User Researcher

Who is HelloKindred?

HelloKindred are specialists in staffing marketing, creative and technology roles, offering a range of talent solutions that can be delivered on-site, remotely or hybrid.

Our vision is to make work accessible and people’s lives better. We do this by disrupting traditional employment barriers – connecting ambitious talent to flexible opportunities with trusted brands.

Anticipated Contract End Date/Length: July 17, 2026

Work Set Up: Hybrid (travel to client sites 4–5 times per month; on-site work required for classified activities)

Clearance required: DV - Sole UK

Our client in the Information Technology and Services industry is looking for a User Researcher to lead research activities within a highly classified public sector programme. This role focuses on understanding user needs, workflows, and challenges within a secure MOD environment, supporting the transition from existing services to a higher classification level. The position requires adaptability, strong stakeholder engagement, and the ability to conduct meaningful research within constrained and highly regulated environments.

What you will do:

• Plan and conduct user research within classified environments, adapting methods to security constraints.
• Engage senior military and civilian stakeholders to understand user needs, workflows, and pain points.
• Develop and maintain user personas, journey maps, and process maps reflecting the user population.
• Produce business change assessments outlining impacts of transitioning between service classifications.
• Identify training needs, onboarding requirements, and logistical considerations for users.
• Define and document IMPEX processes for data and user movement within secure environments.
• Identify onboarding authorities, permissions, and access requirements.
• Contribute to service design by incorporating user insights into service models and support frameworks.
• Collaborate with project and security leads to align user needs with governance and accreditation requirements.
• Document research findings in approved formats and secure environments.
• Translate research insights into actionable recommendations for programme delivery.

• Demonstrable experience conducting user research within UK public sector or defence environments.
• Strong qualitative research skills including interviews, workshops, and stakeholder engagement.
• Ability to adapt research methodologies to restricted and controlled environments.
• Experience working with small or constrained user groups.
• Experience translating research into business change and service design outputs.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including engagement with senior stakeholders.
• Experience working within Agile delivery environments.
• Ability to produce clear, concise documentation for governance and assurance purposes.
• Familiarity with MOD environments, structures, and operational contexts is highly desirable.
• Experience with tools such as JIRA and Confluence is beneficial.
• Prior experience in classified or highly secure programmes is advantageous.

Candidates must be legally authorized to live and work in the country where the position is based, without requiring employer sponsorship.

HelloKindred is committed to fair, transparent, and inclusive hiring practices. We assess candidates based on skills, experience, and role-related requirements.

We appreciate your interest in this opportunity. While we review every application carefully, only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

HelloKindred is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.