible for leading, developing and supporting the User Research community of practice. Although based in Justice Digital, this role will have oversight of practices across the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

There will be a focus on building capability, knowledge, talent and expertise within the profession through thought-leadership, knowledge sharing, collaborative ways of working, common working practices and championing a culture of excellence.

You will be a recognised expert in User Research. You will have a proven track record of identifying, testing and championing the adoption of emerging technologies, techniques and practices within your professional domain, advising digital teams on the art of the possible and examples of innovative thinking.

You will collaborate with, and support the work of, the Digital Capability team to develop the professionalism along with the skills and capability of DDAT Professionals across the MOJ, using feedback to ensure that the profession is adding value, and addressing any areas of concern.

Our team culture is based around agile ways of working and keeping our users - both internally (front-line staff, managers and senior leaders) and externally (citizens) - at the centre of our thinking. You will have a proven ability to deliver effectively and at pace within large-scale agile service & delivery teams. You will have the skills to embed professional practices into our user-centric and agile culture and will have deep experience in leading and motivating a community of highly capable, digitally skilled professionals.

Key Responsibilities

Vision and Strategic Leadership

Set the vision and strategy for the community of practice for User Research within Justice Digital and the wider MoJCollaborate with Justice Digital and MoJ colleagues to ensure that the vision and strategy for the profession and the community of practice is aligned, supporting and delivering to the strategic priorities, outcomes and goals of the organisationCreate and own the strategic plan for the development of the people in the profession, delivering a prioritised roadmap that builds and strengthens the professional capability and expertise for your community of practice. This includes discussion, alignment and agreement with SCS leaders in Justice Digital on the priorities for each quarterProactively work across government departments, the wider private sector and academia to develop and promote excellence within the specialism, attract new funding and resources, create opportunities for innovation and collaboration through networks, forums and interest groups – setting up new ones where they don’t existCollaborate with CDDO to standardise and strengthen DDaT professions across Her Majesty’s GovernmentEnsure that all members of the community have a voice and can contribute towards continually improving the profession and building a thriving, diverse and inclusive communitySupport the promotion of the Justice Digital brand and our employee value proposition; raising the profile of the community of practice across MoJ, the wider Civil Service and beyond through thought leadership; public speaking, videos, case studies, events, awards, blogs, social media promotion etc.

Community

Build and grow a thriving communityEnsure standards are understood and applied within the wider profession, and support profession leads in driving continuous improvement across Justice Digital and MoJWork across MoJ, wider government and externally to build connections into professional communities where mutually beneficial opportunities existWork with the other heads of profession and leads to ensure consistency across DDaT professions not only within MoJ but across government

Quality and Standards

Own the standards for User Research and be responsible for defining, leading and continually improving these standards for the professionCurate accessible knowledge, standards and best practice to set the right conditions for people to work effectively within the specialismDefine and embed performance metrics and KPIs for the profession and ensure they are effectively embedded within Justice Digital teams. Provide management reports, analysis and insight for the profession as necessaryEnsure the quality and standards support and enable our Agile culture with a governance model that helps us to accelerate both pace and value of delivery

People

Build and grow a forward-thinking and diverse team within the profession. Ensure all practitioners have clear routes for progression through career pathways and structured learning and development plansEnsure we attract, develop and retain high calibre talent within the profession, building the digital capability, skills and competencies needed within Justice Digital and across the MoJCollaborate with Digital Capability teams to define and implement approaches for recruitment, onboarding, retention, early talent pipelines, learning and developmentSupport profession leads to identify skills gaps and development opportunities and effective management of under-performanceOwn the L&D budget for your profession, ensuring effective use of the department's funds and reward and recognition schemesRecruit and provide line management for Lead User Researchers

Organisational Delivery

Proactively build close relationships with Justice Digital senior leaders and their teams to understand the needs and challenges and be able to identify areas of community-related interventions and collaboration.Provide consulting support where professional expertise is required, including support for programmes and areas where there are delivery issues.Define and own the choice of tools, equipment, technologies, platforms, services, and content needed to enable the profession to thrive; ensuring consistency and best practice of use across all Justice Digital and MoJ teams.

Benefits

37 hours per week and flexible working options including working from home, working part-time, job sharing, or working compressed hours.We are committed to nurturing our staff and provide lots of training and development opportunities with learning platforms such as: Linux Academy, O’Reilly, Pluralsight, Microsoft Learning, Civil Service Learning, GDS Academy, etc.10% dedicated time to learning and development with a budget of £1000 a year per personGenerous civil service pension based on defined benefit scheme, with employer contributions of 26-30% depending on salary.25 days leave (plus bank holidays) and 1 privilege day usually taken around the Queens’ birthday. 5 additional days of leave once you have reached 5 years of service.Compassionate maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave policies, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!Wellbeing support including access to the Calm app.Nurturing professional and interpersonal networks including those for Careers & Childcare, Gender Equality, PROUD and SPIRITBike loans up to £2500 and secure bike parking (subject to availability and location)Season ticket loans, childcare vouchers and eye-care vouchers.5 days volunteering paid leave.Free membership to BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT.Some offices may have a subsidised onsite Gym.

Person Specification

Essential

Meet the requirements for BPSS clearanceAnalysis and synthesis. You can help an organisation adopt a wide range of analysis and synthesis techniques. You know how to help an organisation continually assure, improve and innovate their practices to generate clear and valuable findings. (Relevant skill level: expert)Inclusive research. You can help organisations understand the diversity of users of government services. You know how to guide organisations to adopt inclusive practices and apply what they learn to design and deliver accessible services that work for all users. (Relevant skill level: expert)Research skills. You can help an organisation adopt a wide range of user research methods. You can lead a community of practice to help an organisation continually assure, improve and innovate their user research. (Relevant skill level: expert)Society and technology. You can align user research activities to help the organisation understand changing user behaviour, and the challenges and opportunities for government policy and service proposition. (Relevant skill level: expert)Strategic insight. You understand organisational strategy and objectives. You can align research activities across the organisation to create strategic insights. You can align wider research activities at departmental and cross-government level. (Relevant skill level: expert)Technical understanding. You know about the technologies used to build and operate digital services. You can collaborate closely with colleagues in different digital disciplines. (Relevant skill level: practitioner)User-centred and agile practices. You understand and have extensive experience of a range of user-centred and agile approaches. You can help government organisations adopt user-centred practices and embed them into agile service design and delivery. You know how to advocate for user research across an organisation. (Relevant skill level: expert)

We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring and do not discriminate on the basis of culture, ethnicity, race, nationality or national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability status, sexual orientation, educational or social background or any other factor.

Our values are Purpose, Humanity Openness and Together. Find out more here about how we celebrate diversity and an inclusive culture in our workplace.

How to Apply

Candidates must submit a CV and statement of suitability which describes how you meet the requirements set out in the Person Specification above.

In D&T, we recruit using a combination of the Digital, Data and Technology Capability and Success Profiles Frameworks. We will assess your Experience, Technical Skills and the following Behaviours during the assessment process:

Seeing the Big PictureLeadershipChanging and ImprovingCommunicating and Influencing

Your application will be reviewed against the Person Specification above by a diverse panel.

Successful candidates who meet the required standard will then be invited to a 1.5 panel interview held via video conference.

Terms & Conditions

Please review our Terms & Conditions which set out the way we recruit and provide further information related to the role and salary arrangements.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact recruitment@digital.justice.gov.uk