Design Principal

Do you thrive in ambiguity and enjoy shaping the conditions for great service design at scale? We’re looking for a Design Principal with a strong Service Design focus to provide senior leadership across our design practice and client portfolios. This is a strategic, hands‑off‑where‑needed, deeply influential role for someone who can set direction, raise standards, and help teams turn complexity into meaningful, deliverable services. You’ll operate as a senior design leader within cross‑functional client portfolios, while also playing a key role in growing and shaping the design discipline at Softwire.

Our design team is a collaborative mix of service designers, researchers, UX and UI designers, working shoulder‑to‑shoulder with engineers, delivery managers and data specialists.

What sets us apart:

• We follow work across both design diamonds, from discovery through to delivery
• We don’t stop at ideas, we build and run real services
• We work in prototype‑driven, user‑centred, delivery‑focused teams
• We form long‑term client partnerships, allowing us to see real‑world impact
• We don’t just design. We have impact.

Softwire is a leading UK technology and strategy consultancy. From enterprise to government, we help visionary organisations turn strategic ambitions into results at scale. Our practices cover AI transformation, data platforms, systems engineering, advanced CX and experience design.

The Role

As Design Principal (Service Design), you will be accountable for the quality, direction and impact of service design across a portfolio of work. You’ll balance strategic leadership with selective hands‑on involvement, stepping in where your experience creates the most value, particularly in shaping work, guiding teams through complexity, and influencing senior stakeholders.

This is a role for someone who:

• Sees ambiguity as an opportunity
• Thinks in systems and services, not screens
• Can explain the value of service design at the board level
• Knows when to lead from the front and when to empower others

What You’ll Do

• Set the vision and standard for service design across projects and teams
• Shape and oversee complex, end‑to‑end services, particularly in Government and public‑sector contexts
• Ensure service design outputs are insight‑led, coherent, inclusive and deliverable
• Work as part of cross‑functional leadership teams within client portfolios
• Identify and shape meaningful opportunities that push the boundaries of what we can do
• Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, helping them navigate complexity and make confident decisions
• Clearly articulate the value of service design and research to executives

Shaping & Scoping Work

• Lead the scoping and framing of service design engagements
• Define clear approaches, risks, dependencies and success measures
• Ensure work is scoped realistically so teams can do their best work

Team & Practice Development

• Mentor senior designers and support the growth of future leaders
• Set expectations for quality across service blueprints, journeys, system maps and prototypes
• Contribute to the ongoing evolution of our design practice, ways of working and culture
• Create the conditions for teams to flourish, not just deliver

Facilitation & Direction

• Design and facilitate senior‑level workshops that synthesise insight into clear service direction
• Support teams at key moments in discovery, alignment and delivery
• Help teams translate insight into compelling, user‑centred service propositions

What You Bring

• 8+ years’ experience in Service Design, UX, Design Strategy or related disciplines
• Deep expertise in service design methods, systems thinking and user‑centred practice
• Proven experience leading complex, multi‑stakeholder services end‑to‑end
• Strong background in Government / public sector service delivery
• Experience delivering against the Government Service Standard
• A strategic mindset with the ability to zoom out and zoom in as needed
• Confidence working with and influencing senior stakeholders
• Excellent facilitation and storytelling skills
• A portfolio demonstrating thoughtful, real‑world service design impact
• A strong point of view on quality and how to continuously improve it
• Experience mentoring, coaching or line‑managing designers
• Ability to achieve SC clearance

What We Offer

• A senior leadership role with real influence over direction and standards
• Autonomy to shape how service design is practiced at Softwire
• The opportunity to work on meaningful, large‑scale services
• Transparent pay, profit share and progression

Package

Softwire operates transparent pay scales and a profit share scheme based on role and overall company performance. Base salary is based on experience in role and ranges from £92,100 – £103,700. You can expect to receive an average of between £15,000 and £20,000 in profit share depending on your experience and company performance. Pension: Additional 5% of salary. Additional benefits: 25 days annual leave (with the option to buy and sell), time off for company‑wide morale activities, time off for charitable / CSR activities, free annual eye test, and opt‑in health insurance, cycle to work and electric vehicle lease schemes, and payroll charity donations.