Senior Service Designer – Public Sector & GDS Expert

Sanderson Government and Defence; West Midlands; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Sanderson Government and Defence is seeking a Senior Service Designer to lead end-to-end service design workstreams for public sector programmes, shaping user-centred services that meet policy objectives. You will mentor colleagues, tailor approaches and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to drive delivery and impact.

Active SC clearance is required, and you will contribute to proposition development, workshops and stakeholder engagement while staying current with industry trends and

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years' experience designing services and products.
• Proven experience leading service design workstreams across multiple projects or clients with minimal supervision.
• GDS standards knowledge and ability to support service assessments.
• Experience tailoring service design methods to client needs and maturity.
• Strong workshop facilitation and design sprint experience.
• Excellent storytelling and communication with diverse stakeholders.
• Experience in agile, cross-functional teams with researchers, designers and developers.
• Ability to manage priorities and work under tight timescales.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end service design activities from ideation through to solution development and testing.
• Define and tailor service design approaches to client needs and maturity.
• Develop and oversee high-quality service design artefacts with impact.
• Apply GDS standards, accessibility, and inclusive design to service assessments.
• Facilitate workshops, co-design sessions and stakeholder engagement.
• Communicate complex ideas through storytelling and visualisation.
• Manage stakeholders, balance perspectives, and advocate for user-centred design.
• Identify priorities, risks, dependencies and delivery requirements.
• Mentor junior colleagues and contribute to capability development.
• Contribute to development of tools and methods; stay current with trends.

Skills

Service design

GDS standards

Workshop facilitation

Agile teams

Stakeholder communication

Storytelling & visuals

Mentor juniors

Delivery leadership

Job description

Sanderson Government and Defence is seeking a Senior Service Designer to lead end-to-end service design workstreams for public sector programmes, shaping user-centred services that meet policy objectives. You will mentor colleagues, tailor approaches and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to drive delivery and impact.

Active SC clearance is required, and you will contribute to proposition development, workshops and stakeholder engagement while staying current with industry trends and