User Researcher

About the Organisation:

Public Health Scotland launched 1st April 2020 as a national health board, employing around 1200 people, and with an annual budget of around £101 million. Public Health Scotland wants to see a Scotland where everybody thrives, a Scotland where life expectancy improves and the difference in life expectancy between our poorest and wealthiest areas gets smaller.

The Post:

Would you like to apply your passion for meeting users’ needs to the development of products and services that contribute to Public Health Scotland’s mission?

As our User Researcher, you will lead on all aspects of user research to help us gain a deeper understanding our users and ensure that the products and services we design meet their needs.

You will achieve this by:

• planning and conducting user research, choosing the right user methods to suit the needs of the project or the problem to be solved
• analysing and producing user research findings and actionable user insights, and communicating them to influence product and service design decisions
• advocating for the voice of the user and the value of user research
• managing multiple user research projects concurrently
• contributing to establishing our user research practices as part of our user-centred design and delivery approach

The Candidate:

You will have:

• a graduate level degree or professional certification or equivalent experience in a user research, service design, customer relations, stakeholder management discipline
• significant experience of planning, designing, and delivering user research to support the design, development, and continual improvement of a range of products and services
• demonstrable experience of identifying and involving different kinds of users in appropriate research activities, and running inclusive, ethical research aligned to organisational compliance requirements
• excellent interpersonal skills to establish credibility and build effective working relationships with colleagues, users, and stakeholders
• highly developed communication, negotiation, influencing, presentation and facilitation skills

If you choose to use artificial intelligence (AI) or other tools to assist in writing your application, it's essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting information section. While AI can help streamline the writing process, these tools cannot fully grasp the context or requirements of the job you’re applying for. By submitting your application, you confirm that all answers are your own work, reflect your personal knowledge, skills and experience, and have not been solely produced by AI or similar technologies.

Location and Working Pattern:

The post is based in either Gyle Square, Edinburgh or Bothwell Street, Glasgow. We are currently hybrid working; therefore, you will be expected to spend time in both PHS offices as well as the option to work at home.

Working pattern will be Monday to Friday, 36 hours per week.

PHS is a flexible employer, and we are happy to discuss requests for alternative working patterns

During times of public health emergency, or other urgent business need, you may be required on a temporary basis to work your normal contracted working hours over 7 days including weekends, in order to meet the needs of the service.

It is a condition of this employment that you must live and remain a resident within the UK for the post in which you will be employed with PHS.

Benefits:

Our benefits package includes pension scheme, comprehensive range of work life balance policies, occupational health services, learning resource centres and discounted leisure, financial and shopping benefits. Click here to view the full range of the PHS Employee Benefits.

Inclusion:

Public Health Scotland (PHS) is a national NHS board committed to being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming employer. We support a range of flexible working options to help colleagues balance work and personal responsibilities. As an Established Carer Positive employer, we are committed to supporting staff with caring responsibilities and fostering a flexible, understanding workplace culture.

We offer a wide range of learning and development opportunities to support colleagues to grow and thrive. Staff are also welcome to join our active equality networks.

As an equal opportunities and Disability Confident Employer, we aim to guarantee an interview to disabled applicants who meet the minimum shortlisting criteria, and we are committed to providing an accessible and inclusive recruitment experience.

PHS is working towards becoming a trauma informed organisation and recognises that trauma may affect people in different ways, including during the recruitment process.

If you need reasonable adjustments or support, please contact the Recruitment Team on nss.wfrs@nhs.scot

Further Information:

For an informal discussion on the post, please contact Mary Flora Conner , Product Development Lead at MaryFlora.Conner@phs.scot or 07771 506543.

Closing date for completed applications is 1st September 2026.

Further information on PHS is available from: www.publichealthscotland.scot

Please note that the majority of correspondence is sent by e-mail only, so please check your e-mail regularly (including junk folders).

We are an equal opportunities employer and as committed participant in the disability confident scheme, guarantees to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for our vacancies however, where exceptionally high application volumes make this impracticable, a fair and proportionate shortlisting approach will be applied in line with Disability Confident guidance.