Thursday, October 30, 2025
Bristol City Council

Mid-weight User Researcher

Posted: Oct 16, 2025

Job Description

Full Time, Fixed Term for 12 months.We’re looking for a curious and collaborative Mid-weight User Researcher to join our growing Digital Services team. This is an exciting opportunity to lead research that directly improves how people (both citizens and internal teams) interact with council services.What You’ll Do:Plan and conduct user research across a range of digital projects. Collaborate with service designers, product managers, developers, and stakeholders. Uncover insights that inform design decisions and improve service outcomes. Support the development of Minimum Viable Services and introduce user-centred design principles. Help shape a culture of continuous learning and iteration across the organisation. What We’re Looking For:Experience conducting user research across the service lifecycle Strong communication and collaboration skills. A passion for inclusive, evidence-based design. A proactive mindset and openness to learning in a complex, evolving environment. You’ll be part of a multidisciplinary team working across both internal operations and public-facing services. As we embed service design practices across the council, your work will help define what good research looks like in local government.Why Bristol City Council?At Bristol City Council, we go that extra mile for our people; we offer a work environment which is fast moving and supportive, giving you the chance to use your skills and develop new ones within a high-profile organisation. For the majority of our roles hybrid working arrangements are available, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice - mixing both home and office working.Join us and you’ll receive an excellent rewards package including flexible working and flexitime, membership of the Local Government Pension scheme, and a generous annual leave allowance. In addition, you’ll be working in a supportive environment where you’ll have the chance to make Bristol a better place and contribute to its future.How do I apply?If you share our and are ready to be part of our exciting journey please select the apply button below.To be shortlisted for interview you’ll need to demonstrate how you meet each of the essential criteria in the Person Specification within the Further Information section of your application. On occasion we will receive high numbers of applications, we may then shortlist against the desirable criteria along with the essential criteria, so if you can, please demonstrate how you meet this in your application.For permanent Bristol City Council employees, this post will be a secondment. For employees who are currently on a fixed term contract with Bristol City Council, the secondment must not extend beyond the end of the fixed term period to ensure there is a substantive post to return to.If you are currently a casual worker or a member of an employment agency (currently working with Bristol City Council) this post will be a fixed term contract.We're a Disability Confident employer which means we value recruiting and retaining disabled people. Any job applicants who consider themselves to be disabled and meet the essential criteria in the Person Specification are guaranteed an interview. We'll make reasonable adjustments throughout the interview process and provide continued workplace support throughout your career.For further information, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification or alternatively, please contact Timea Wilson Bristol City Council strives to have a workforce that reflects the communities it serves, we are therefore committed to ensuring diversity in our hiring process. We welcome, develop and promote people from all sections of the community. Appointments will be made on merit. The personal information section (including your name) you’ll complete as part of the application form will not be visible to hiring managers, but is used confidentially to make sure that everyone is treated fairly. Full Time, Fixed Term for 12 months.We’re looking for a curious and collaborative Mid-weight User Researcher to join our growing Digital Services team. This is an exciting opportunity to lead research that directly improves how people (both citizens and internal teams) interact with council services.What We’re Looking For:Experience conducting user research across the service lifecycle Strong communication and collaboration skills. A passion for inclusive, evidence-based design. A proactive mindset and openness to learning in a complex, evolving environment. You’ll be part of a multidisciplinary team working across both internal operations and public-facing services. As we embed service design practices across the council, your work will help define what good research looks like in local government.Why Bristol City Council?At Bristol City Council, we go that extra mile for our people; we offer a work environment which is fast moving and supportive, giving you the chance to use your skills and develop new ones within a high-profile organisation. For the majority of our roles hybrid working arrangements are available, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice - mixing both home and office working.Join us and you’ll receive an excellent rewards package including flexible working and flexitime, membership of the Local Government Pension scheme, and a generous annual leave allowance. In addition, you’ll be working in a supportive environment where you’ll have the chance to make Bristol a better place and contribute to its future.How do I apply?If you share our and are ready to be part of our exciting journey please select the apply button below.To be shortlisted for interview you’ll need to demonstrate how you meet each of the essential criteria in the Person Specification within the Further Information section of your application. On occasion we will receive high numbers of applications, we may then shortlist against the desirable criteria along with the essential criteria, so if you can, please demonstrate how you meet this in your application.For permanent Bristol City Council employees, this post will be a secondment. For employees who are currently on a fixed term contract with Bristol City Council, the secondment must not extend beyond the end of the fixed term period to ensure there is a substantive post to return to.If you are currently a casual worker or a member of an employment agency (currently working with Bristol City Council) this post will be a fixed term contract.We're a Disability Confident employer which means we value recruiting and retaining disabled people. Any job applicants who consider themselves to be disabled and meet the essential criteria in the Person Specification are guaranteed an interview. We'll make reasonable adjustments throughout the interview process and provide continued workplace support throughout your career.For further information, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification or alternatively, please contact Timea Wilson Bristol City Council strives to have a workforce that reflects the communities it serves, we are therefore committed to ensuring diversity in our hiring process. We welcome, develop and promote people from all sections of the community. Appointments will be made on merit. The personal information section (including your name) you’ll complete as part of the application form will not be visible to hiring managers, but is used confidentially to make sure that everyone is treated fairly.

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