B3 Senior User Researcher

Job Description

Join Social Security Scotland as a Senior User Researcher and help shape services that truly work for people. In this role, you’ll lead and deliver high quality research across complex public services, ensuring policy and design decisions are grounded in real user needs. Working closely with multidisciplinary teams, you’ll build a shared understanding of the people who rely on our services, plan and carry out research, and turn insights into practical improvements. You’ll play a key role in promoting inclusive and accessible services, influencing stakeholders, and embedding strong research practices, while also contributing to the wider Scottish Government user research community.

Senior User Researchers lead research to support the design of policies and services that meet user needs and achieve policy intent. They plan, design, and deliver research across complex services, working with teams to build a strong shared understanding of users and ensure services are inclusive and accessible. They set direction and embed good research practices, align research with wider service goals, and share insights across teams to inform decisions and reduce duplication. As experienced practitioners, they also mentor and support other researchers, contribute to ethical and governance processes, and actively engage with the wider user research community of practice.