Lead Service Designer

www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk - Jobboard; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A government department in the UK is looking for a Lead Service Designer to shape the future of Universal Credit. This role involves leading service design processes, collaborating with various teams, engaging stakeholders, and mentoring junior designers. Ideal candidates will have a passion for user-centred design and the ability to influence decision-making at high levels. The position offers a meaningful career opportunity in enhancing services for millions of users.

Qualifications

• Experience in leading service design processes.
• Ability to align user needs with policy outcomes.
• Experience mentoring other designers.

Responsibilities

• Lead service design for Universal Credit.
• Facilitate collaboration across diverse teams.
• Engage and influence senior stakeholders.
• Produce high-quality service design artefacts.
• Promote a strong design culture.
• Mentor designers and help develop the team.

Skills

Leadership

User-centred design

Stakeholder engagement

Collaboration

Job description

Are you passionate about designing services that support millions across the UK? Interested in driving some of the country’s most significant transformational changes?

If so, this could be the role for you.

At DWP Digital, we offer meaningful careers for those who want to use their skills to improve lives. As part of the UK’s largest government department, we deliver vital services, support and payments to people at key moments.

This vacancy is to join the Working Age Services team where our mission is to design, build and iterate high-quality services for working aged people so that they can thrive in work and that everyone gets the support they need.

Universal Credit is one of the world’s most high-profile digital transformation programmes, supporting over 7 million claimants and 30,000 staff.

We’re looking for a Lead Service Designer to help shape the future of Universal Credit and other services. You’ll work with policy teams, design teams and stakeholders to explore problems, test ideas and deliver better outcomes for users.

We’re seeking confident leaders and facilitators who can unite diverse teams, provide clarity, and foster collaboration. Experience working with policy and strategy teams is especially valuable, as this role will help strengthen our approach to emerging policy.

You’ll join a supportive community of user-centred design professionals, committed to accessibility and excellence. As a Lead Service Designer, you’ll also mentor others and help grow our service design capability.

As a Lead Service Designer, you’ll shape the future of Universal Credit by aligning emerging policy and business strategy with user needs. Working closely with Lead Product Managers and the Product Strategy team, you’ll help evolve the service to better support millions of users.

You’ll champion collaboration across digital, policy, legal and other teams, ensuring services are designed with people at the heart. You’ll be a confident facilitator and expert practitioner, advocating for user-centred design and driving improvements that deliver real outcomes.

What you’ll do:

• Lead service design for Universal Credit, aligning user needs with departmental objectives, policy outcomes and product strategy.
• lead and facilitate collaboration across teams and programmes to define and evidence led service design concepts.
• Engage senior stakeholders and influence decision-making and alignment at programme and departmental level.
• Produce high-quality service design artefacts to communicate your approaches, ideas and recommendations. .
• Promote best practice and build a strong, open design culture across the teams you work with.
• Mentor designers and support capability building within the service design community.
• Contribute to recruitment and development of the DWP Service design team.

This is a leadership role where you’ll set direction, guide teams and help embed service design across the organisation. If you’re passionate about designing services that truly meet people’s needs, we’d love to hear from you.