Senior Service Designer

As a service designer you’ll create and improve services so they work well for users and meet business goals. Your job is to look at the whole journey a user takes when using a service and make sure every part of that journey is designed to work smoothly.

Service designers work closely with different teams, including users, business analysts, developers, and other designers. You will use research and data to understand what users need, where things might be going wrong, and how to make services better.

You will often create maps of the user’s journey to identify key points where improvements can be made.

A big part of the role is ensuring that services are accessible and inclusive, so they work for everyone, regardless of their abilities or circumstances.

As a service designer, you will combine creativity with practical problem-solving, working closely with others to improve services continuously.

If you are successful, you will help the DfE School Account Team in transforming how schools access information and support from the department by designing and delivering a joined up and personalised offer for the sector. This is an exciting time to join the team as recent leadership changes has presented the opportunity to refresh the team’s strategy and future direction.

As a senior service designer you will:

• Lead the iterative design of complex, user-centred services across organisational boundaries, adapting based on user feedback, data, and requirements.
• Utilise both qualitative and quantitative data to make informed design decisions, ensuring services meet the needs of users and align with department objectives.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders across the organisation, contributing service design expertise to support shared understanding, alignment and successful delivery of services.
• Communicate complex design concepts to stakeholders at all levels, using storytelling, evidence, and design artifacts to influence organisational decision-making and direction.
• Define and implement service design strategies that support long-term departmental priorities and outcomes.
• Ensure services are accessible and inclusive, designed to meet the diverse needs of all users, and comply with government standards on accessibility and inclusivity.

Essential Criteria: 

• Experience applying strategic service design to complex services, understanding end-to-end user journeys and organisational systems, and iteratively improving services based on user research and feedback.
• Ability to map complex services and user journeys to ensure clear, actionable insights.
• Expertise in analysing both qualitative and quantitative data to inform design decisions and interpret user behaviour.
• Strong experience in facilitating workshops, co-design sessions, managing stakeholder relationships across different levels and be able to articulate complex design concepts and through storytelling, evidence, and design artifacts.
• Experience ensuring designs are inclusive and meet or exceed accessibility standards.

Desirable Criteria: 

• Experience applying advanced iterative methodologies such as Lean UX.
• Proficiency in advanced data analysis tools and techniques to identify opportunities for innovation and improvement.
• Ability to mentor and coach other team members and designers, fostering a collaborative design culture within teams and across the organisation.
• Advanced expertise in inclusive design, with a track record of delivering services that meet the needs of diverse users, ensuring full compliance with accessibility standards.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.