Senior Service Designer
| Posting date: | 07 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £58,541 to £72,711 per year |
| Additional salary information: | A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 24 January 2026 |
| Location: | Various UK locations |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 2 days per week |
| Company: | HMRC |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 441856 |
Summary
Locations: Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Croydon, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Preston, Telford, Washington, Worthing, Stratford
An exciting new opportunity for a Senior Service Designer to join the design team in Making Tax Digital (MTD). We're looking for motivated, passionate and self-starting individuals to join an established and knowledgeable programme operating in a fast-paced environment.
We are looking for an individual who is proactive in their approach to work and has sound judgement, as well as a strong ability to communicate and prioritise.
The successful individual will join a supportive environment that will provide all the training and experience they need to achieve great outcomes, develop their skills and personal effectiveness and get valuable and unique insights into a high-profile programme.
Job description
This role is an important leadership role within strategic service design, in Making Tax Digital. You’ll lead service designers that work across multiple teams and be responsible for ensuring that these teams consider the users and take into account the above the line and below the line implications of their decisions.
With complex services we have a complex user base millions of people have to use these services, which means a broad spectrum of different needs and outcomes. You will influence and support others within the profession to take on designing our biggest services. You will work with digital service managers, business analysts and wider multi-disciplinary colleagues to develop design concepts, collaborate with product and business analysis leads, set direction and embed good practice within teams and make important decisions based on research and understand how this research impacts others.
Person specification
The Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework provides more details about the role of a Grade 7 Senior Service Designer which can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/service-designer#senior-service-designer
As a senior service designer, you will:
Lead service design projects across multiple or complex services
Oversee the development of user-centred services that meet user needs and fulfil business outcomes
Use and support colleagues to implement best practice and standards to design usable and inclusive services consistent with the rest of government and HMRC
Lead on the analysis of pain points within services and create recommendations to address any issues identified
Map current service journeys and design service blueprints for new and/or improved services or processes across multiple channels
Lead workshops and design activities that communicate complex information and ideas using sketches, scenarios, diagrams, maps, prototypes, and written narratives for multiple audiences
Build and manage collaborative relationships with internal and external senior stakeholders
Be a strong communicator, leading workshops with teams and stakeholders to build a shared understanding of problems to be solved, work through challenges and enable design-led decision making
You will also be expected to:
Line manage, coach and mentor Service Designers - providing them with guidance, support, constructive feedback and design direction
Lead peer review sessions with other profession members to ensure service design standards are upheld across the organisation
Actively participate in the HMRC and cross-government design communities by leading community sessions and supporting initiatives
Seek out opportunities for learning and improvement by getting feedback from your colleagues and the business
Essential Criteria:
You will already have considerable experience and understanding of:
Designing large or complex services that meet user needs and organisational outcomes, across all channels.
Using user research and data to understand user needs, identify and understand problems, inform design decisions and influence stakeholders.
Clearly and effectively communicating complex information and ideas, using things like sketches, user journeys, diagrams, maps, prototypes, and written narratives.
Planning and facilitating workshops with senior stakeholders across organisational boundaries, end users and/or internal users.
Engaging and collaborating with teams and stakeholders in a variety of ways to build a shared understanding of problems to be solved, work through challenges and facilitate design-led decision-making.
Experience of leading, managing, coaching or mentoring people.
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
Evidence based design
Designing strategically
Leading design
Design communication
You will be required to do a 10 minute Presentation at interview - details to be provided in advance to candidates who progress to interview stage.
Candidate Sessions:
Monday 12th Jan 12:30pm:
https://forms.office.com/e/nwnZ4ph0Hm
Wednesday 14th Jan 16:30:
https://forms.office.com/e/L4Y52kPw0w
An exciting new opportunity for a Senior Service Designer to join the design team in Making Tax Digital (MTD). We're looking for motivated, passionate and self-starting individuals to join an established and knowledgeable programme operating in a fast-paced environment.
We are looking for an individual who is proactive in their approach to work and has sound judgement, as well as a strong ability to communicate and prioritise.
The successful individual will join a supportive environment that will provide all the training and experience they need to achieve great outcomes, develop their skills and personal effectiveness and get valuable and unique insights into a high-profile programme.
Job description
This role is an important leadership role within strategic service design, in Making Tax Digital. You’ll lead service designers that work across multiple teams and be responsible for ensuring that these teams consider the users and take into account the above the line and below the line implications of their decisions.
With complex services we have a complex user base millions of people have to use these services, which means a broad spectrum of different needs and outcomes. You will influence and support others within the profession to take on designing our biggest services. You will work with digital service managers, business analysts and wider multi-disciplinary colleagues to develop design concepts, collaborate with product and business analysis leads, set direction and embed good practice within teams and make important decisions based on research and understand how this research impacts others.
Person specification
The Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework provides more details about the role of a Grade 7 Senior Service Designer which can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/service-designer#senior-service-designer
As a senior service designer, you will:
Lead service design projects across multiple or complex services
Oversee the development of user-centred services that meet user needs and fulfil business outcomes
Use and support colleagues to implement best practice and standards to design usable and inclusive services consistent with the rest of government and HMRC
Lead on the analysis of pain points within services and create recommendations to address any issues identified
Map current service journeys and design service blueprints for new and/or improved services or processes across multiple channels
Lead workshops and design activities that communicate complex information and ideas using sketches, scenarios, diagrams, maps, prototypes, and written narratives for multiple audiences
Build and manage collaborative relationships with internal and external senior stakeholders
Be a strong communicator, leading workshops with teams and stakeholders to build a shared understanding of problems to be solved, work through challenges and enable design-led decision making
You will also be expected to:
Line manage, coach and mentor Service Designers - providing them with guidance, support, constructive feedback and design direction
Lead peer review sessions with other profession members to ensure service design standards are upheld across the organisation
Actively participate in the HMRC and cross-government design communities by leading community sessions and supporting initiatives
Seek out opportunities for learning and improvement by getting feedback from your colleagues and the business
Essential Criteria:
You will already have considerable experience and understanding of:
Designing large or complex services that meet user needs and organisational outcomes, across all channels.
Using user research and data to understand user needs, identify and understand problems, inform design decisions and influence stakeholders.
Clearly and effectively communicating complex information and ideas, using things like sketches, user journeys, diagrams, maps, prototypes, and written narratives.
Planning and facilitating workshops with senior stakeholders across organisational boundaries, end users and/or internal users.
Engaging and collaborating with teams and stakeholders in a variety of ways to build a shared understanding of problems to be solved, work through challenges and facilitate design-led decision-making.
Experience of leading, managing, coaching or mentoring people.
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
Evidence based design
Designing strategically
Leading design
Design communication
You will be required to do a 10 minute Presentation at interview - details to be provided in advance to candidates who progress to interview stage.
Candidate Sessions:
Monday 12th Jan 12:30pm:
https://forms.office.com/e/nwnZ4ph0Hm
Wednesday 14th Jan 16:30:
https://forms.office.com/e/L4Y52kPw0w