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17704 - Lead Service Designer
| Posting date: | 15 May 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £71,381 to £85,257 per year |
| Additional salary information: | The national salary range is £71,381 - £80,419, London salary range is £75,674 - £85,257. Your salary will be dependent on your base location London: £75,674 - £87,875 (which may include an allowance of up to £12,201) National: £71,381 - £83,700 (which may include an allowance of up to £12,319) |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 31 May 2026 |
| Location: | UK |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 3 days per week |
| Company: | Ministry of Justice |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 17704 |
Summary
Lead Service Designer
Location: National*
Closing Date: 31 May 2026
Interviews: Week commencing 15 June 2026
Grade: Grade 6 (MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer)
Salary**: London: £75,674 - £85,257 which may include an allowance up to £12,201 National: £71,381 - £80,419 which may include an allowance up to £12,319
Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working
Contract Type: Permanent
Number of vacancies: 1
Vacancy number: 17704
*We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP
Please note that unless you are an existing member of staff at Justice Digital, Data and Science, the only London location being recruited to is 10 South Colonnade, E14 4PU. We are no longer recruiting to 102 Petty France, SW1H 9AJ.
The Role
We’re recruiting for a Lead Service Designer here at Justice Digital, Data and Science to be part of our warm and collaborative Prisons Digital team.
This role aligns against the Lead Service Designer role from the Government Digital and Data Framework
We are delivering a digitally-enabled justice system that works more simply for users - and we’re looking for talented people to help us achieve it. We make things better by building adaptable, effective services and systems that are simple to use for staff and citizens. While the work can be challenging, it is important, impactful and hugely rewarding.
In Prisons Digital, we build and maintain digital products and tools that help to:
protect the public
provide decent and safe spaces in which to live and work
reduce reoffending by rehabilitating the people in our care through education and employment
As Lead Service Designer for Prisons Digital, you will be responsible for building and sustaining a high-performing service design capability across multiple product and service teams operating in Prisons Digital, to deliver world-class, user-centred services. This is a leadership role where you will be a member of the Prisons Digital Senior Leadership team, alongside leads for other professions and the Service Owners. The role will report to and work closely with the Lead for User Centred Design.
You will also be part of the wider design leadership team at the Ministry of Justice, working collaboratively with other lead designers to develop our overall design capability.
As well as doing great work, we’re creating a place that’s great to work in. We offer brilliant training opportunities, excellent kit and support from expert colleagues. On top of that, you’ll find flexible working, an inclusive culture and a place where your opinion is valued.
You’ll receive a range of excellent benefits when you join our department, including:
A generous employer pension contribution of 28.97% through the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
25 days of annual leave, (increasing to 30 days once you have reached 5 years of service), plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the King’s birthday.
Flexible working arrangements including hybrid working, working part time or compressed hours. Designed to support a positive work–life balance.
Employees are allocated 10% of their working time for personal and professional development.
A £1k per person learning budget is in place to support all our people, with access to best-in-class conferences and seminars, accreditation with professional bodies, fully funded vocational programmes and e-learning platforms.
Compassionate maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave policies, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!
You can find more details of the Benefits we offer here. To help picture your life at MoJ Justice Digital, Data and Science please take a look at our blog.
Key Responsibilities:
Lead and develop the service design community across Prisons Digital, creating an inclusive and high-performing professional culture, including line management of approximately 7 Senior Service Designers
Set and maintain standards for service design practice, helping teams deliver consistent, high-quality, user-centred services
Coach, mentor and support designers across multiple teams, helping individuals and teams develop their capability and effectiveness
Lead recruitment, onboarding and workforce planning for service design roles, helping attract, grow and retain high-quality practitioners
Support the assignment and deployment of service design capability across teams in partnership with delivery and product leadership
Establish and evolve communities of practice, learning initiatives and approaches that strengthen design maturity across the organisation
Provide expert guidance to teams delivering complex or high-risk services, supporting strong service design practice and quality
Promote inclusive, accessible and evidence-based design practices across products and services, helping teams meet Government Digital Service standards
Lead service design initiatives that support the design and delivery of a consistent, joined up user experience journey across prisons
Contribute to design and research leadership in Prisons Digital as part of its senior leadership team
Contribute to the wider Ministry of Justice design leadership community and help strengthen design capability across the department
If this feels like an exciting challenge, something you are enthusiastic about, and want to join our team please read on and apply!
