A major public-sector organisation responsible for family and child services is consolidating its digital footprint into a consistent, accessible set of public-facing applications. This role exists to lead user research and accessibility design across those services, working closely with product owners and engineering teams building microservices with Spring Boot, Docker and DevOps practices, and using Matomo for behavioural analytics.
The mission
The project aims to provide easy-to-use, widely accessible online services for families, childcare providers and partner organisations. The work covers public web portals and transactional applications where accessibility and clarity matter, and the product landscape is composed of microservices and CI/CD pipelines. Research outputs will influence design decisions that affect high-visibility user journeys and measurable public metrics.
Day to day you will plan and run user research and accessibility evaluations to validate design directions and measure impact. You will synthesise qualitative and quantitative evidence, run prototyping and testing cycles, and deliver research artefacts such as personas, mental models, tree tests and WCAG 2.1 compliance checks. You will coordinate with product owners, designers and backend teams to convert research insights into implementation-ready recommendations.
Your responsibilities
- Lead user research initiatives that produce actionable insights and measurable improvements in task completion and user satisfaction
- Drive accessibility design reviews and WCAG 2.1 compliance testing, producing clear remediation priorities for development teams
- Design and run mixed-method studies, combining Matomo behavioural analytics, usability testing, card sorting, tree testing and eye tracking when appropriate
- Create and maintain research artefacts including personas, mental models, journey maps and prototypes that guide product decisions
- Translate research findings into prioritized requirements and testable acceptance criteria for agile teams
- Coach product teams in new ways of working, research-informed design and participatory techniques such as design studio workshops
Your profile
Essential skills
- Proven experience as a UX researcher or UX research lead, with around 3+ years of hands-on research in digital projects
- Deep knowledge of accessibility design and WCAG 2.1, able to produce compliance reports and remediation plans
- Competence with behavioural analytics tools, notably Matomo, and experience combining analytics with qualitative testing
- Practical skills in prototyping, user testing, tree testing, card sorting, eye tracking and persona development
- Familiarity with agile delivery, certified Scrum Master or equivalent, and experience integrating research into sprint cycles
- Strong grounding in psychology or human-centred disciplines and organisational practices that support research adoption
Education
- Master's in psychology or equivalent academic background or professional experience in user research and behavioural science