Senior Service Designer (SC Cleared)

Sanderson Government & Defence; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 71,000 - 96,000; Full time

Job summary

Sanderson Government & Defence is seeking a Senior Service Designer (SC Cleared) to join a major public sector digital transformation programme in a hybrid UK setting. You will lead service design across multiple workstreams, map and blueprint end-to-end journeys, and collaborate with researchers, delivery teams and stakeholders to deliver improved citizen-facing services.

The role focuses on understanding complex services, identifying improvement opportunities, and driving a user-centred

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Senior Service Designer on large-scale digital transformation programmes.
• Strong service blueprinting and customer journey mapping expertise.
• Experience designing and improving complex end-to-end services.
• Strong workshop facilitation and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience working within multidisciplinary Agile teams.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and create clarity in complex environments.
• Excellent communication and visualisation skills.
• Strong analytical approach with the ability to identify gaps and dependencies.
• Comfortable operating independently while remaining highly collaborative.

Responsibilities

• Lead service design activities across multiple interconnected digital services.
• Map and analyse end-to-end user journeys, identifying pain points, opportunities and service improvements.
• Produce service blueprints, journey maps and other service design artefacts.
• Collaborate with User Researchers to shape research and engagement approaches.
• Facilitate workshops and stakeholder sessions across multidisciplinary teams.
• Identify dependencies, risks and service integration opportunities.
• Translate complex processes into clear and actionable visualisations.
• Review existing documentation and define gaps requiring further analysis or design activity.
• Support strategic design objectives through hands‑on delivery.
• Champion user-centred, outcome-focused decision making.
• Work closely with delivery, research and design teams to improve service outcomes.

Skills

Senior Service Designer

Service blueprinting

Journey mapping

Workshop facilitation

Stakeholder management

Agile teamwork

Research translation

Communication

Visualization

Analytical mindset

Tools

Figma

Miro

Job description

Senior Service Designer (SC Cleared)

£450 per day (Outside IR35) | Hybrid Working | Active SC Clearance Required

We’re supporting a major public sector digital transformation programme and are looking for an experienced Senior Service Designer to join a multidisciplinary team delivering meaningful improvements to a high-volume citizen-facing service.

This is an opportunity to play a key role in the redesign and optimisation of complex end-to-end user journeys, helping to shape services that have a genuine impact on thousands of users. You'll work across interconnected service areas, collaborating with researchers, delivery teams and stakeholders to ensure a seamless and user-centred experience.

The contract offers an initial term through to February 2027, with a strong likelihood of extension as part of a long-term programme running through to 2030.

The Role

Working alongside a Principal Service Designer, you'll lead project-level service design activity across multiple workstreams, taking ownership of service mapping, blueprinting, stakeholder engagement and design artefacts that support delivery.

You'll be responsible for understanding complex services, identifying opportunities for improvement, and aligning teams around a clear vision for better user outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead service design activities across multiple interconnected digital services.
• Map and analyse end-to-end user journeys, identifying pain points, opportunities and service improvements.
• Produce service blueprints, journey maps and other service design artefacts.
• Collaborate with User Researchers to shape research and engagement approaches.
• Facilitate workshops and stakeholder sessions across multidisciplinary teams.
• Identify dependencies, risks and service integration opportunities.
• Translate complex processes into clear and actionable visualisations.
• Review existing documentation and define gaps requiring further analysis or design activity.
• Support strategic design objectives through hands‑on delivery.
• Champion user-centred, outcome-focused decision making.
• Work closely with delivery, research and design teams to improve service outcomes.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Proven experience as a Senior Service Designer on large-scale digital transformation programmes.
• Strong service blueprinting and customer journey mapping expertise.
• Experience designing and improving complex end-to-end services.
• Ability to turn research insights and requirements into actionable service design outcomes.
• Strong workshop facilitation and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience working within multidisciplinary Agile teams.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and create clarity in complex environments.
• Excellent communication and visualisation skills.
• Strong analytical approach with the ability to identify gaps and dependencies.
• Comfortable operating independently while remaining highly collaborative.

Tools & Environment

• Figma
• Miro
• MacBook provided
• Agile multidisciplinary delivery teams

Team

You’ll be joining a collaborative team including:

• Principal Service Designer
• User Research team
• Delivery Manager
• Wider programme stakeholders and delivery teams

We’re looking for someone who is proactive, self-starting and comfortable taking ownership while working closely with others to deliver high-quality service design outcomes.

Contract Details

Role: Senior Service Designer (SC Cleared)
Rate: £450 per day (Outside IR35)
Start: November 2026
Duration: Initial contract to February 2027 with expected extensions
Location: Hybrid
Clearance: Active SC Clearance required

Reasonable Adjustments

Respect and equality are core values to us. We are proud of the diverse and inclusive community we have built, and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and perspectives. Our success is driven by our people, united by the spirit of partnership to deliver the best resourcing solutions for our clients.

If you need any help or adjustments during the recruitment process for any reason, please let us know when you apply or talk to the recruiters directly so we can support you.