Senior Service Designer

As part of the Service Design Team at Code for America, you will help transform how government services are delivered. Your work will demonstrate that design can create the conditions for generational, systemic change and help millions of people in need.

Our team operates with the following principles:

• Work with community
• Serve everyone with respect
• Change the system
• Start today

Read more about our design principles here.

Currently, there are multiple areas of our portfolio hiring a service designer:

• Opportunity Accelerator is a program that works with local governments to strengthen the wellbeing of individuals and foster thriving communities by improving economic mobility and promoting racial equity. This work is done in coalition with four additional organizations containing complementary expertise in supporting local governments: the Burns Institute, the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, Government Performance Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Results for America.

• Safety Net teams at Code for America transform how government delivers safety net services in the digital age. This program partners with state agencies to improve the process of applying for and maintaining safety net benefits like food assistance.
• Clear My Record works to clear all eligible criminal records by designing, piloting, and implementing an end-to-end automatic record clearance service to provide relief to millions nationwide. Clear My Record is an initiative of Code for America’s Criminal Justice portfolio.
  • The Criminal Justice portfolio’s works to transform the way government delivers services to those most impacted by the criminal justice system. Our goal is to help government implement policies that decriminalize, decarcerate, and reinvest in communities by removing barriers to employment, housing, health and education.

  Though the focus of your work could vary based on the different project areas, all of our service designers work on small and highly collaborative multidisciplinary teams to evaluate government services, prototype design interventions, facilitate workshops and co-design sessions, create actionable resources, and teach government how to apply human centered design to their programs and services.

  What you’ll do

• Scope & plan service design work: Based on your program team’s desired outcomes, identify the appropriate activities, estimate capacity, and visualize and track progress
• Locate and define problems: Identify the right questions, frame and reframe problems through an equity-centered approach, and drive clarity at all stages of a project
• Visualize complexity: Create compelling journey maps, frameworks, and diagrams that inspire systemic improvements
• Prototype and implement holistic services: Prototype and test different approaches that balance user needs, technology limitations, financial constraints, and policy realities
• Build connections across silos: Convene and coach internal teams and external stakeholder and community groups through the human-centered design process
• Facilitate change behavior: Advise government partners by advocating for a long-term vision and taking small, tangible steps toward that vision

What we’re looking for

• At least 4 years of service design experience or related design experience in product, user experience, or human-centered design
• Demonstrated ability to design, test, implement, and measure multi-channel experiences that include a digital product delivery
• A portfolio of service design work that outlines your design process, deliverables, and impact
• Familiarity working within or alongside iterative software development practices
• Willingness to travel for research and client workshops once it’s safe (up to 40% of the time)
• We strongly encourage individuals impacted by the criminal justice system (individuals with criminal records, family members of individuals with criminal records, etc.) or who have participated in social safety net programs (SNAP, welfare, WIC, Medicaid, etc.) to apply.

More about the role

• Full benefits package with 100% coverage towards select medical, dental and vision plans and contributes 80% of the cost towards dependent and family coverage
• 401k plan with matching funds
• A collaborative, hardworking and fun environment
• Leadership and teammates who value Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity
• Professional development includes bi annual 360 review process and $1000 annual budget
• Compensation: Code for America’s salary bands are transparent internally as a part of our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, we extend this to our hiring process. This role at this level is ranged from $120,700 – $163,300  in yearly salary. As a part of our equitable hiring practices, we aim to target the midpoint of the 2nd quartile of the range for all new hires. That target for this role is $136,675 These ranges and the target are for the San Francisco/ Bay Area market and subject to adjustment for cost of living differentials. The largest cost of living adjustment is 15%.