Lead Designer in London

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government — we are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government. Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government by:

• joining up public sector services
• harnessing the power of AI for the public good
• strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
• elevating leadership and investing in talent
• funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
• committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK's geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government. We're part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you'll be working with some of the world's most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale. Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation's highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.

We are looking for two Lead Designers to work in the Products and Services group at GDS. The group includes the GOV.UK app, AI Studio, and platform products that power notifications, payments, and web forms across the public sector. Both roles will be part of the design studio, focused on a priority area in the group and working across several multidisciplinary teams. The specific area you will work on will depend on team staffing, but we will talk to you about it once we've seen some more of your work.

You will help build a design team that works together across product areas. That means shared creative standards, genuine collaboration across products, and a culture where designers bring each other's work up. Lead Designers are central to making that happen: setting the tone, creating the conditions, and making the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

You'll be part of a fantastic design community in government, where we share ideas and challenges with thousands of designers across the public sector. Find out more about what it's like designing in government on our Design in Government blog.

As a Lead Designer you'll:

• lead design across one or more products, ensuring that they meet user needs and achieve organisational priorities
• shape product strategy and delivery in collaboration with the rest of the leadership team, through speculative design work and a clear narrative around what you're building and why
• bring the citizen perspective into every room you're in, whether you're designing for them directly or influencing the platforms and tools that serve them
• represent the work with senior stakeholders and other parts of government, ensuring it's clearly understood and meets the needs of the wider public sector
• work closely with the other Lead Designers and the Head of Design to build shared standards, creative direction, and ways of working that connect the design team across products
• guide, support and mentor designers within your team and beyond, creating space for good work and high ambition

We're interested in people who have demonstrable experience in:

• designing usable, accessible digital products that work at scale, especially mobile apps
• negotiating important design decisions with senior stakeholders
• communicating long-term design vision for a product area
• building shared ways of working, creative standards, or collaborative practices across a design team
• supporting designers or design teams in delivering quality work and their own professional development