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About the Role

We are seeking a Lead User Researcher to join our Design and Research team. This role involves asking critical questions about our work, processes, and clients, operating in a blended capacity between project oversight and hands-on research. You will collaborate closely with clients on user-focused engagements and contribute to developing long-term client relationships.

Responsibilities

Plan and lead research across different stages of delivery, from discovery through to live.
Choose and apply the right research methods for the context, including interviews, usability testing, co-design and mixed-method approaches.
Work directly with users to understand their needs, behaviours, contexts and barriers, including people with access needs or in vulnerable circumstances.
Synthesise findings into clear, persuasive outputs that help teams and clients make confident product and service decisions.
Translate research insight into practical recommendations for service design, product strategy and delivery priorities.
Facilitate workshops, playback sessions and stakeholder discussions to build shared understanding and momentum around user needs.
Build strong, trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders, helping them embed user-centred ways of working.
Collaborate day to day with designers, engineers, product managers and delivery leads in multidisciplinary teams.
Advise clients and teams on research strategy, participant recruitment, ethics, consent and good research practice.
Provide quality assurance and senior oversight for research activities, ensuring high standards in approach, delivery and outputs.
Support public sector clients to meet the Government Service Standard and build inclusive, accessible services that work for diverse users.
Coach and mentor researchers and designers, helping develop the user-centred design capability across projects and within Softwire.
Contribute to Softwire’s design and research practice by improving methods, tools, standards and thought leadership.
Advocate for the value of user research internally and externally, showing how evidence-led design can create better services and better outcomes.
Help scope new opportunities, shape proposals and contribute to bids, especially where user-centred design and public sector delivery are central.

Requirements

7+ years of experience working in a user research or related roles.
Deep expertise in user research methods and user-centred practice.
Strong background in Government / public sector service delivery.
Experience delivering against the Government Service Standard.
Has led research on complex agile projects with large teams with full accountability.
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.
Can evaluate and implement tools and technologies that enhance delivery of user research.
Can engage, collaborate and influence key stakeholders, including senior decision makers, product managers, designers and engineers.
Experience managing other researchers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and professional development.
Can provide senior oversight and support for user research activities and expert advice on methodology, approaches, tools, equipment, quality and standards.
Can effectively scope user-centred design projects and define resource requirements.
Experience in presales and/or government procurement.
Ability to achieve SC clearance.

Skills

User research methods
User-centred practice
Government / public sector service delivery
Government Service Standard
Agile project management
Inclusive practices
Accessible service design
Research tools and technologies
Stakeholder engagement
Collaboration
Influencing
Mentoring
Research strategy
Participant recruitment
Ethics and consent
Quality assurance
Presales
Government procurement

Location

Work Type

Flexible working options and patterns

Experience Level

Lead
7+ years of experience

Salary/Compensations

£79,000 - £88,700 base salary
Average of £11,500 - £15,250 in profit share
Additional 5% of salary for pension

Benefits

25 days annual leave (with the option to buy 10 and sell 5)
3.5 days additional days off for company-wide morale activities
AIG income protection
Travel card loan scheme
Zero emission car scheme
Cycle to work scheme
Enhanced maternity/paternity pay
Time off for charitable activities
Sabbatical available on request
Payroll charity donations
Headspace plus
Free annual eye test
Long service awards

About the Company

Softwire is a leading UK technology and strategy consultancy helping visionary organisations turn strategic ambitions into results at scale.
Our practices cover AI transformation, data platforms, systems engineering advanced CX and experience design.
Founded on the idea of creating the best possible culture and working environment.
Voted number 1 company to work for in the UK at the Best Company awards.
Has a loyal and growing client base who trust us with their hardest problems and their mission critical projects.
Our design team is a collaborative mix of service designers, researchers, UX and UI designers, working shoulder-to-shoulder with engineers, delivery managers, AI and data specialists.
We follow work across both design diamonds, from discovery through to delivery.
We don’t stop at ideas, we build and run real services.
We work in prototype-driven, user-centred, delivery-focused teams.
We form long-term client partnerships, allowing us to deliver real-world outcomes.
We don’t just do research. We have impact.