Senior User Researcher - AI

Senior User Researcher – Generative AI / RAG Platform (UK PublicSector)SALARY - 60K -75K PA OverviewWe are seeking an experienced Senior User Researcher to lead research activities for aGenerative AI platform for a UK government department. This role focuses on understandinghow internal government users work today, how they perceive and trust AI-assisted outputs,and how the platform can be designed to support safe, effective, human-in-the-loopdecision-making — while meeting GOV.UK Service Standard expectations for user research.Key ResponsibilitiesResearch Strategy & PlanningDefine and own the user research plan across discovery, alpha, beta, and live phases,ensuring research activities are timed to inform key product and design decisions rather thanvalidate them after the fact.Understanding Trust & AI InteractionConduct research to understand how internal government users interpret, trust, and act onAI-generated answers, retrieval sources, and confidence indicators, surfacing risks aroundover-reliance, misunderstanding, or mistrust of AI outputs.Research ExecutionPlan and conduct a range of research activities — including interviews, contextual inquiry,usability testing, and diary studies — with civil servants and other internal government users,recruiting participants in line with government research standards and data handling policies.Human-in-the-Loop ValidationTest and validate that human-in-the-loop checkpoints and escalation flows (as defined bypolicy/technical leads) are understood and usable by real users — an execution andvalidation role, not a policy-setting one.Synthesis & Insight SharingSynthesise research findings into clear, actionable insights for Product, UX, andEngineering teams, and present findings to senior stakeholders in a way that supportsevidence-based decision-making.Service Assessment SupportPrepare and present user research evidence for GOV.UK service assessments(Alpha/Beta/Live), ensuring research practices and outputs meet the Service Standard'sevidentiary requirements.Documentation & HandoverContribute research findings, methodologies, and participant insights to "Docs-as-Code"artifacts supporting the OKUA knowledge-transfer framework, so future teams understandthe evidence behind design and product decisions.Cross-Functional CollaborationWork closely with UX Designers, Product Managers, and Engineers to ensure researchfindings directly inform design iterations, evaluation criteria, and roadmap prioritisation.Required Skills & Experience● Demonstrable experience as a User Researcher on complex, digital products, ideallyinvolving data-heavy or AI-assisted systems● Strong grounding in a range of qualitative (and ideally quantitative) researchmethods: interviews, usability testing, contextual inquiry, surveys● Experience researching trust, transparency, and comprehension issues in softwarepresenting automated or algorithmic outputs● Experience recruiting and conducting research with government or otherwisesensitive/regulated user groups, following appropriate ethical and data protectionstandards● Practical experience with GOV.UK Service Standard research expectations andpreparing evidence for service assessments● Strong synthesis and communication skills, able to translate research into clearrecommendations for varied audiences (designers, engineers, senior stakeholders)● Comfortable working within secure, regulated environments and handling sensitivedata appropriatelyDesirable Experience● Direct experience researching LLM/RAG-based products, chatbots, or other AI-assisted decision-making tools● Experience delivering digital services within UK central government or the widerpublic sector● Experience designing or evaluating human-in-the-loop or escalation workflows● Familiarity with accessibility research methods and inclusive design principles● Exposure to research repositories, tooling, or open-source UX research communities