SFADAS15-03 User Researcher

Tender description

Summary of the work The user researcher will work with stakeholders on the Digital Apprenticeship Service, namely Employers, Training Providers and Apprentices. The majority of focus will be on satisfying new application fits in with Employer's requirements. Initial employers will be large corporates that pay a levy to HMRC to fund the DAS programme. Specialist role User researcher Expected Contract Length 2 years but may shorter depending on progress towards delivering the strands of work Latest start date 10/10/16 Early Market Engagement We have completed a number of discovery and alpha stages for some components of the service and some are now in beta. The services being procured are expected to deliver the work required for full go live by April 2017 Who Speclialist Work With The user researchers will be working alongside other researchers, including civil servants and suppliers, and across various strands of work for delivery of the service. They will be members of the Agile Delivery Team What Specialists Work On We require User Researchers to work within fast-paced agile delivery teams. They will research employer needs to inform delivery teams of clear, user led content and features that is relevant to the apprenticeship service. Skills & Experience • A mix of substantial hands on experience and / or degree in the relevent field combined with experience. Degress in HCI, psychology, design research or similar are relevant • Full understanding and demonstrable experience in User Centred Design (UCD) product development • Full understanding and demonstrable experience of research methodologies. Qualitative: RITE, usability testing, and contextual enquiry. Quantitative: usability metrics. • Full understanding and demonstrable experience in planning and running a private and public beta of a product to the real user (i.e. use of the product in a live environment). • Experience in delivering insights in a scrum team of cross-disciplinary team members using Lean UX techniques. • Ability of individuals proposed to work with users and stakeholders at all levels Nice to Haves • A full understanding and demonstrable experience of research methodologies: ethnography, open and closed card sorting, multivariate testing. • A full understanding and demonstrable experience in indirect data collection techniques: surveys, digital diary studies. • A demonstrable focus in experience in validating for digital products. Physical or service design is acceptable too. • Strong understanding of the Government Digital Service’s Design Principles and Digital Service Standard. • Full understanding and demonstrable experience in indirect data collection techniques such as web traffic analytics. Work Location Skills Funding Agency, Cheylesmore House, 5 Quinton Road, Coventry CV1 2WT, with occasional travel to other locations nationwide. Working Arrangments Onsite full-time 5 days a week co-located with the rest of the team at the SFA offices in Coventry. Occasional travel to other BIS or SFA (or partner organisation) offices may be required, subject to SFA travel and subsistence policy. This programme is being delivered using agile methodologies. Successful application of agile principles and techniques requires that the teams are co-located and able to work directly with colleagues representing digital delivery, operational and policy requirements. Security Clearance The successful supplier / specialist must be able to demonstrate that all proposed team members have been subject to Baseline Personnel Security Standards checks as set out in the SFA Baseline Security Policy 2014 Additional T&Cs Standard DOS framework and call-off terms and conditions. Day rates should be inclusive of any costs of travelling to and working from the base location. The cost of travel to other locations while performing SFA work will be covered as per the SFA travel and subsistence policy and will need to be invoiced by the supplier with supporting receipts. No. of Specialists to Evaluate 8 Cultural Fit Criteria • Demonstrate commitment to excellence and improvement (for example, through seeking actionable feedback, setting targets etc) • Transparent and collaborative when making decisions and recommendations • Demonstrate responsibility (for example, act like a leader, serve your team, provide solutions to problems, engage in external/internal environments, seek the best for the organisation beyond your team) • Demonstrate simplicity (for example, take simple steps to goals, do less but better, mitigate failures, talk straight with respect) • Demonstrate excellence (for example, seek actionable feedback, set challenging targets, know users, deliver cost effective high level customer satisfaction) • Demonstrate enthusiasm (for example, bring whole self to work, celebrate success, share passion and energy with others, optimistic) • Demonstrate a commitment to ensuring a team understands the user need over simply delivering findings Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers No questions have been answered yet.