Senior User Researcher - 2 Year FTC (we have office locations in Cambridge, Leeds and London)

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Genomics England seeks a Senior User Researcher for a 2 year fixed term to join the Adult Population Genomics Programme, planning and delivering research informing product and service decisions. You’ll run discovery and evaluative studies, conduct usability tests and interviews, and translate insights into actionable recommendations for cross functional teams. Requirements include five years UK public sector experience, proven ability with mixed methods and the GDS Service Standard, and a track record of ethical, inclusive research. Onsite in London with blended working; salary from £62,500; deadline 11 March 23:00; DBS check applies. Tips: tailor your CV to public sector outcomes, highlight artefacts like journeys and personas, quantify impact, and note interview adjustments you need.

Company Description

Genomics England is a global leader in enabling genomic medicine and research, focused on creating a world where everyone benefits from genomic healthcare. Building on the 100,000 Genomes Project, we support the NHS’s world-first national whole genome sequencing service and run the growing National Genomic Research Library, alongside delivering numerous major genomics initiatives. By connecting research and clinical care at national scale, we enable immediate healthcare benefits and advances for the future. 

Our mission is to provide the evidence and digital systems so that by 2035 genomics could play a role in up to half of all healthcare interactions, whilst securing the UK’s position as the best place to discover, prove and benefit from genomic innovations. 

We are accelerating our impact and working with patients, doctors, scientists, government and industry to improve genomic testing, and help researchers access the health data and technology they need to make new medical discoveries and create more effective, targeted medicines for everybody. 

Behind the Healthcare and Research outcomes, Genomics England delivers through designing, developing and operating complex healthcare software systems. 

We're on the cusp of big changes with the real prospect of genomics becoming the fabric of everyday healthcare through the lifetime - from birth to old age.

Job Description

We are seeking a proven Senior User Researcher to join our newly established Adult Population Genomics Programme (APGP). This exciting initiative will sequence the genomes of 150,000 adults to better understand how genomics can support preventative healthcare, improve early disease detection, and enable more personalised and proactive interventions. 

In this role, you will draw on your expertise and experience to plan, deliver, and communicate high-quality research that directly informs product, service, and design decisions.

You’ll work closely with multidisciplinary teams to understand user needs, explore behaviours, and evaluate solutions, helping to ensure that Genomics England’s products and services are effective, accessible, and impactful for all users.

Research Planning & Execution 

• Plan, scope, and deliver user research activities for products or defined areas within a service.

• Conduct discovery research to explore user needs, behaviours, and constraints within defined problem spaces. 

• Conduct evaluative research to refine product flows and features. 

• Select and apply appropriate research methods (qualitative and quantitative) with guidance available for more complex study design. 

• Independently run research activities such as usability testing, in-depth interviews, workshops, surveys, and field/contextual studies. 

• Ensure research is planned effectively, documented clearly, and delivered to expected quality standards. 

• Apply ethical research practices, ensuring participants’ rights, consent, and privacy are upheld. 

• Ensure research includes people with diverse backgrounds, digital skills, and access needs. 

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication 

• Build trusted working relationships and work closely with multidisciplinary teams including designers, clinicians, product managers, developers, and operations specialists to shape research questions and interpret findings. 

• Produce clear, actionable insights and recommendations to inform product, service, and design decisions, and disseminate by creating research artefacts (e.g., user journeys, personas, insight summaries, and user needs). 

• Present research findings to product teams, designers, and operational stakeholders in a clear and compelling way. 

Skills and experience for success 

• Proven experience planning and delivering user research across qualitative and quantitative methods. 

• Skilled at synthesising insights into actionable recommendations. 

• Comfortable engaging confidently with stakeholders across disciplines to influence product and service design. 

• Experience ensuring research is inclusive, ethical, and accessible. 

• Strong communication and presentation skills to convey findings effectively. 

 
If you’re an experienced Senior User Researcher who’s absolutely passionate about understanding users and shaping services that make a real impact, who loves turning insights into better experiences, all whilst working at the forefront of healthcare and genomics, we’d love to hear from you! 
 

Qualifications

Relevant design and research qualifications are acknowledged; however, it is your work experience we are mostly interested in. We are looking for: 

• A minimum of five years' work experience 

• Proven experience and track record working in the UK public sector

• Digital delivery methodologies such as GDS (Government Digital Service) Service Standard (or equivalent) 

• Mixed-method user research studies 
   

Additional Information

Salary From: £62,500
Note: This is a 2 Year FTC (Fixed Term Contract)
Closing Date: Wednesday 11th March at 23:00 (UK time)

Being an integral part of such a meaningful mission is extremely rewarding in itself, but in order to support our people, we’re continually improving our benefits package. We pride ourselves on investing in our people and supporting them to achieve their career goals, as well as offering a benefits package including: 

• Generous Leave:  30 days’ holiday plus bank holidays, plus additional leave for long service, and also the option to apply for up to 30 days of remote working abroad annually (approval required).
• Family-Friendly: Blended working arrangements, flexible working, enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave benefits.
• Pension & Financial: Defined contribution pension (Genomics England double-matches up to 10%, however you can contribute more if you wish), Life Assurance (3x salary), and a Give As You Earn scheme.
• Learning & Development: Individual learning budgets, support for training and certifications, and reimbursement for one annual professional subscription (approval required).
• Recognition & Rewards: Employee recognition programme and referral scheme.
• Health & Wellbeing: Subsidised gym membership, a free Headspace account, and access to an Employee Assistance Programme, eye tests, flu jabs.

Equal opportunities and our commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace 

Genomics England is actively committed to providing and supporting an inclusive environment that promotes equity, diversity and inclusion best practice both within our community and in any other area where we have influence. We are proud of our diverse community where everyone can come to work and feel welcomed and treated with respect regardless of any disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, or social background. 

Genomics England’s policies of non-discrimination and equity and will be applied fairly to all people, regardless of age, disability, gender identity or reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, being pregnant or recently becoming a parent, race, religion or beliefs, sex or sexual orientation, length of service, whether full or part-time or employed under a permanent or a fixed-term contract or any other relevant factor.  

Genomics England does not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment, victimisation or bullying at work. Such behaviour undermines our mission and core values and diminishes the dignity, respect and integrity of all parties. Our People policies outline our commitment to inclusivity. 

We aim to remove barriers in our recruitment processes and to be flexible with our interview processes. Should you require any adjustments that may help you to fully participate in the recruitment process, we encourage you to discuss this with us. 

Culture

We have four key behaviours that represent what we would like Genomics England to feel like and the culture we want to encourage, in order for us to achieve our mission. These behaviours help us all work well together, deliver on our outcomes, celebrate our successes and share feedback with each other. You can read about these and other aspects of our culture here Culture | Genomics England

Blended working model

Genomics England operates a blended working model as we know our people appreciate the flexibility that hybrid working can bring. We expect most people to come into the office a minimum of 2 times each month. However, this will vary according to role and will be agreed with your team leader. There is no expectation that people will return to the office full time unless they want to, however, some of our roles require full time on site attendance e.g., lab teams, reception team. 

Our teams and squads have, and will continue to reflect on what works best for them to work together successfully and have the freedom to design working patterns to suit, beyond the minimum. Our office locations are: Canary Wharf, Cambridge and Leeds.

Onboarding background checks

As part of our recruitment process, all successful candidates are subject to a Standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.  We therefore require applicants to disclose any previous offences at point of application, as some unspent convictions may mean we are unable to proceed with your application due to the nature of our work in healthcare.