Location: National*
Closing Date: 31 May 2026
Interviews: Week commencing 15 June 2026
Grade: Grade 6 (MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer)
Salary**: London: £75,674 - £85,257 which may include an allowance up to £12,201 National: £71,381 - £80,419 which may include an allowance up to £12,319
Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working
Contract Type: Permanent
Number of vacancies: 1
Vacancy number: 17704
*We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP
Please note that unless you are an existing member of staff at Justice Digital, Data and Science, the only London location being recruited to is 10 South Colonnade, E14 4PU. We are no longer recruiting to 102 Petty France, SW1H 9AJ.
The Role
We’re recruiting for a Lead Service Designer here at Justice Digital, Data and Science to be part of our warm and collaborative Prisons Digital team.
This role aligns against the Lead Service Designer role from the Government Digital and Data Framework
We are delivering a digitally-enabled justice system that works more simply for users - and we’re looking for talented people to help us achieve it. We make things better by building adaptable, effective services and systems that are simple to use for staff and citizens. While the work can be challenging, it is important, impactful and hugely rewarding.
In Prisons Digital, we build and maintain digital products and tools that help to:
protect the public
provide decent and safe spaces in which to live and work
reduce reoffending by rehabilitating the people in our care through education and employment
As Lead Service Designer for Prisons Digital, you will be responsible for building and sustaining a high-performing service design capability across multiple product and service teams operating in Prisons Digital, to deliver world-class, user-centred services. This is a leadership role where you will be a member of the Prisons Digital Senior Leadership team, alongside leads for other professions and the Service Owners. The role will report to and work closely with the Lead for User Centred Design.
You will also be part of the wider design leadership team at the Ministry of Justice, working collaboratively with other lead designers to develop our overall design capability.
As well as doing great work, we’re creating a place that’s great to work in. We offer brilliant training opportunities, excellent kit and support from expert colleagues. On top of that, you’ll find flexible working, an inclusive culture and a place where your opinion is valued.
You’ll receive a range of excellent benefits when you join our department, including:
A generous employer pension contribution of 28.97% through the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
25 days of annual leave, (increasing to 30 days once you have reached 5 years of service), plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the King’s birthday.
Flexible working arrangements including hybrid working, working part time or compressed hours. Designed to support a positive work–life balance.
Employees are allocated 10% of their working time for personal and professional development.
A £1k per person learning budget is in place to support all our people, with access to best-in-class conferences and seminars, accreditation with professional bodies, fully funded vocational programmes and e-learning platforms.
Compassionate maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave policies, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!
You can find more details of the Benefits we offer here. To help picture your life at MoJ Justice Digital, Data and Science please take a look at our blog.
Key Responsibilities:
Lead and develop the service design community across Prisons Digital, creating an inclusive and high-performing professional culture, including line management of approximately 7 Senior Service Designers
Set and maintain standards for service design practice, helping teams deliver consistent, high-quality, user-centred services
Coach, mentor and support designers across multiple teams, helping individuals and teams develop their capability and effectiveness
Lead recruitment, onboarding and workforce planning for service design roles, helping attract, grow and retain high-quality practitioners
Support the assignment and deployment of service design capability across teams in partnership with delivery and product leadership
Establish and evolve communities of practice, learning initiatives and approaches that strengthen design maturity across the organisation
Provide expert guidance to teams delivering complex or high-risk services, supporting strong service design practice and quality
Promote inclusive, accessible and evidence-based design practices across products and services, helping teams meet Government Digital Service standards
Lead service design initiatives that support the design and delivery of a consistent, joined up user experience journey across prisons
Contribute to design and research leadership in Prisons Digital as part of its senior leadership team
Contribute to the wider Ministry of Justice design leadership community and help strengthen design capability across the department
If this feels like an exciting challenge, something you are enthusiastic about, and want to join our team please read on and apply!