NCSC User Researcher or User Experience Specialist

Job summary

About us

GCHQ is an intelligence, cyber and security agency with a mission to keep the UK safe. We use cutting-edge technology, ingenuity and partnerships to identify, analyse and disrupt threats. Working with our intelligence partners MI5 and MI6, we protect the UK from terrorism, cyber-attacks and espionage. At GCHQ you’ll do varied and fascinating work in a supportive and inclusive environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, is the UK Government’s lead authority on cyber security. The organisation is at the heart of the Government’s cyber security strategy and has the aim of making the UK the safest place to live and work online.

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to join NCSC’s multidisciplinary User Centred Research and Design (UCRD) team. Strengthening the UK’s ability to protect itself against cyber security threats depends on NCSC guidance, tools and services being accessible, usable and trusted by millions of diverse users. Our multidisciplinary User Research and User Experience specialists are critical to the success of these capabilities and work hard to ensure user needs are central to the strategy, design and implementation of capabilities that help to protect people and organisations across all levels of society.

Through mixed-method research, iterative testing and evidence-based design approaches, we help shape end-to-end services based on user insight rather than assumption. By identifying risks and validating ideas early, we inform strategy, support teams to make informed delivery decisions, reduce avoidable cost and technical debt, and improve the UK’s cyber resilience.

We are recruiting for multiple positions within the team, with responsibilities and seniority aligned to the successful candidate's skills, experience and interview outcome.

What will the successful candidate be doing?

As a User Research or User Experience specialist, you will play a key role in helping the NCSC deliver services, guidance and interventions that protect UK cyber security and improve outcomes for people, organisations and society. Working across a diverse portfolio of projects and services, you will ensure that decisions are informed by a robust understanding of user needs, behaviours and contexts.

You will work alongside multidisciplinary delivery teams, applying user-centred approaches to support the development of effective, accessible and inclusive services. You will plan and conduct user research or user experience activities, generate actionable insights, advocate for diverse users and help teams make informed decisions based on evidence rather than assumptions.

Senior User Research or User Experience specialists: will lead the delivery of research and design activities across projects, advising teams on appropriate methods and helping colleagues embed user-centred approaches throughout delivery. They will share insights with stakeholders, provide constructive challenge, support decision-making, and contribute to peer review and continuous improvement within the wider User Research and User Experience community.

Lead User Research or User Experience specialists: will provide expert strategic advice to multidisciplinary teams and senior stakeholders, shaping requirements, influencing delivery approaches and ensuring user needs are considered from the earliest stages of work. They will apply their specialist expertise to balance user needs, organisational priorities and technical constraints, provide technical leadership and quality assurance across the UCRD capability, mentor and support senior practitioners, and escalate significant risks or blockers where required.

Alongside project delivery, you will provide specialist User Research or User Experience consultancy and support to a variety of NCSC initiatives, including large-scale public-facing campaigns that help individuals and organisations stay secure online. You will also have opportunities to collaborate with user-centred specialists across government, contributing to nationally significant services and sharing best practice across the wider profession.

As part of a growing team, you will help shape the future of UCRD within the NCSC. You will contribute to the development of our ways of working, support capability growth, and strengthen professional relationships across the government user-centred research and design community to promote collaboration, learning and continuous improvement.

To compete against our adversaries, it is vital that the NCSC remains at the forefront of technological advancement and continues to deliver world-class cyber security advice and services. You will be supported to undertake relevant training and continuous professional development and encouraged to explore, test and share innovative tools, methods and approaches that could improve how we work, including the responsible and ethical use of AI.

Person specification

The successful applicant will need to:

Senior User Research or User Experience specialists:

• demonstrate experience working in a User Research, User Experience or related User Centred Design role, applying user-centred practices to understand user needs and inform service improvements.
• demonstrate strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to explain and advocate for user-centred approaches to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• demonstrate experience selecting, applying and adapting appropriate User Research or User Experience methods and tools throughout delivery lifecycles to meet user, business and delivery needs.
• demonstrate experience working alongside wider delivery functions without clearly defined user-centred requirements and embedding user-centred approaches from an early stage through to delivery.

Lead User Research or User Experience specialists:

• demonstrate the Senior User Research or User Experience requirements detailed above.
• demonstrate experience shaping user-centred strategy and making links across different project areas to ensure outputs align with business priorities.
• advocate for user-centred approaches and support areas to adopt user centred practices.
• demonstrate experience providing technical assurance of UCRD standards, outputs, and approaches.

GCHQ Competencies
As part of the selection process, the NCSC will assess you using competencies aligned with those used across the UK Intelligence Community. These are closely based on the Civil Service Behaviours, so if you’re familiar with those, you’re already on the right track.

At Level 3, we’ll be looking at how you demonstrate the following:

• Driving Innovation and Change (Civil Service Behaviour Equivalent: Changing and Improving)
• Continuously Developing (Civil Service Behaviour Equivalent: Developing Self and Others)
• Communicating and Influencing (Civil Service Behaviour Equivalent: Communicating and Influencing)
• Working Collaboratively (Civil Service Behaviour Equivalent: Working Together)
• Making Effective Decisions (Civil Service Behaviour Equivalent: Making Effective Decisions)
• Providing Customer Value (Civil Service Behaviour Equivalent: Managing a Quality Service)

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