Lead Interaction Designer - Crown Prosecution Service - G7

Manchester Digital; England; Hybrid; GBP 58,000 - 74,000; Full time

Job summary

A public sector organization is seeking a Lead Interaction Designer to shape user-centred services in the criminal justice system. The ideal candidate will have significant experience in leading design for complex organizations and be adept at prototyping and promoting inclusive practices. The role involves collaboration with teams and senior leaders, aiming to improve and standardize design principles. This position offers a full-time, permanent contract with a salary range dependent on location and experience.

Qualifications

• Significant hands-on experience leading design in complex organizations.
• Understanding of the Government Design Principles and Service Standard.
• Excellent prototyping skills to bring complex ideas to life.

Responsibilities

• Embed hypothesis-driven, evidence-based design in a team.
• Lead on prototyping complex ideas at any fidelity.
• Help build the interaction design capability within CPS.

Skills

User-centred design

Prototyping

Stakeholder influencing

Agile methodologies

Inclusive design practices

Job description

Lead Interaction Designer - Crown Prosecution Service - G7

Full-time (Permanent) £58,330 - £67,450 (National) / £62,820 - £73,520 + £3,150 RRA (London)
Published on 9 January 2026 Deadline 25 January 2026

Location

This post can be based in any location within England and Wales where a CPS office is located. Whilst it’s an expectation of the role to travel to CPS locations as per business needs, CPSis disability confident employer and all reasonable adjustments will be considered in line with Equality Act of 2010.

About the job

Job summary

At the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), we design user-centred services that make the criminal justice system easier to use, quicker to deliver, and fairer for all.

As the Lead Interaction Designer, you’ll be at the heart of this mission. You’ll help to shape the design vision for user-centred, inclusive, and accessible services, working closely with senior leaders and agile teams. Your decisions will be guided by user needs, data, and evidence, ensuring our services are not only effective but sustainable and scalable.

You’ll lead the design of complex services, making sure they meet government standards and design principles. You’ll mentor and inspire other designers, champion collaboration across teams, and grow our interaction design capability within CPS. Beyond CPS, you’ll work with designers across the Criminal Justice System to create joined-up, end-to-end services that deliver real impact for users.

This is a leadership role where you’ll report to the Head of User-Centred Design and Analysis and help shape the future of our profession.

The Crown Prosecution Service is based in England and Wales. If you’re applying for this role and live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you must let us know when accepting this offer as you need permission to work from your home address if hybrid working is part of your role.There’s no guarantee that we will grant this approval.

You must be aged 16 before starting in this role. The start date is expected to be 8-12 weeks after the application deadline.

As part of this role, you are expected to undertake direct line management responsibilities.

As a lead interaction designer, you will:

• embed a practice of hypothesis-driven, iterative, evidence-based design and agile ways of working in a team
• lead on prototyping complex ideas at any fidelity
• gain support for design decisions and design strategy from senior leaders
• measurably improve the practice of inclusive, accessible and environmentally sustainable design across the organisation
• help teams understand how user-centred design helps them meet their goals, and align their work to the goals and vision of the organisation
• use risks, opportunities and constraints in technology, systems and policy to shape design
• identify and create new design patterns and components
• create an inclusive, productive environment for designers to work in
• help to build the interaction design capability within CPS, by growing and mentoring our interaction design profession, and developing the skillset within our user centred design community

A copy of the full job description isattached.

Person specification

To be eligible to apply, you need:

• Significant hands-on experience leading design in complex organisations, ensuring effective and user-centred service delivery
• An understanding of the Government Design Principles, Service Standard and agile ways of working
• Experience of embedding hypothesis-driven, iterative, evidence-based design
• Excellent prototyping skills to bring complex ideas to life at any fidelity
• Strong stakeholder influencing and collaboration skills, to support user centred-design decisions
• Experience in measurably improving the practice of inclusive, accessible and environmentally sustainable design
• The ability to help teams understand how user-centred design helps them meet their goals, and align their work to the goals and vision of the organisation
• Experience in using risks, opportunities and constraints in technology, systems and policy to shape design
• Expertise in identifying and creating new design patterns and components
• Experience of creating an inclusive, productive environment for designers to work in

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: