Junior Interaction Designer

Hard Problems; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 41,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Birthday day off

Bonus scheme

Pension contributions

Training budget

Employee assistance programme

Cycle to work

Employee discounts

Learning days

Volunteer leave

Job summary

Government Digital Service (GDS) in the UK government is seeking a Junior Interaction Designer to join the GOV.UK Web team in Manchester. You would work in multidisciplinary, agile teams alongside user researchers, developers and product managers, contributing to public services at scale.

This higher grade role is permanent, with discretionary hybrid working and a salary of £37,655–£41,120. A Security Check clearance is required, normally with five years UK residency in the past five years.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to translate user needs into design outputs.
• Interest in decisions informed by qualitative and quantitative data.
• Comfort in multidisciplinary, agile teams and changing priorities.
• Enjoyment in turning ideas into sketches, prototypes and journey maps.

Responsibilities

• Support designers, user researchers and product managers in understanding user needs.
• Assist in stakeholder workshops for alignment.
• Map user journeys and identify patterns for internal stakeholders.

Skills

Design aptitude

User research interest

Agile environments

Collaborative design

Job description

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of the UK government, responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for modern digital public services. It is home to GOV.UK, the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), and leads the Government Digital and Data function. GDS employs more than 1,000 people across hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol, and is part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

The role

This Junior Interaction Designer position sits within the GOV.UK Web team, which works on improvements that help people find and use government information and services more easily. You would work in multidisciplinary, agile teams alongside user researchers, developers and product managers, contributing to public services at significant scale. The role is graded at Higher Executive Officer level and is a permanent contract.

What you would do

• Support designers, user researchers and product managers in understanding user needs
• Assist a designer and product manager in running stakeholder alignment workshops
• Work with other designers to map user journey flows for internal stakeholders and identify patterns
• Show aptitude for driving design direction, supporting product and delivery teams with the product roadmap
• Share design output with the internal design community to contribute to a joined-up experience
• Use creative skills to develop ideas that feed into the creation and development of products and services, both individually and across GDS

What they are looking for

• Demonstrable aptitude for design through work, study, volunteering, personal projects or other experience, showing how creative thinking has made something clearer, more accessible, inclusive or easier to use
• Interest in making decisions informed by qualitative user research and quantitative data
• Awareness of multidisciplinary, agile environments and ability to adapt to changing requirements or priorities with support
• Enjoyment of making ideas tangible through sketches, diagrams, prototypes, journey maps, layouts or visual designs, and an understanding of how these can be used to explore, test and improve ideas with users
• Willingness to design collaboratively and in the open, engaging with people through workshops or co-design activities
• Understanding of the importance of inclusive, equitable, accessible and sustainable public services
• The role requires Security Check (SC) clearance, which normally requires 5 years of UK residency in the past 5 years
• DSIT cannot offer visa sponsorship for this campaign

Working arrangements

The role is based in Manchester. GDS operates a discretionary hybrid working policy: staff are expected to attend the office or a non-home location for 40-60% of their time. Flexible working options are available, including part-time, job share, compressed hours and flexi-time. Full home working is not normally offered.

Pay and benefits

The salary range is £37,655 – £41,120, with the base salary for this grade set at £37,655. In addition, GDS contributes 28.97% of salary towards the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme (approximately £10,908 per year at the base salary).

• 25 days annual leave rising to 30 days
• an extra day off for the King's birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme
• a training budget for personal development
• an employee assistance programme
• advances on pay including travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• a cycle to work scheme
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• 5 special leave days per year for volunteering