The opportunity
We’re one of the biggest and most mature Service Design functions in the world, the elder statesperson of Service Design if you will. We’ve been around for 17 years and been part of EY for the last five.
The work we do is big. Big in scale, big in ambition, big in impact – and big projects get taken seriously. We don’t create outputs for the sake of it. We don’t create work that sits in drawers, never to be revisited. We create work that is driven to implementation.
The work we do is varied. We work across sectors (from government, healthcare, financial services and fast-moving consumer goods) to tackle a huge variety of problems in a huge variety of ways. One week you could be interviewing customers in their homes to understand how they make sense of their money, the next month you could be leading a workshop in Whitehall to articulate how a government department can embed innovation in their organisation.
We take our practitioners seriously and you will be given the freedom and support to develop your craft, your thinking, your work and your career in a way that suits you and delivers for the practice and your clients.
Responsibilities, Qualifications, Certifications
The role
We are looking for a Service Design Manager to join the Service Design Practice at EY Studio+ UK.
This role is open to those with demonstrable experience of working as a Service Design Manager within industry. You will have a portfolio of projects that you can talk through and demonstrate how you have applied service design to business or organisational challenges either in house or within a consulting role.
There are a couple of things that we ask of everybody.
1. You will be endlessly inquisitive, and ruthlessly user focused and able to use a combination of logic, empathy, rigour and storytelling to articulate a customer or business problem before working creatively and technically to articulate a service that solves it.
2. You will be a natural collaborator. Ideas breed ideas, and so we work multi-disciplinary teams and embed clients in our process. We work in the open, we share our thinking early and we build on each other’s contribution.
3. You will be visual. We work generatively. We create things to clarify thinking, align understanding and move towards a solution that works.
4. You will be iterative. No-one gets it right first time. We don’t expect to.
5. You will be ambitious yet realistic in your solutions. Our work sits in the sweet spot between desirable, viable, feasible and allowable. Getting it there is a big part of what we do.
6. You will be a doer AND a thinker and know when to switch from one to the other and how to create time and space for both.
7. You will navigate complexity. People, organisations, technology, policies, regulations. Designing services puts you at the centre of complexity. We need to make sense of it all quickly, and flex and adapt to move through it effectively.
8. You’ll be fascinated by service in all its forms with a desire to deliver great solutions in the teams we put together for clients, to help them improve existing services, invent new ones, and ultimately grow businesses.
9. You will be competent in service design methods, and know how to shepherd clients through a service design process, creating good work and advocates for EY Studio+ UK as you go.
10. You will be a self-starter and have an explorative mindset, creating new perspectives and identifying the spaces you can be impactful for both EY Studio+ UK and its clients.
Your key responsibilities
11. You will develop and manage plans for project teams, updates stakeholders, and escalates scope
12. You will develop relationships that can benefit our firm and our clients (, with stakeholders in target organizations) and beyond the workplace to enhance our presence and impact in the community
13. You will identify and share trends, topics and resources (, professional bodies, market developments such as sector-specific trends, regulatory guidance) that will increase the relevance and value of our service delivery and seizes opportunities to grow knowledge
14. You will take a systematic approach to making decisions, considering all relevant data
15. You are considered a direct point of contact for client and team, speaks to client regularly about future trends, and begin to own and grow the firm’s relationship with the client
16. You will maintain open and proactive communication and build credibility based on understanding client issues and offering innovative solutions
17. You will create and deliver presentations that engage a range of audiences and respond to their questions and concerns
18. You will integrate data and apply judgment in forming practical insights and addressing potential issues, leveraging opportunities and analyses that enable decision-making by critical stakeholders
19. You will share technical, sector and market knowledge to inform client thinking
Skills and attributes
20. You will confidently and authentically presents complex messages skilfully, using a variety of media and methods that build excellent relationships based on a trust
21. You will demonstrate influencing skills that address the varied interests and individual style of others, recognizing people have different sources of motivation and ways to achieve success
22. You will create a positive team environment, balancing individual initiative with team collaboration and with EY priorities, and encourages people to speak up and express differing views
23. You will devise approaches to resolve conflicts, including those that arise from cultural differences, and keeps negotiations or dialogue moving forward, even when solutions are not apparent
24. You will adopt appropriate coaching techniques to meet the various needs of team members
25. You will assemble the right team to achieve business goals by creating the right mix of skills and the right conditions to work together effectively
26. You will improve commitment and engagement of team members, while focusing on the achievement of their goals
27. You will provide constructive feedback tailored to each person’s style and environment
28. You will recommend development activities tailored to each team member’s needs and learning style
29. You will resolve competing priorities and resource allocation issues, building collaboration across organizational boundaries
To qualify for the role you must
30. Be able to describe EY Studio+ UK capabilities and commitments accurately when discussing possible business opportunities with external contacts
31. Show that you have consistently produced service design work of high quality that is accurate, complete and compelling
32. Demonstrate ability to lead a small (<3 designers) team and/or manage budgets (<£100k) effectively with some oversight
33. Be able to create presentations that are clear and impactful, translating EY Studio+ UK ’s services into meaningful value propositions for clients
34. Show how you have contributed to a positive design team environment
What working at EY offers
We offer a competitive remuneration package where you’ll be rewarded for your individual and team performance. Our comprehensive Total Rewards package includes support for flexible working and career development, and with FlexEY you can select benefits that suit your needs, covering holidays, health and well-being, insurance, savings and a wide range of discounts, offers and promotions. Plus, we offer:
35. Support, coaching and feedback from some of the most engaging colleagues around
36. Opportunities to develop new skills and progress your career
37. The freedom and flexibility to handle your role in a way that’s right for you
About EY
As a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services, we’re using the finance products, expertise and systems we’ve developed to build a better working world. That starts with a culture that believes in giving you the training, opportunities and creative freedom to make things better. Whenever you join, however long you stay, the exceptional EY experience lasts a lifetime.