Job Advert
Flexible Location: NES is a remote friendly employer supporting office, remote and hybrid working. We’re happy to talk about how you want to work.
Work Pattern: Fixed-term, Full Time, 37 hours per week.
Fixed-term or Secondment until March 31st 2026 **
For NHS applicants, an NHS secondment will be offered in the first instance. For non- NHS applicants, a fixed-term or secondment would be considered.
You must have eligibility and entitlement to work in the UK which is required to be
maintained throughout your period of employment
Who We Are
NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is the national health board with statutory responsibilities to effect sustainable change through workforce development, education and training across the health and social care system in Scotland, while working at UK level with partner organisations.
NES Technology Service has created a strategic programme for the transformation of digital based services to allow NES to become a leading digital organisation in Scottish Health, digital by default and fully aligned with the Scottish Government’s technology strategies.
Scottish Government’s Digital Health & Care Directorate have initiated a “Digital Front Door” programme (DFD) and have commissioned NHS Education for Scotland to lead and deliver it.
The Digital Front Door is a key commitment in the Digital Health and Care Strategy to deliver a platform for people to get direct access to their health and care information and wider health and care services. It will allow people to access, self-manage, and contribute to their own health and care information online.
Our Technology
We are in the business of providing safe, secure and innovative technology products and services that aim to improve outcomes across education, training, workforce, health and care in the public sector in Scotland.
The Opportunity
We are looking for a Senior User Researcher to join our talented and growing team to work on some of the most complex but rewarding challenges in health and social care.
Do you know how to involve people and staff in the design of tools, technologies and services that support them?
Do you enjoy uncovering user behaviours, needs and motivations to help teams design products and systems that reflect a deep understanding of their users’ needs and goals?
Do you have a track record in generating valuable evidence to improve existing digital products as well as design new ones?
Can you communicate the user perspective to stakeholders and development teams so they can apply it to their work?
Working within the User-Centred Design team within NES Technology Service you will have the opportunity to provide actionable insights that represent the voice of our users to directly inform the development and delivery of user-centred digital services for the general public and health and care professionals.
Does this sound like you?
What We Love to See
A Senior User Researcher needs to offer a broad range of skills and experience, if you can offer some or all of these, we’d love you to apply:
Proven experience as a user researcher
A clear understanding of user research techniques in a digital context for new and existing products
Ability to confidently lead and facilitate workshops, interviews, usability studies, surveys and contextual enquiries
Understanding of user recruitment and how to optimise the impact of remote research
Experienced in collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams, communicating research in a clear, meaningful and actionable manner
Ability to collaboratively plan and conduct user research with a diverse range of stakeholders and users
Ability to work on own initiative, to organise and prioritise workload and to meet strict deadlines.
Benefits Which Matter
As a valued employee of NHS Scotland, you can enjoy an extensive range of benefits including:
Life-work balance - with opportunities for flexible working and remote working
Generous NHS pension scheme
Annual incremental progression (up to the maximum of the salary band) plus annual NHS salary scale review
Annual Leave - 27 Days increasing in line with service plus 8 days public holiday
NHS discounts and more
Diversity and Inclusion
Developing a successful national service for Scotland is impossible without ensuring we consider the diverse needs, perspectives and backgrounds of everyone in Scotland in our work.
We are focused on hiring the very best talent available for NES, and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and aim to ensure everyone is treated fairly, with respect and has a positive recruitment experience – regardless of the outcome.
It’s not essential to be in a user research role right now. You may be returning from a career break (e.g. maternity, paternity, caring for others) or returning to user research after working in another field. Your experiences elsewhere can bring a fresh perspective to our work.
If you are considering applying and feel it would be helpful to discuss this initially, please contact rohan.gunatillake@nhs.scot
Next Steps
**NHS candidates will be considered firstly on a secondment basis, and so are strongly encouraged to discuss this with their current NHS employer at the earliest opportunity, ideally prior to application.
Our recruitment process is currently 100% remote and if successful you would initially work remotely, working from our offices as operationally required.
All applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail.
Online interviews will take place between 6-10th January 2025.
For further information please refer to the Job Information Pack below.
Unless otherwise stated the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date. Please note, CVs will not be accepted.
If you have any queries regarding the NHS Scotland National Recruitment Portal or the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to contact our recruitment partners, the East Region Recruitment Service, at: EoS.ERRS@nhs.scot.