Service Designer (contract)

Service Designer
Location: London / Newcastle / Cardiff
Contract type: 8 months’ Fixed Term Contract
Hours per week: 35
Salary: circa £40,000 pro rata per annum

Do you want to be part of designing real services and solutions that tackle pressing humanitarian challenges? Now more than ever we must innovate to ensure the British Red Cross remains relevant for future generations. This role in the innovation hub is specifically focused on local communities and how British Red Cross can support them.

As a Service Designer you will work with communities to better understand local needs, identify problems and test approaches that help support people in crisis.

Your work will be guided by the Red Cross’ principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

What you will be doing

The Service Designer will lead and support the design of new services and social enterprises,
paving the way for the future and providing a pivotal contribution to the British Red Cross and its pioneering, digital future. You will be working specifically on our Community led approach as part of our ambitious new strategy which will be pivitol in setting up new ways of working. This work will take place in multiple locations across the UK so will require an aspect of travel.

You will champion our user-centric service design approach; ensuring local communities are at the heart of our design and development process. You’ll work collaboratively with people from a variety of different backgrounds and disciplines. All the time supported by an immediate and wider team of highly passionate, skilled and friendly people who help create the space to make things happen.

What does a typical week look like?

A typical week will vary depending on where you are in the project lifecycle. If you’re in the discovery phase, it might look a bit like the following.

Monday and Tuesday you go conduct interviews in users’ homes or with community groups. This is always done in pairs, so one of your teams comes with you. You take turns taking notes and asking interview questions. Discussing findings while travelling between interviews. You even draft a blog post on the train ride home.

Wednesday you’re back in the office, your team and you analyze the interview notes. Grouping quotes and observations into key findings and themes. Building a shared understanding of the problem space you’re exploring together.

Thursday you discuss latest research findings in your team. Drawing ideas for possible prototypes. Planning activities and tasks for the following week. Preparing for the next day’s stakeholder workshop. You finish the day presenting the latest research findings at a show and tell.

Friday you have a workshop with senior stakeholders. With your team you take them through the latest research. You get questions and feedback about the work. You help stakeholders learn about your team’s process and what you have planned next. Afterwards you get together materials for next week’s user interviews. And maybe even publish that blog post.

What we are looking for
You should have a proven record of innovation, product or service development and designing customer-focused propositions in a range of contexts with experience of conducting user research, creating and working with design patterns and designing services to remove complexity. Preferable but not essential you will have a background of engaging with communities to understand their needs and co-creating solutions.

With experience of working within an agile team/environment, you should be able to storyboard and design services/products and be able to simplify complex issues, find clever solutions and to help shape our approach, structure and ways of working.

Closing date for applications is 23:59 on the 23rd of August 2020 with interviews to follow.

We offer a wide range of staff benefits, these include:

• 36 days holiday (including Bank Holidays)
• Option to buy an extra 5 days annual leave
• Up to 6% contributory pension
• Flexible working policy

A little bit more about us

The British Red Cross help anyone, anywhere in the UK; get the support they need if crisis strikes. From hiring a wheelchair or dealing with loneliness, to adjusting to life in a new country – we’re there when you need us.
Our organisation was born out of a desire to bring help without discrimination. Impartiality and neutrality have been central values for the Red Cross since we started.

At the British Red Cross, we are looking for the best people to help us provide support to millions of people affected by crisis in the UK. We want our team to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve, offering equal opportunities to everyone, regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or disability.

Diversity is something we celebrate and we want you to be able to be yourself at work, and feel you’re in a great position to help us spread the power of kindness.

In the British Red Cross we will not tolerate any form of misconduct, including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse. We have a code of conduct in place, and are committed to creating a culture of integrity in the organisation where misconduct is not tolerated, situations of abuse are quickly investigated and perpetrators are dealt with effectively.

If you are appointed to a role within the British Red Cross you will be subject to the organisation’s Code of Conduct, a copy of which you can find on our website.

The British Red Cross, incorporated by Royal Charter 1908, is a charity registered in England and Wales (220949) and Scotland (SC037738).

Follow us on Twitter @RedCrossJobsUK and on Linked in – British Red Cross, to hear about our latest job vacancies.

Connecting human kindness with human crisis