Senior Service Designer (GDS) - Contract
Rate: £470 per day (Inside IR35)
Location: London / Remote
Start Date: 1 June 2026
Duration: 6 months
Clearance: Must be eligible for BPSS
Role Overview
We are looking for an experienced Senior Service Designer to work on complex, user-centred services within a government environment. This role aligns with the GDS Senior Service Designer definition and requires someone who can work with minimal supervision, influence across multidisciplinary teams, and help embed good service design practice.
You will work closely with service managers, product managers, programme directors, delivery teams and policy stakeholders to develop service concepts, shape end-to-end journeys, and ensure services meet user needs while aligning with organisational and policy constraints.
Key Responsibilities
Lead service design activity across complex services, taking ownership of end-to-end service design outcomes
Work with service managers and programme leads to develop and communicate service design concepts
Use user research and evidence to inform design decisions, clearly explaining impacts, risks and trade-offs
Design inclusive, accessible and ethical services that meet relevant standards (including accessibility)
Facilitate and adapt service design workshops, journey mapping and co-design sessions
Collaborate effectively across disciplines (user research, product, content, delivery, policy and technology)
Apply iterative design methods, rapidly prototyping and refining services based on evidence
Identify and create reusable service patterns and help embed good practice within teams
Support and mentor other designers, promoting user-centred design principles
Skills & Experience (GDS Senior Service Designer)
You will demonstrate practitioner-level capability in:
Design communication
Clearly communicating complex service design problems and decisions to non-design stakeholders
Building consensus and challenging assumptions constructively
Designing for everyone
Designing inclusive, accessible and environmentally sustainable services
Ensuring services meet appropriate standards and regulations
Designing strategically
Aligning service design with organisational goals and policy intent
Using constraints, risks and opportunities to shape service outcomes
Designing together
Planning and running effective design sessions with users and stakeholders
Working confidently across team, organisational and professional boundaries
Evidence-based and iterative design
Synthesising complex research and data to inform design
Iterating complex services using agile and user-centred design methods
Leading design (working level)
Leading service design activity within a team
Supporting and mentoring other designers
Essential Requirements
Proven experience as a Senior Service Designer on complex digital services
Strong understanding of GDS standards, user-centred design and service design methods
Experience working in government or large, policy-led organisations
Eligibility for BPSS clearance
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.
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