At a Glance
- Tasks: Design user-centred public services and mentor junior designers in a collaborative environment.
- Company: Join the Intellectual Property Office, leading digital transformation in government services.
- Benefits: Enjoy hybrid working, unlimited learning access, and generous annual leave.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on public services while developing your design skills in a supportive team.
- Qualifications: Experience in user-centred design, agile teams, and proficiency in prototyping tools required.
- Other info: This role offers a chance to shape government design standards and mentor future designers.
The predicted salary is between 39000 - 52000 £ per year.
Senior Interaction Designer – Newport
About the job
Job summary
Please note : Applicants should review all aspects of this advert to ensure a thorough understanding. If reviewing via a screen reader, please note that the Job summary, Job description, Person specification, Benefits and Things you need to know sections have been emphasised
Senior Interaction Designer
The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is seeking a senior interaction designer to contribute to its digital transformation. This role involves designing user-centred public services at scale within multidisciplinary teams , aligning with Government Design Principles . Key responsibilities include identifying and resolving complex public infrastructure issues, promoting best practices and standards in user centred design, and mentoring junior designers. The successful candidate will be proactive, take ownership of design activities (like facilitating critiques and documenting user journeys), and possess excellent leadership, collaboration, presentation, and communication skills to work effectively with various stakeholders.
Find out more on our Design in Government blog .
Working Style
This role will be carried out in-line with IPO Hybrid working arrangements where staff are currently expected to spend at least 20% of their time working onsite from one of our offices. This role is based in our Newport Office .
The requirement for attendance at an office location can vary by role so we would encourage candidates to discuss working arrangements with the recruiting manager to agree a reasonable balance between working from home and the office.
Job description
Main duties consist of but are not limited to:
- Design and Develop User-Centred Services: Work in agile, multidisciplinary teams to rapidly develop design concepts for complex transformation programs, collaborating with service managers and programme directors. This includes actively participating in user research, creating prototypes, and designing user interactions across various channels, devices, and technologies, all while being able to justify design decisions with evidence and data.
- Promote and Implement Design Excellence : Champion a consistent, high-quality user experience by promoting reusable design elements and best practices across the IPO and wider government communities. This involves contributing to user-centred design standards and guidance, utilising the GOV.UK Design System, and ensuring designs meet accessibility, legal, and security requirements, as well as the GOV.UK Service Standard.
- Lead and Mentor Design Professionals: Provide management support, coaching, mentoring, and training to other designers (including HEO Interaction Designers), focusing on their development, the quality of their work, and ensuring adherence to best practices.
Person specification
Essential Criteria
- Experience working effectively in an agile, multi-disciplinary team environment, delivering iterative design components as part of a project team.
- Experience in designing accessible solutions across various channels to meet customer needs. Proven ability to produce essential user-centred design deliverables, such as user flows, process flows, service blueprints, and site maps.
- Proficient in using prototyping tools like GOV.UK Prototype Kit, Figma, or Adobe XD to create and validate high-fidelity prototypes.
- Experience in conducting usability testing, either independently or collaboratively with user researchers.
- Demonstrated experience working with the GOV.UK Design System, Service Manual, and design principles, including the ability to recommend new patterns or update existing ones within the system.
- Experience in leading community of practice activities.
- Proven ability to mentor and coach designers across the UCD profession.
How to Apply
Click the \’Apply now\’ button and complete the application form by providing the following:
Your CV
- Upload an anonymised copy of your current CV. Please remove all identifying markers such as name, title, education institution etc.
- Make sure it clearly shows how you meet the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification.
Personal Statement
- Use this to explain why you\’re suitable for the role .
- Structure your statement around the essential criteria in the Person Specification.
- Make sure to provide clear examples to show how you meet each requirement.
For further information on the sift and interview stages of this recruitment campaign, please head to our \’Things you need to know\’ section below.
AI Usage
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
For further information on the sift and interview stages of this recruitment campaign, please head to our \’Things you need to know\’ section below.
Please visit our Civil Service Careers page – IPO – Recruitment Support , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)
If you require job-specific information, please contact Dominic Read.
E-mail:
Telephone: 01633 433189
Behaviours
We\’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Leadership
- Working Together
- Developing Self and Others
- Delivering at Pace
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £46,262, Intellectual Property Office contributes £13,402 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
- Unlimited Pluralsight video learning access
- Access to Microsoft\’s ESI training suite
- Hybrid working with no core hours
- Substantial support for career progression
- 25 days annual leave moving to 30 days in annual increments
- You will also get 8 days public leave and 1 day privilege leave
For more information about what\’s on offer at the Intellectual Property Office please review our IPO benefit pack attached to the bottom of this advert.
Please note that benefits may be subject to change.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.
