Lead Service Designer

Pay up to £80,267, plus 28.97% employer pension contributions, hybrid working, flexible hours, and great work life balance.

Join DWP as a Lead Service Designer, as you set the direction and guide teams to help embed service design across the organisation. You'll be exploring problems, fostering collaboration and aligning user needs with policy, service and product strategy.

You'll join a supportive community of user-centred design professionals who are committed to accessibility and excellence. This is a fantastic opportunity in areas of DWP that have significant and long-term value to our users. If you have experience leading design of end to end, front to back services that solve complex problems then this role could be ideal for you.

DWP. Digital with Purpose.
We are looking for a Lead Service Designer to join our community of tech experts in DWP Digital.

We're using fresh ideas and leading-edge tech to build and maintain digital solutions that will be used by nearly every person in the UK, every day and at key moments in their lives.

DWP is the UK's largest government department. We help people into work, and make payments worth over £195bn a year to support and empower millions of people.

The scale of what we do is extraordinary, and our purpose is unique. We'd love you to join us.

What skills, knowledge and experience will you need?

• Proven experience in designing end-to-end services that solve complex problems.
• Strong ability to apply best practice and evidence-based approaches to create services that meet user, colleague, and organisational needs.
• Excellent communication skills, with confidence in advocating for user-centred design and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated leadership in fostering a positive, collaborative environment that supports effective service design.

You and your role
In DWP our services are designed in collaboration with the people who use them, not just for them. You'll help us find innovative ways to design for our users, using data trends to develop new solutions, and working alongside users to solve problems. The services you design will help make people's lives better.

You'll join us in one of two areas:
Health and Disability
, or
Debt
. As a Lead Service Designer, you'll be shaping future services by aligning emerging policy and business strategy with user needs, in a bid to evolve our services to drive improvements that deliver real outcomes.

This is a leadership role where you'll be setting direction, guiding teams and helping to embed services across the organisation. From facilitating collaboration, mentoring designers through to producing high-quality design outputs and promoting best practices.

You should be a confident facilitator and expert practitioner, with a passion for advocating user-centred design and driving improvements. You'll be joining a collaborative design community who don't work in isolation, and you'll enjoy unique career development opportunities as part of this team.

Details. Wages. Perks.
Location:
You'll join us in one of our brilliant digital hubs in Birmingham, Blackpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle or Sheffield

Hybrid Working:
We work a hybrid model - you'll spend some time working at home and collaborating face to face in a hub.

Pay:
We offer competitive pay of up to £80,267

Pension:
You'll get a brilliant civil service pension with employer contributions worth 28.97%

Holidays:
A generous leave package starting at 26 days rising to 31 days over time.

You can also take up to 3 extra days off a month on flexi-time. You'll also get all the usual public holidays.

We have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Flexible working including flexible hours and flex-friendly policies
• Time off volunteering and charitable giving
• Bring your authentic self to work with 'I Can Be Me in DWP'
• Discounts and savings on shopping, fun days out and more
• Interest-free loans to buy a bike or a season ticket, so it's even easier for you to get to work and start making a difference
• Sports and social activities
• Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities.

And We Have An Award-winning Environment And Culture

• DWP have been recognised as 2024 Diversity Employer of the Year at the Computing Women in Tech Excellence awards
• Diverse and Inclusive Leadership at Digital Leaders Awards 2024
• Commended as Best Place to Work in Digital category in the Computing Digital Technology Leaders awards 2025
• Recognised as one of the Best Public Sector Employers at 2025 Women In Tech Employer Awards

Process
We know your time is valuable so our application and selection process is just two stages:

Apply:
complete your application on Civil Service Jobs. There'll be full instructions when you click through.

Interview:
a single stage interview online.

Click
APPLY

for more information and to start your application