Senior Service Design Lead

Do you have the expertise to redesign complex services and deliver better outcomes for residents? Can you use service design, insight and innovation to help shape the future of local government services? Does the opportunity to lead service design across high-profile transformation programmes at one of London's most ambitious councils excite you? If yes, we have the perfect role for you!

Southwark Council is delivering a major programme of change to improve outcomes for residents while ensuring services remain financially sustainable. The Change Team within Strategy & Communities leads a cross-council portfolio of transformation work focused on improving how services operate, redesigning processes and delivering savings. The team brings together programme management, delivery management, service design, business analysis and PMO capability to support services across the council to develop and implement change.

We are looking for an experienced Senior Service Design Lead to lead service design across complex change initiatives within this portfolio, helping us create services that are efficient, inclusive and designed around the needs of residents. The role is central to strengthening Southwark's capability for design-led transformation while delivering tangible improvements in resident experience, service quality and value for money.

What You'll Be Doing

As a Senior Service Design Lead, you will lead service design activity across major transformation projects, working with residents, service teams and stakeholders to understand needs, identify opportunities and create practical solutions that improve outcomes. You will take ownership of the design process from discovery through to implementation, ensuring services are shaped by evidence, insight and user-centred design principles.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading service design activity across major transformation programmes and complex, cross-cutting services.
• Working with service teams, residents and stakeholders to understand needs and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Developing future service models, user journeys, service blueprints and operating processes.
• Facilitating workshops, discovery activities and co-design sessions with stakeholders.
• Using research, data and insight to inform design decisions and create evidence-based solutions.
• Working closely with Programme Leads, Delivery Leads, Business Analysts and service teams to ensure solutions are practical and deliverable.
• Supporting services to implement redesigned processes and new ways of working.
• Championing inclusive, user-centred design approaches and building service design capability across the council.

What We're Looking For

We're looking for a creative and strategic service design professional who can balance user needs, organisational priorities and financial sustainability to deliver meaningful change.

You will have:

• Significant experience leading service design within complex organisations, ideally within local government, the public sector or similarly challenging environments.
• A strong track record of redesigning services to improve resident outcomes, efficiency and value for money.
• Expertise across the service design lifecycle, including discovery, journey mapping, service blueprinting, prototyping and implementation.
• Excellent facilitation, stakeholder engagement and workshop delivery skills.
• Experience working as part of multidisciplinary change teams alongside programme managers, delivery leads, business analysts and digital specialists.
• The ability to translate research, insight and data into practical service improvements and sustainable operating models.
• Strong systems thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to connect resident experience to processes, policies, data and technology.
• A professional qualification in Service Design, Human-Centred Design, UX, Interaction Design, Design Strategy or equivalent substantial experience.

Occasional evening and out-of-hours meetings may be required to meet service needs.

Benefits and More Information

Find out more about why it's great to work for Southwark Council.

This vacancy is subject to the council's redeployment arrangements. Eligible redeployees will be considered first, and the vacancy may be withdrawn if a suitable redeployee is appointed.

We are an organisation that is passionate about our people and understands that the richness of diversity is fundamental to providing the best possible services to our communities. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level within the Council.

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people who meet the minimum requirements of the role, including: Members of the Armed Forces and veterans, People currently in care or who have previously been in care, Disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.