Band 8A NHS Lead Service User Researcher

Band 8A NHS Lead User Researcher

📍 Location: Fully Remote

📅 Contract: 12 Months

💰 Rate: £300 per day (Inside IR35)

A fantastic opportunity has opened up for a highly experienced Lead User Researcher to join a major digital transformation programme in the NHS. This role offers a chance to shape user-centred services across critical healthcare systems, making a real difference in patient outcomes and service quality.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead, plan and conduct user research for complex digital health services, ensuring user needs are front and centre throughout design and delivery.
• Supervise, mentor and develop junior user researchers, setting standards and leading by example in best practice.
• Align user research with organisational strategy, influencing service direction with evidence-based insights.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams including service designers, developers and policy leads.
• Ensure inclusive and accessible research methods are embedded across all project stages.
• Represent users and their behaviours in product discussions, service reviews and strategic decision-making.
• Champion user-centred design principles and challenge teams to continuously improve.

Essential Skills & Experience:

• Proven experience as a Lead User Researcher or equivalent, planning and delivering research in complex service environments.
• In-depth knowledge of a range of qualitative and quantitative user research methods.
• Ability to guide multidisciplinary teams in adopting and applying user-centred practices.
• Strong communication and facilitation skills, including simplifying technical research findings for diverse audiences.
• Experience working in Agile delivery environments and incorporating user feedback into continuous iteration cycles.
• Capable of aligning user research activities with broader service and policy objectives.
• Strong documentation and reporting abilities, including data interpretation and synthesis into actionable insights.

Desirable:

• Experience delivering research for public sector or healthcare digital services.
• Familiarity with service design in GP or primary care settings.
• CXA or similar recognised UX/User Research certification.
• FEDIP Senior Practitioner accreditation or equivalent.

*Rates depend on experience and client requirements