Senior Service Designer

Department of Corrections NZ; Wellington; Hybrid; NZD 105,000 - 148,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fixed-term contract

Job summary

The Department of Corrections NZ in Wellington is seeking an experienced Senior Service Designer to shape the future of People & Capability services. You will define services, measure success, and influence improvements across the organisation, ensuring solutions are user-centred and feasible.

This fixed-term role runs until December 2027. You will lead research, create artefacts like blueprints and journeys, and work with technical and delivery teams to turn insights into practical change.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in service design and operating model design.
• Experience leading research, analysis and insight generation.
• Expertise creating service design artefacts: blueprints, journeys, maps, wireframes, prototypes.
• Ability to collaborate with technical and delivery teams to ensure feasible, scalable solutions.
• Excellent facilitation and stakeholder engagement, with strong communication and influence.
• Strong systems thinking across people, processes, technology and policy.

Responsibilities

• Lead service design thinking across high-impact People & Capability services.
• Turn complex challenges into practical, people-centred solutions.
• Define services, measure success, and influence delivery improvements.

Skills

Service design

Service improvement

Operating model design

Research & insights

Service artefacts

Service blueprints

Customer journeys

Process maps

Wireframes

Prototypes

Stakeholder engagement

Facilitation

Systems thinking

Job description

# Senior Service Designer## About this role* Lead service design thinking across high-impact People & Capability services* Turn complex challenges into practical, people-centred solutions* Based in Wellington. Fixed Term opportunity until December 2027.**Mō te tūnga | About the role**We're looking for an experienced Senior Service Designer to help shape the future of People & Capability services.This is an exciting opportunity to influence work that sits at the heart of how we support our and staff across the organisation be safe, support and capable. You'll help define the services we provide, design how we measure success, and influence how People & Capability improves its service delivery.If you're energised by bringing together customer needs, organisational strategy and practical implementation, we'd love to hear from you.**Mōu | About you**This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building organisational capability, not just delivering projects. We're looking for a Service Designer who can confidently operate across both strategic and delivery environments, helping turn complex challenges into practical, customer-centred solutions.**Ngā pūkenga me ngā wheako | Skills and experience**To be successful in this role you will bring:* Proven experience in service design, service improvement, and operating model design.* Strong experience leading research, analysis and insight generation to understand employee, operational and organisational needs, translating evidence into actionable recommendations.* Expertise in creating and applying service design artefacts, including service blueprints, customer journeys, process maps, wireframes and prototypes.* The ability to work collaboratively with technical and delivery teams to ensure solutions are feasible, scalable and aligned with technology and platform capabilities.* Excellent facilitation, stakeholder engagement, communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build alignment across diverse groups.* Strong systems thinking and the ability to see connections across people, processes, technology, policy and organisational structures.**Ngā painga | The benefits**You'll be part of a collaborative and supportive team that is passionate about improving outcomes through human-centred design, evidence-based decision-making and continuous improvement.Most importantly, you'll have the opportunity to help transform how services are understood, delivered and measured, creating meaningful improvements for both our people and the organisation.The midpoint of the salary range is $123,511 per annum and the full range (85%-120%) is $104,985 - $148,214 per annum. Appointment and remuneration will reflect skills and experience relevant to the role.**Mō mātou | About us**Join Ara Poutama Aotearoa - Department of Corrections, where your work will contribute to improving public safety, reducing re-offending, and address the overrepresentation of Māori in correctional facilities. As a values-led organisation, we use the principles of rangatira (leadership), manaaki (respect), wairua (spirituality), kaitiaki (guardianship), and whānau (relationships) to guide our work and achieve the goals of our Hōkai Rangi strategy.We value inclusion and diversity in our workforce, and as a Public Service organisation we are committed to building a workforce that reflects the public we serve. We strive to make our recruitment process fair, and we encourage you to discuss reasonable accommodations with us if required.**Tono ināianei | Apply Now**To submit an application and view the position description, click the apply link. All applications must be submitted through our careers site to ensure transparency – applications received via email will not be considered.When applying, submit a tailored **CV and a cover letter** describing your motivation for joining the department highlighting relevant skills and experience and the alignment to our work.**Applications close on: Sunday the 18th of October.**If you have any questions or want to learn more about a career with us, contact [e-mail], or visit **careers.corrections.govt.nz.****We are not accepting applications via recruitment agencies for this role. Unsolicited CVs submitted by agencies will not be accepted and no agency fees will apply.**## Job details| | || --- | --- || Job reference: | APA/1950046 || Location: | Wellington (Te Whanganui a Tara) || Date posted: | 05-Oct-2026 || Application close date: | 18-Oct-2026 || Attachments: | Senior Service Designer - JD (1).docx (Word, 228KB)Position Description |