Additional details on security and vetting
Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check and if successful you must also hold, or be willing to obtain, a higher Security Clearance .
For meaningful checks to be carried out individuals will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, depending on the level of clearance, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. For this role the successful individual will need to have consistently lived in the UK for a minimum 5 years in order to meet the relevant security clearance.
Further information on the vetting process can be found at National security vetting: clearance levels – GOV.UK
If you have questions regarding this or are unsure if you meet the eligibility criteria, please contact
The assessment process will comprise of the following:
Stage 1 – Sift
An initial sift of applications will be carried out to create a shortlist. This will be based on the evidence provided for the following Success Profile elements:
Experience
Your CV will be used to assess your suitability for the role andyour 500 word Personal statement will demonstrate your Experience against the listed person specification/essential criteria.
Stage 2 – Interviews
If invited to interview Behaviours and Experience based questioning will be used.
Please note candidates that proceed to the interview stage will be required to deliver a presentation. Details will be provided in the invite to interview information.
Specific information regarding the Success Profile elements that will be assessed at interview will be contained within the interview invitation.
Reserve list
This recruitment campaign will keep a reserve list for 12 months. If you meet the requirements for this role but aren\’t offered after passing the interview, you\’ll be placed on the reserve list. If a suitable position opens up during this time, we will reach out to individuals in merit order.
Interviews for this role will be carried out virtually via Microsoft Teams (video).
Applicants to note: CVs sent direct to the IPO will not be accepted.
There may be important information contained within the job role profile candidates may also wish to refer to. We recommend candidates download and save a copy of the role profile for reference.
This post is being advertised to Internal , across Government and external candidates at the same time.
Incomplete and/or late submissions will not be accepted or considered. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
We do not routinely reimburse travel expenses for candidates, however if participating in the selection process would cause you undue financial hardship or if it restricts your ability to participate, please contact the recruitment team for more information.
In line with Government guidance, successfully appointed candidates will need to provide documents for our Right to Work checks. Information on this will be sent within the invite to interview text.
If you require a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, then please let the recruitment team know via;
For more information on the IPO\’s terms and conditions, please review the attached IPO Modernised Terms and Conditions document attached at the bottom of this advert.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window) .
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window) .
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission\’s recruitment principles (opens in a new window) .
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window) .
Senior Interaction Designer - Newport employer: Intellectual Property Office
Contact Detail:
Intellectual Property Office Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Interaction Designer - Newport
✨Tip Number 1
Familiarise yourself with the GOV.UK Design System and its principles. Understanding how to apply these standards in your designs will not only showcase your expertise but also demonstrate your alignment with the IPO's goals.
✨Tip Number 2
Engage with the design community, especially those involved in government projects. Networking can provide insights into best practices and may even lead to recommendations that could strengthen your application.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare to discuss your experience in agile, multidisciplinary teams during interviews. Be ready to share specific examples of how you've contributed to user-centred design processes and resolved complex issues.
✨Tip Number 4
Showcase your mentoring skills by highlighting any experience you have in coaching junior designers. This is a key aspect of the role, and demonstrating your ability to lead and develop others will set you apart.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Interaction Designer - Newport
Some tips for your application 🫡
Understand the Role: Before applying, make sure you thoroughly understand the responsibilities and requirements of the Senior Interaction Designer position. Familiarise yourself with the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification to tailor your application effectively.
Craft Your Personal Statement: Your personal statement is crucial. Structure it around the essential criteria, providing clear examples from your experience that demonstrate how you meet each requirement. Be specific about your achievements and how they relate to user-centred design.
Anonymise Your CV: When uploading your CV, ensure it is anonymised by removing all identifying information such as your name, educational institutions, and any other personal details. Focus on showcasing your relevant experience and skills that align with the job description.
Review and Edit: Before submitting your application, take the time to review and edit your documents. Check for clarity, grammar, and spelling errors. A well-presented application reflects your attention to detail and professionalism.
How to prepare for a job interview at Intellectual Property Office
✨Showcase Your User-Centred Design Skills
Be prepared to discuss your experience in designing user-centred services. Bring examples of user flows, process flows, and prototypes you've created, and be ready to explain how these designs met user needs and adhered to best practices.
✨Demonstrate Leadership and Mentoring Experience
Since the role involves mentoring junior designers, share specific instances where you've led a team or provided guidance to others. Highlight your approach to fostering a collaborative environment and promoting design excellence.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
Expect questions that assess your decision-making, leadership, and teamwork skills. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your responses, ensuring you provide clear examples that align with the behaviours being assessed.
✨Familiarise Yourself with Government Design Principles
Research the GOV.UK Design System and understand its principles. Be ready to discuss how you've applied these standards in your previous work and how you would implement them in this role to ensure compliance with accessibility and security requirements.