Lead Service Designer
Department for Education
Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 15th December 2024
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Salary
This is a discretionary non-consolidated, non-pensionable allowance which, if awarded, is attached to the post. The value of the allowance is based on the outcome of a capability assessment and is reviewed annually. Allowance values range up to £20,750, with the highest values reserved for candidates whose capability is above the expected level for all of the skills.
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About the job
Job summary
As a lead service designer, you will drive the design of complex, user-centred services and ensure iterative processes lead to successful outcomes. You will integrate data-driven insights into service design and make informed decisions aligning with user needs and strategic goals.
Championing collaboration across multidisciplinary teams, you will foster a culture of co-design and shared ownership.
You will advocate for design within the organisation, influence strategic direction, and develop long-term design strategies.
Additionally, you will lead the creation of accessible and inclusive services, ensuring compliance with legal standards and advocating for the needs of all users, particularly those from marginalised groups.
You will work alongside other leads and the Head of Profession for Design to support the service design profession across the department.
As a successful candidate, you will join the Regions Group Digital portfolio, collaborating closely with the Programme Lead, Product Lead, and Tech Lead. You will lead a diverse design team, composed of civil servants and managed services, ensuring their support for design decisions and strategy.
The Regions Group Digital portfolio consists of six cross-functional teams that practice iterative design and agile methodologies aiming to deliver value quickly. Your role will be crucial in helping teams with this by rapidly prototyping complex ideas, adapting to changes, and working effectively.
The portfolio is expanding to include a broader digital offering for external users in the sector and internal case workers, and responding to changes in government priorities following the election. This is a pivotal time for our portfolio, and your leadership will be essential in delivering excellent services to educational establishments and colleagues across regions. You will guide the design across multiple teams and services, driving consistency and implementing new design patterns, using an evidenced based approach to improve our offerings and introducing effective design methods with innovative technical solutions. Your work will ensure we meet business requirements and user needs, with user-centred and technology enabled solutions.
Job description
As a lead service designer, you will:
- Drive the design of complex, user-centred services both in teams and across the department, setting the vision and ensuring iterative processes lead to successful outcomes.
- Lead the integration of comprehensive data-driven insights into all aspects of service design, making informed decisions that align with user needs and strategic goals.
- Champion and facilitate collaboration across diverse multidisciplinary teams, fostering a culture of co-design and shared ownership of the design process.
- Be an advocate for design within the organisation, clearly communicating the value of design to senior leaders and stakeholders at all levels, and influencing strategic direction in your business area.
- Develop and implement design strategies that not only align with but also anticipate future organisational needs, positioning the service for long-term success.
- Lead on the creation of accessible and inclusive services, ensuring compliance with legal and department standards.
- Advocate for the needs of all users, particularly those from marginalised or underrepresented groups.
Person specification
Essential Criteria:
- The ability to set the standard for iterative design practices, guiding teams through complex projects from initial concept to final implementation.
- The skills to mentor and coach teams in adopting and refining iterative processes, ensuring a consistent focus on user needs and outcomes across all stages of design.
- The capability to lead the strategic use of data in service design, integrating insights from a wide range of sources to drive innovation and effectiveness.
- The expertise to provide guidance on best practices for inclusive design, ensuring that all services meet or exceed legal, ethical, and user needs.
- The commitment to contribute to the development of policies and practices that embed accessibility and inclusive design into the organisation’s culture and processes.
Desirable Criteria:
- Experience of designing government or public services.
- The expertise to develop and oversee data-driven strategies that ensure design decisions are informed by robust analysis and user research.
- The experience to lead complex co-design sessions, integrating diverse perspectives to create innovative and user-focused services.
- The ability to build and maintain strong, strategic relationships with key stakeholders.
- The skills to articulate and champion design concepts and strategies at the highest levels of the organisation, influencing executive decision-making.
- The ability to create and deliver compelling narratives that communicate the strategic value of design.
- The capability to define and lead the strategic direction of service design within your business area, working with the Head of Profession to align design initiatives.
Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.
Benefits
Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.
As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.
You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.
We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.
Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.
As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Step 1: Application - CV and Personal Statement
At application you will be asked to provide your CV and a Statement of Suitability.
Your CV should include details of previous roles held and responsibilities / previous skills and experience.
Your statement of suitability (max 1250 words) should demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section above. Please adhere to the limit as anything over 1250 words will not be taken into account.
Your CV and statement will be assessed together against the listed essential criteria.
Step 2: Interview
Those successful at sift will be invited to attend an interview.
The interview will be one hour long and is made up of two parts.
Part 1 – 10 minutes - presentation
You will be asked to prepare and present a piece of service design work you have done and be prepared to answer some questions from the panel.
Part 2 – Questions
At interview we will ask questions to further assess your experience in relation to the listed essential criteria. You will get these questions the day before the interview.
The presentation and questions together will be used to assess your experience against the essential (and in the case of a tie, the desirable) criteria.
Feedback
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.
Timing
We expect to sift in week commencing 16 December 2024.
Interviews will likely take place in the week commencing 6 January 2025 on MS Teams.
Once a provisional offer has been made, you will be invited to participate in a capability assessment to determine the value of the CBP allowance we can offer you. The assessment compares your skills against the Lead Service Designer role described in DfE’s local Service Design Capability Framework, which is based on the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework.
Subject to your availability, we will aim to conduct the capability assessment and confirm the allowance offer to you within a week of the provisional offer being made.
This is a discretionary non-consolidated, non-pensionable allowance which, if awarded, is attached to the post. The value of the allowance is based on the outcome of a capability assessment and is reviewed annually. Allowance values range up to £20,750, with the highest values reserved for candidates whose capability is above the expected level for all of the skills.
Other Information
In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.
This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment (opens in a new window).
Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:
- name/title
- educational institutions
- age
- gender
- email address
- postal address
- phone number
- nationality/immigration status
We understand that you might use AI and other resources for your application; however, please ensure all information you provide is factually accurate, truthful, and original and doesn’t include ideas or work that isn’t your own. This is so that your application is authentically and credibly your own.
We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.
Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.
The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.
A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.
Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs
Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.
Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.
Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.
Reasonable adjustment
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
Contact Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Please refer to the attached ‘Reasonable Adjustments Guide 2024 – accessible version’ at the bottom of the advert, for further information.
Childcare Vouchers
Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Resource Business Partners
- Email : resourcing.businesspartners@education.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : Centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk
Further information
