Lead Service Designer – GDS
Summary
Lead Service Designer at a large global technology consultancy (hired via Deerfoot Recruitment), driving end-to-end, GDS Service Standard-aligned service design: strategy, blueprints and propositions, design sprints, mentoring designers, and guiding senior stakeholders. Hybrid role, two office days a week, based in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds or Glasgow; £80,000–£85,000.
Salary: £80,000 - 85,000 per year
Requirements:- Proven experience with the GDS Service Standard and service assessments
- Experience leading service design across the full lifecycle, including pilots and live operation, and influencing senior stakeholders in complex or regulated environments
- Evidence of building design capability, such as setting standards, mentoring designers, or establishing new practices
- Fluency in service blueprinting, journey mapping, systems mapping, and proposition development, with strong workshop and design sprint facilitation skills
- Experience leading multidisciplinary teams in agile or hybrid delivery, with the confidence to manage upwards and challenge constructively
- Willingness and eligibility to undergo SC security clearance
- At least five years of UK residency
- Desirable: accessibility and regulatory knowledge, multi-sector experience, quantitative survey design, service measurement, or experience designing AI-enabled services
- Lead complex service and product design engagements end to end, defining service strategies and future-state architectures
- Lead multidisciplinary teams to research, prototype, test, and launch new services
- Facilitate design sprints and co-creation sessions, creating scalable service blueprints, journeys, and propositions
- Guide senior client stakeholders through complex decisions and help grow engagements
- Mentor and develop service designers across grades, including supporting performance management and career progression
- Shape design methods, tools, and quality standards, and support GDS assessment preparation, hiring, and proposals
- AI
- Support
- Security
- UX UI Design
More:
We are recruiting for a Lead Service Designer to join our clients growing Experience Design team at a large global technology consultancy. The role combines strategic leadership with hands-on design, shaping end-to-end services that are human-centred, data-informed, and AI-ready. You will report to the Head of Experience Design and partner with them to develop the practice and position design as a business lever for clients. The role is hybrid, with two days a week in the office and a choice of UK locations: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, or Glasgow. The salary is £80,000–£85,000, depending on experience, plus training, external certifications, and core and flexible benefits. We are Deerfoot Recruitment Solutions Ltd, an independent UK technology recruitment consultancy. For each CV we send to clients, we donate £1 to The Born Free Foundation, and we are a Climate Action Workforce in partnership with Ecologi. We also offer a referral reward programme with payouts at interview and placement milestones. We are acting as an Employment Agency for this vacancy.
last updated 43 week of 2026