Senior Service Designer

Role Responsibility

Hi! We’re the BBC News digital team, and we’re responsible for the amazing News Service that is recognised by our audience in the UK and all across the world!

There’s never been a better time to join the BBC News digital team. Over the last four years, we have doubled the reach of the News site and apps in both the UK and globally. Our ambition: to make the leap from one-size-fits-all to a modern, personalised and valued digital news service that is relevant and useful for everyone, every time they use it.

You’ll work closely with a wide range of disciplines, from engineers to editorial, helping to craft and evolve the BBC News offering to meet the needs of our growing audience. You’ll be a key contributor to delivering value for our users regularly, and shaping what we build using research and data.

Our projects involve fostering collaboration between various parts of the organisation and aligning product teams behind a user-centred vision. We’re looking for Senior Service Designers to lead on a number of challenges, including Trust & Authenticity and Civic & Democratic Participation.

As part of the role you will also be actively involved in the management of our Service Design training programme & community and be part of the wider BBC UX&D community. To learn more about UX&D at the BBC, have a look at our GEL (Global Experience Language) website, where you can check out some of our videos with the teams: https://www.bbc.co.uk/gel/articles/about-bbc-uxd

Role responsibilities

• Be the voice of the user in project teams, explaining your rationale to Engineers, Editorial and Product Managers.
• Collaborate with other members of UX&D and the cross-discipline team to get to the heart of what our users need: mapping experiences, creating sketches, concepts, user journeys, wireframes, and prototypes.
• Engage the wider team and key stakeholders in the user-centred design process, ensuring that user research is at the heart of design decision making.
• Instigate projects where design, design thinking and service design would make a positive impact. Prioritise your own workload, and plan the work of other UX colleagues in your team
• Lead the development of BBC user experiences, refining them towards a polished design, considering typography, iconography, layout, motion and brand identity along the way.
• Line manage, mentor and develop colleagues, inspiring them to new creative heights
• Coordinate and facilitate multi-disciplinary workshops and activities
• Help organise user research and proactively try out ideas and designs with audience members
• Work with people across UX&D to make sure we’re making the most of the BBC’s Global Experience Language (GEL)
• Guide the work of external agencies and freelancers to learn new things, see new perspectives and collaborate on new ideas
• Support a positive working environment that considers the needs of a diverse team

The Ideal Candidate

We’re keen to find out about you so please share your story. Your portfolio tells your story and informs of how you go about your design process from ideation/concept to delivery.

Tell us your story!

• Your portfolio’s full of great service design work across many different experiences.
• Yes, you can craft delightful designs. But you know improving user experiences isn’t just about grafting away at the drawing board.
• You’re great at facilitating workshops and also explaining design concepts to anyone, no matter how senior or inexperienced. And you know how to balance what the user needs with what’s really achievable.
• You keep up to speed with the latest design trends and technology developments. You’re enthusiastic, curious and full of ideas.
• You might tend towards blueprints, wireframes, user flows and personas. Or layout, colour, and typography. And maybe you’ve got something special up your sleeve, like you’re a top illustrator, motion graphic designer or front-end prototype builder.