Lead User Researcher

The team you';ll be working with: Lead User Researcher - Public Sector Hybrid variable London - 1 day a week ideally. Need to have LIVE SC Government clearance OR need to of lived in UK for 5 years consistently and be willing to apply for SC Government clearance Must have British passport About NTT DATA and Tangity NTT DATA is a trusted global innovator with over 100,000 professionals in 50+ countries. Headquartered in Tokyo, we bring elements of our Japanese heritage—precision, long-term thinking, and social responsibility—into our UK work. In the UK, we work across telecoms, financial services, manufacturing, and the public sector, delivering end-to-end services from strategy to implementation. You’ll be part of Tangity, NTT DATA’s team of Designers and UX Researchers. We’re a friendly, professional and passionate team that genuinely cares about great design and UX Research. You’ll have peers to learn from, exchange ideas with and rely on for support, while having access to the latest tools and technologies, including AI, to help you grow and do your best work. What you';ll be doing: The Role As a Lead User Researcher at Tangity, you’ll play a critical role in shaping meaningful, accessible public services that deliver lasting value to users. You’ll lead research initiatives across the full delivery lifecycle—helping agile teams validate assumptions, reduce delivery risk, and prioritise work based on real user needs. You will work flexibly, sometimes autonomously, and sometimes collaborating with designers, BAs, developers, and product managers to ensure evidence drives decisions at every stage. You’ll also contribute to service strategy, guide team ways of working, and foster a user-first mindset across the wider project and client organisation. You’ll be adopting and following the GDS Service Standard Plan, lead, and deliver user research for public services across Discovery, Alpha, Beta, and Live phases Advocate the value of user research and wider UCD practices to teams and stakeholders with varying levels of research/UCD maturity Apply a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods—e.g. depth interviews, usability testing, contextual inquiry, surveys—to surface behavioural insights Establish and maintain lightweight feedback loops with target user groups, ensuring continued insight into live service usage and evolving needs Synthesise research findings into clear, actionable outputs such as problem statements, user journeys, personas, and pain point maps Translate insights into backlog priorities and design recommendations that inform product strategy and roadmap decisions Collaborate with multi-disciplinary agile teams including roles such as: BA, Product Owner and Interaction Designers to ensure proposed solutions are evidence-based and grounded in actual user behaviour Support design iteration and decision-making by testing early service concepts, prototypes, and touchpoints Communicate findings to varied audiences—through visual artefacts, research reports, presentations, and stakeholder playbacks Facilitate design and research workshops, playback sessions, and show-and-tells to drive cross-functional understanding and alignment Advocating for and embedding a user-first culture across agile teams and clients by encouraging regular exposure to user feedback and service impact Ensure inclusive and accessible research approaches that align with GDS and WCAG standards Mentor junior researchers and help shape Tangity’s research practice, contributing to tools, templates, and team capability building Participate in Tangity’s research community of practice Responsibilities Provide research insights to inform tactical and strategic design solutions Proactively contribute to client meetings, presentations, and workshops Mentor and guide team members, ensuring design standards are maintained Foster client relationships by anticipating needs, presenting recommendations in a compelling way, and driving outcomes Stakeholder Management - building strong relationships with stakeholders, influencing decision-making, and confidently communicating research insights and recommendations. Expected Behaviours Demonstrates strong ownership and leadership across design deliverables, ensuring alignment with project goals Anticipates client needs and addresses design challenges, delivering proactive solutions Exhibits excellent communication, both with clients and within the team, and is a trusted design voice in meetings Takes responsibility for fostering a collaborative and productive team environment, including mentoring and upskilling peers Be ethically considerate in research, which can include handling personal information and dealing with sensitive subjects What experience you';ll bring: Must Have: 5+ years of hands-on experience in user research, human-centred design, or service design Extensive experience leading user research across complex digital services in agile environments Experience