Service Designer SFIA 5

Senior Service Designer (SFIA Level 5)

Location: Remote (with occasional ad hoc travel)

Rate: £540 per day inside IR35
Contract Length: Initial 4-month discovery phase, with transition to long-term engagement via rolling 6-month SOWs
Clearance: BPSS required
Equipment: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Role Purpose

We are looking for an experienced Senior Service Designer to lead the design of end-to-end services across complex HMRC programmes.

You will ensure that services are user-centred, efficient, and aligned to policy and operational requirements, while shaping service strategy across multiple teams. This role requires translating user and business needs into cohesive, scalable service designs.

Core Responsibilities

1. End-to-End Service Design

• Design, map, and optimise end-to-end service journeys across multiple channels and touchpoints
• Produce key service design artefacts, including:
• User journeys
• Service blueprints
• Ecosystem maps
• Ensure alignment between front-stage user experience and back-office processes
• Identify pain points, gaps, and opportunities across the service landscape

1. Service Strategy & Direction

• Define and influence service vision, design principles, and direction
• Ensure services are aligned with:
• User needs
• Business objectives
• Policy and operational constraints
• Work across programmes to ensure consistency, coherence, and scalability of services

1. User-Centred Design Leadership

• Champion GDS and User-Centred Design (UCD) principles across teams
• Leverage user research insights to:
• Inform design decisions
• Drive service improvements
• Collaborate closely with:
• User Researchers
• Product Managers
• Designers

1. Stakeholder Engagement & Alignment

• Engage effectively with:
• Senior stakeholders
• Delivery teams
• Policy and operational stakeholders
• Facilitate workshops and collaborative sessions to:
• Align on service vision, priorities, and outcomes
• Communicate complex service concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences

1. Cross-Team Coordination

• Work across multiple Agile teams to ensure joined-up service delivery
• Identify and manage:
• Dependencies
• Gaps or overlaps between services
• Drive consistency across products, platforms, and services within the wider programme

1. Continuous Improvement & Insight

• Use data and insight to:
• Identify service issues and improvement opportunities
• Evaluate service performance and user outcomes
• Support teams in iterating and continuously improving services
• Promote a culture of evidence-based design and ongoing optimisation

Key Skills & Experience

Essential

• Proven experience operating at SFIA Level 5 (Senior Service Designer)
• Strong track record of designing complex, end-to-end services within large organisations

• Advanced knowledge of service design methodologies and artefacts, including:
• Journey mapping
• Service blueprints
• Ecosystem mapping
• Deep understanding of user-centred design (UCD) principles and practices

• Excellent stakeholder engagement and facilitation skills
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex concepts
• Ability to influence at both team and programme level
• Experience working within Agile, multidisciplinary teams

• Comfortable operating across multiple teams and programmes simultaneously
• Strong collaboration skills across design, product, delivery, and policy functions