Service Designer in Manchester

Version 1 has celebrated 30 years in business and continues to be trusted by global brands to deliver technology and transformation solutions that drive customer success. Our deep expertise enables our customers to navigate the rapidly evolving technology landscape. We foster strong partnerships with global technology leaders including Microsoft, AWS, Oracle, Red Hat, OutSystems, and Snowflake, ensuring that our customers are provided with the highest quality solutions and services.

We're looking for a strategic, systems-minded Service Designer to join our growing design capability. As a service designer, you will work at the intersection of analysis and design to shape and deliver services that work for clients and their users. Accessible, efficient, good services don’t just happen; they are designed. We are looking for a service designer who can evaluate current states (such as existing services, business ecosystems, policy and operational realities) in order to co-design evidence-based solutions with multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders. You’ll collaborate closely with content designers, interaction designers, product managers, user researchers, business analysts and technical leads. You’ll help shape service visions, facilitate workshops, and define the structures, processes and journeys that underpin great services.

Typical projects include:

• Enabling people in prison to receive better and more tailored education and training.
• Helping local authorities carry out skills assessments on social workers.
• Sharing sensitive information about children between multiple agencies.
• Supporting teachers with their professional development.
• Reducing administrative burden of schools and teachers.
• Supporting teachers to enhance their skills and career development to ensure children get excellent teaching standards.
• Ensuring the Teaching Regulation Agency handles teacher data safely and accurately.

Qualifications we’re particularly interested in:

• Can simplify complexity – able to cut through the noise from disparate analysis to identify key insights, impacts and next steps.
• Comfortable working in ambiguity and helping teams find direction.
• Confident working within agile, multidisciplinary teams and using tools like Miro, Lucid and a basic level of Figma.
• Experience working to the GOV.UK Service Standard or within the public sector (desirable but not essential).
• Think beyond the immediate problems and realities to design services that are sustainable, strategic and future-proof.
• Can plan and lead effective workshops, co-creating solutions as one team, and building trusted, respectful partnerships.
• Excellent communication skills, able to adapt information to different audiences and mediums.
• Can define and visualise concepts, and complex systems clearly for shared understanding and decision making.
• Knowledge of key service design artifacts and principles (service blueprints, journey maps, ecosystem diagrams, etc.) (desirable but not necessary).
• Like to work collaboratively and are ready to learn from others’ skillsets and viewpoints.

We implement UCD values into our ways of working and lead with kindness, empathy and curiosity. We believe good teams are built on trust, psychological safety and shared purpose. We’re committed to creating a no-blame culture, where people support each other, take pride in their work, and lift each other up. We value strong team bonds just as much as strong outcomes. We actively welcome diversity of background, identity, experience and thought. You’ll be supported to show up as yourself, contribute fully, and grow your career in a way that works for you.

Benefits include:

• Quarterly Performance-Related Profit Share Scheme.
• Strong career progression & mentorship coaching through our Strength in Balance & Leadership schemes with a dedicated quarterly Pathways Career Development programme.
• Flexible/remote working to achieve a healthy work-life balance.
• Financial wellbeing initiatives including a pension, private healthcare cover, life assurance, financial advice and an employee discount scheme.
• Employee wellbeing schemes including gym discounts, bike-to-work, fitness classes, mindfulness workshops, employee assistance programme and much more.
• Generous holiday allowance, enhanced maternity/paternity leave, marriage/civil partnership leave and special leave policies.
• Educational assistance, incentivised certifications and accreditations, including AWS, Microsoft, Oracle and Red Hat.
• Reward schemes such as Version 1’s Annual Excellence Awards & a Call-Out platform.
• Environment, Social and Community First initiatives allowing you to get involved in local fundraising and development opportunities.

Version 1 is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace where everyone feels valued and able to thrive. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities and lived experiences, and we value the different perspectives people bring. We want every candidate to have a positive and accessible recruitment experience. If you need reasonable adjustments at any stage of the process, please contact one of the talent team at Version 1. We will consider all requests carefully, respectfully and confidentially.