Lead User Researcher

This is a full-time permanent opportunity to join the Local Peoples team, with your first project supporting the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) and the Australian Government’s digital procurement platform, BuyICT.

Local Peoples is a strategic design consultancy partnering with Australian Government agencies to deliver human-centred design, research, and service design outcomes that improve public services and user experiences across Australia. In this role, you will contribute to meaningful digital transformation work that directly improves how government services are designed and delivered.

About the first project:

You will be embedded within the Digital Transformation Agency (DTA), working as part of a multidisciplinary research team supporting the BuyICT platform. You will lead and deliver end-to-end user research activities, ensuring user needs are effectively represented and translated into actionable insights that inform design, product, and policy decisions.

Responsibilities:

• Lead end-to-end user research activities across discovery, design, and delivery phases

• Plan and conduct research methods including user interviews, usability testing, workflow mapping, and analysis of existing data

• Synthesize findings into clear insights, recommendations, and actionable outputs

• Produce high-quality deliverables including reports, personas, journey maps, and wireframes

• Collaborate with designers, product teams, and policy stakeholders to embed user-centred design practices

• Engage and manage senior stakeholders, facilitating alignment and decision-making

• Advocate for accessibility, usability, and strong user experience across digital services

• Contribute to improving research standards, tools, and practices within the team

Qualifications:

• Strong experience leading user research in complex digital environments

• Deep understanding of human-centred design and UX research methodologies

• Proven ability to translate research into actionable insights that influence product and policy decisions

• Experience working in multidisciplinary, agile teams

• Government experience is highly desirable but not essential
  

Essential Criteria:

• User Research – SFIA Level 5: Leads and drives user research activities, synthesising insights and informing decision-making at scale

• Stakeholder Relationship Management – SFIA Level 5: Manages senior stakeholder engagement, facilitates communication, and supports business decision-making

• User Experience Analysis – SFIA Level 5: Leads UX analysis activities and contributes to frameworks, standards, and accessibility practices

Residency and Clearance:

• Must hold an active Baseline Security Clearance (mandatory)

• Must be an Australian Citizen

Location and Working Arrangements:

• ACT and NSW locations

• Hybrid working model

• 8 hours per day, up to 40 hours per week

Who are Local Peoples?

Local Peoples is a strategic research and design studio based in Melbourne and Canberra.

Our mission is to design healthy, resilient and resourceful communities. We are proud to be a certified B-Corporation with a strong focus on our social, environmental and economic impact.

We work across brand and digital design, place and experience design,, content and community engagement. Our key partners include state and local government, social enterprises, universities and large commercial organisations. All are experiencing complex challenges right now and we believe that design research, thinking and delivery can help to solve these challenges and make positive change for people and the planet.

We produce www.mattersjournal.com, a publication and community of 100K+, which focuses on design-led social innovation and impact.

Why join Local Peoples?

• Representative and inclusive - we are dedicated to building an inclusive and accessible workplace for people from diverse backgrounds

• Impact driven - work towards achieving real impact for people and the environment

• Fantastic culture - driven by a welcoming, supportive and collaborative team environment

• Professional support for design excellence- benefit from being a part of one of Australia’s fastest growing design and delivery communities

• Flexible working arrangements - including the ability to work remotely

• Market rate salaries - attractive remuneration packages in line with the market rate

• Flexible employment types - including the preference for permanent, but will consider contracting

Local Peoples proudly supports the LGBTQ+ community, neurodiverse individuals, and First Nations people. We are committed to creating inclusive spaces where everyone, regardless of their identity, feels valued and respected. Together, we strive for equality and a positive future for all.

Local Peoples works, creates, and plays on the lands of the Wurundjeri, Bunurong, and Wathaurong peoples of the Kulin Nation, land which has never been ceded. We thank them for caring for this land for over 40,000 years and recognize and pay our deepest respect to Elders past, present, and emerging. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land