Senior Service Designer

We are looking for an experienced Senior Service Designer to shape and deliver complex public sector discovery work focused on improving outcomes for citizens and organisations.

This role will operate within a GDS-aligned, multidisciplinary environment, applying service design principles to complex policy and operational challenges. You will take a systems view of services, exploring how policy, legislation, operational processes, technology and user needs interact and identifying opportunities for meaningful, sustainable improvement.

You’ll work across organisational boundaries, helping stakeholders build shared understanding of evidence, constraints and opportunity spaces, and translating insight into clear service propositions and design principles.

This is a senior role suited to someone comfortable working in ambiguity, influencing at pace, and leading discovery within complex public sector environments.

What You’ll Do

• Lead end-to-end service design discovery within a public sector context, aligned to GDS standards and service lifecycle phases (Discovery, Alpha, Beta, Live).
• Take a systems-thinking approach, mapping the interactions between users, policy, legislation, operations, technology and governance.
• Synthesise existing research and analysis into clear insights, opportunity areas and design considerations.
• Define and apply service design principles to shape improved service outcomes.
• Identify unmet needs, friction points and structural barriers within complex service ecosystems.
• Facilitate collaborative workshops and structured sense-making sessions across multidisciplinary teams and policy stakeholders.
• Ensure service design recommendations are grounded in a clear understanding of the GB legal and regulatory framework.
• Produce high-quality artefacts including service maps, ecosystem maps, problem statements, design principles and strategic recommendations.
• Support teams through governance and service assessment processes where required.

What We’re Looking For

Experience

• Significant experience delivering GDS-aligned service design within UK public sector environments.
• Strong understanding of the Government Service Standard and experience working through service assessments.
• Experience leading Discovery phases in complex policy or regulated contexts.
• Proven ability to work across multidisciplinary teams including policy, delivery, technology and operations.
• Experience shaping services influenced by legislative or regulatory frameworks.

Skills & Approach

• Strong systems thinking capability, able to see the whole service, not just individual touchpoints.
• Excellent synthesis skills: turning research and evidence into structured insight and direction.
• Confident facilitation and stakeholder engagement skills, including with senior audiences.
• Ability to balance user needs, organisational constraints and policy intent.
• Clear, structured communication, both written and visual.
• Comfortable working in ambiguity and shaping clarity collaboratively.