Service Design Lead

Good Growth is responsible for delivering and implementing the Mayor’s environment, transport and economic strategies and for the effective implementation of the London Plan. The Directorate is also responsible for regeneration, enterprise, growth, capital projects and design work.

London is a city recognised as the global capital for arts and culture. Our theatres, music venues, museums and galleries are renowned across the world. Our creative industries are vital to London’s success and the recording studios, rehearsal spaces, artists’ workspaces, grassroots music, and LGBTQ+ venues all contribute to this success.

The Culture, Creative Industries and 24‑Hour London portfolio at the Greater London Authority focuses on supporting London’s cultural and creative economy, strengthening cultural infrastructure, and ensuring the city functions as a global, inclusive 24‑hour city. This includes overseeing major projects such as Creative Enterprise Zones, London Borough of Culture, the Fourth Plinth commission, and initiatives that support the night‑time economy.

About The Role

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Culture, Creative Industries and 24 Hour London (CCI24) Unit delivering the Mayor’s and the Strategic Licensing policy. You’ll be at the heart of a fast‑paced, cross‑organisational effort to design and implement new licensing powers—with the ambition to launch by Summer 2026.

Unique Opportunity To:

• Support and shape a new policy and regulatory function within the GLA
• Drive innovation in how licensing supports London’s economic and cultural vibrancy
• Work with senior stakeholders across government, industry, and the city
• Make a visible impact on how London works, plays, and grows

As Service Design Lead for Strategic Licensing you will shape, steer and deliver the service design approach, working across policy teams, project stakeholders and multidisciplinary specialists. You will guide and coordinate service design activity for the project and may manage or matrix‑manage other user‑centred design professionals, depending on project needs.

You will be working through the entire design and delivery process, from framing problems, understanding, and visualising the service landscapes for teams, improving and reimagining end‑to‑end services, visualising processes, services and products and supporting their implementation.

What Your Day Will Look Like:

• Setting the service design approach for a brand‑new licensing function, aligning methods, priorities and artefacts with policy intent, user needs and the Mayor’s strategic goals.
• Guiding user researchers, content designers, interaction designers and analysts through complex problem spaces, helping them design together and make evidence‑based decisions at pace.
• Visualising end‑to‑end services, mapping processes, and producing high‑quality artefacts that help senior leaders, policy teams and delivery partners understand how the new licensing system should work.
• Embedding accessibility, sustainability and equity into every stage of the service, and integrating insights from research, data and lived experience to shape decisions.
• Running co‑design sessions with senior stakeholders, quality‑assuring supplier outputs, mentoring designers, and ensuring the emerging service is feasible, user‑centred and ready for implementation.

Skills, Knowledge And Experience:

• Proven experience leading service design in complex and large‑scale programmes, using evidence‑based approaches and design systems to deliver simple, scalable solutions across multiple services.
• The skills to mentor and coach multidisciplinary teams in iterative, user‑centred design practices, embedding continuous improvement and outcome‑focused delivery.
• The ability to set standards for service design and inclusive design practices, guiding teams from discovery through implementation while ensuring accessibility, legal compliance and excellent user experiences.
• The capability to lead the strategic use of data, user research and insight to inform service design decisions, develop data‑driven strategies, and drive innovation and effectiveness.
• The ability to facilitate complex co‑design sessions and build strong relationships with senior stakeholders, confidently managing expectations, navigating difficult discussions and aligning diverse perspectives.
• The expertise to define and lead strategic service design direction within the programme, influencing decision‑making through compelling narratives, championing design value and shaping policies that embed accessibility and user‑centred design.

Competencies:

• Planning and Organising: Exchanges ideas and knowledge with partners, subject‑matter experts, and senior stakeholders to foster new research agendas and derive insights for the GLA.
• Stakeholder Focus: Understands diverse stakeholder needs and tailors team deliverables accordingly.
• Communicating and Influencing: Encourages and supports teams in engaging in transparent and inclusive communication.
• Strategic Thinking: Translates GLA vision and strategy into practical and tangible plans for own team or delivery partners.
• Decision Making: Makes sound decisions quickly on behalf of the GLA when a situation requires intervention.
• Problem Solving: Clarifies ambiguous problems, questioning assumptions to reach a fuller understanding.
• Research and Analysis: Expands networks to gain new information sources for research and policy development.
• Organisational Awareness: Uses understanding of differences between the GLA and its partners to improve working relationships.

Benefits:

GLA staff are hybrid working up to 3 days a week in our offices and remotely depending on their role. In addition to a good salary package, you will be paid every four weeks, providing frequent salary payments. We also offer an attractive range of benefits including 30 days’ annual leave, interest free season ticket loan, interest free bicycle loan and a career average pension scheme.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

London’s diversity is its biggest asset, and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London’s diversity at all levels. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability. We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic candidates and disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. We are committed to being an inclusive employer and we are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. We would welcome applications from candidates who are seeking part time work as this role is open to job share. Please note we are a Disability Confident Employer so for candidates who wish to be considered under the scheme and meet the essential criteria, they will automatically be invited to interview. Please note, should you require any adjustments through the process, we will accommodate as much as possible.

Location: This role is based at London Fire Brigade’s Head Office (Union Street SE1 0LL).