Lead Service Designer

Lead Service Designer – Digital Customer Experience Location: Manchester | Hybrid – 3 days per week on-site Salary: £90,000–£100,000 + 5–10% bonus + benefits | Permanent 🚀 Lead the design of services that shape the future. We're looking for an experienced Lead Service Designer to join a growing Digital Customer Experience practice and lead complex transformation programmes across the UK. This is a high-impact role combining strategic leadership with hands-on design. You'll lead multidisciplinary teams, influence senior stakeholders and turn complex challenges into human-centred, scalable and AI-ready services. What you'll do

• Lead complex service and product design programmes end-to-end
• Define service strategies, future-state experiences and architectures
• Lead research, prototyping, testing and delivery
• Facilitate design sprints, workshops and co-creation sessions
• Create service blueprints, journeys and propositions
• Influence senior stakeholders and guide complex decisions
• Mentor and develop designers, helping build a high-performing design practice
• Contribute to proposals, client shaping and new business opportunities
• Help evolve design standards, methodologies and approaches to AI-enabled services What we're looking for You'll be a confident, strategic design leader with:
• Proven experience leading end-to-end service design, through to pilot and live operation
• Strong experience influencing senior stakeholders in complex or regulated environments
• Expertise in service blueprinting, journey mapping, systems mapping and proposition development
• Experience leading and developing multidisciplinary teams
• Excellent facilitation and workshop skills
• The ability to bridge design and delivery in agile or hybrid environments
• Strong commercial awareness and the confidence to challenge constructively Experience with GDS Service Standard, accessibility, regulated industries or AI-enabled services would be highly desirable. 🌟 Why this role? You'll have the opportunity to shape major digital and organisational transformations, work alongside talented design and technology specialists, and play a key role in developing a growing Experience Design practice. 🔐 Eligibility for SC level security clearance is required, with additional eligibility checks where applicable. Apply now.