Senior User Researcher

The National Archives is hiring two Senior User Researchers to join our growing digital team. These roles offer a unique opportunity to shape how the public accesses and interacts with the UK's rich historical and legal records.

We're looking for experienced, thoughtful user researchers who are passionate about inclusive, evidence-based design. Both roles share the same core responsibilities but differ in focus.

About The National Archives

We are the official archive for the UK Government and for England and Wales, holding millions of records dating back over 1,000 years. From the Domesday Book to born-digital judgments, our mission is to preserve and provide access to these important public records for everyone.

Our Digital Services and Digital Archiving departments are made up of several agile multi-disciplinary teams focusing on different products or services. Our mission is to design and deliver user-centred services that make our collections accessible, usable, and relevant to a wide range of audiences.

The National Archives is a unique environment to do user research. As a UK research Institution, as well as a non-ministerial department, our colleagues and users are often leading experts in our collections. This offers opportunities to partner on external research projects and apply for funding to lead internal strategic research projects.

A combination of onsite and home working is available for both roles and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site for a minimum of 60% of their work time.

Job description

Role 1: Permanent - Senior User Researcher, Digital Services

In this role, you'll lead a programme of research across a variety of digital services, helping us understand how users interact with a range of official records and services over time. You'll work closely with multidisciplinary teams to shape services that meet real user needs from requesting copies of historic records, searching the online catalogue or discovering the stories within The National Archives.

You'll have the opportunity to:

Lead an inclusive research program that delivers actionable insights across multiple services and delivery phases (Discovery, Alpha, Beta, Live)

Advocate for a range of user needs, influencing strategic and product decision making to balance stakeholder and user needs

Grow a collaborative user research culture and mentor others in best practice, accessibility and service standards

Maximise the impact of user research to support emerging user groups to use The National Archives services

Role 2: Fixed-Term - Senior User Researcher, Find Case Law (Maternity Cover)

This role sits within the Access Digital Records team in our Digital Archiving Department, focusing on the Find Case Law service. You'll lead research that supports open justice and public access to court records, including improving usability, accessibility, and the API experience.

You'll be responsible for:

Shaping and delivering research with a range of users of the Find Case Law service including : members of the public, self-represented litigants, legal professionals, journalists, academics, government departments, data re-users and law librarians

Leading user research across the different delivery phases (Discovery, Alpha, Beta, Live)

Translating complex findings into actionable insights and supporting transparency and access to digital legal information

Playing an active role in The National Archives' and cross government User research communities.

This is a full-time maternity cover for 6 months, with the possibility of extension up to 12 months. Flexible working arrangements, including part-time and job share, will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the Department.