Job Description
Lead Service Designer
Location: National*
Closing Date: 31 May 2026
Interviews: Week commencing 15 June 2026
Grade: Grade 6
(MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer)
Salary**:
London: £75,674 - £85,257 which may include an allowance up to £12,201
National: £71,381 - £80,419 which may include an allowance up to £12,319
Working pattern: Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working
Contract Type: Permanent
Number of vacancies: 1
Vacancy number: 17704
*We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP
Please note that unless you are an existing member of staff at Justice Digital, Data and Science, the only London location being recruited to is 10 South Colonnade, E14 4PU. We are no longer recruiting to 102 Petty France, SW1H 9AJ.
The Role
We’re recruiting for a Lead Service Designer here at Justice Digital, Data and Science to be part of our warm and collaborative Prisons Digital team.
This role aligns against the Lead Service Designer role from the Government Digital and Data Framework
We are delivering a digitally-enabled justice system that works more simply for users - and we’re looking for talented people to help us achieve it. We make things better by building adaptable, effective services and systems that are simple to use for staff and citizens. While the work can be challenging, it is important, impactful and hugely rewarding.
In Prisons Digital, we build and maintain digital products and tools that help to:
protect the public
provide decent and safe spaces in which to live and work
reduce reoffending by rehabilitating the people in our care through education and employment
As Lead Service Designer for Prisons Digital, you will be responsible for building and sustaining a high-performing service design capability across multiple product and service teams operating in Prisons Digital, to deliver world-class, user-centred services. This is a leadership role where you will be a member of the Prisons Digital Senior Leadership team, alongside leads for other professions and the Service Owners. The role will report to and work closely with the Lead for User Centred Design.
You will also be part of the wider design leadership team at the Ministry of Justice, working collaboratively with other lead designers to develop our overall design capability.
As well as doing great work, we’re creating a place that’s great to work in. We offer brilliant training opportunities, excellent kit and support from expert colleagues. On top of that, you’ll find flexible working, an inclusive culture and a place where your opinion is valued.
You’ll receive a range of excellent benefits when you join our department, including:
A generous employer pension contribution of 28.97% through the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
25 days of annual leave, (increasing to 30 days once you have reached 5 years of service), plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the King’s birthday.
Flexible working arrangements including hybrid working, working part time or compressed hours. Designed to support a positive work–life balance.
Employees are allocated 10% of their working time for personal and professional development.
A £1k per person learning budget is in place to support all our people, with access to best-in-class conferences and seminars, accreditation with professional bodies, fully funded vocational programmes and e-learning platforms.
Compassionate maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave policies, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!
You can find more details of the Benefits we offer here. To help picture your life at MoJ Justice Digital, Data and Science please take a look at our blog.
Key Responsibilities:
Lead and develop the service design community across Prisons Digital, creating an inclusive and high-performing professional culture, including line management of approximately 7 Senior Service Designers
Set and maintain standards for service design practice, helping teams deliver consistent, high-quality, user-centred services
Coach, mentor and support designers across multiple teams, helping individuals and teams develop their capability and effectiveness
Lead recruitment, onboarding and workforce planning for service design roles, helping attract, grow and retain high-quality practitioners
Support the assignment and deployment of service design capability across teams in partnership with delivery and product leadership
Establish and evolve communities of practice, learning initiatives and approaches that strengthen design maturity across the organisation
Provide expert guidance to teams delivering complex or high-risk services, supporting strong service design practice and quality
Promote inclusive, accessible and evidence-based design practices across products and services, helping teams meet Government Digital Service standards
Lead service design initiatives that support the design and delivery of a consistent, joined up user experience journey across prisons
Contribute to design and research leadership in Prisons Digital as part of its senior leadership team
Contribute to the wider Ministry of Justice design leadership community and help strengthen design capability across the department
If this feels like an exciting challenge, something you are enthusiastic about, and want to join our team please read on and apply!
Person Specification
Essential:
Design communication – can communicate design strategy and influence senior stakeholders across organisational boundaries.
Designing for everyone – can embed inclusive, accessible and evidence-based design practices across teams and services.
Designing strategically – can balance user needs, organisational priorities, delivery constraints and technical considerations in complex environments.
Designing together - can lead collaborative design work with multidisciplinary teams and senior stakeholders across organisational boundaries.
Evidence-based design - can use research, insight and service data to shape decisions and improve services.
Iterative design - can lead iterative and agile design practices that help teams adapt quickly to changing needs and priorities.
Leading design - can develop a service design capability through coaching, professional leadership and community building across multiple product teams.
Willingness to be assessed against the requirements for BPSS clearance
We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring and do not discriminate based on culture, ethnicity, race, nationality or national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability status, sexual orientation, educational or social background or any other factor.
Our values are Purpose, Humanity Openness and Together. Find out more here about how we celebrate diversity and an inclusive culture in our workplace.
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.
Salary Information**
Base salary for this role is - London: £75,674 - £85,257 and National: £71,381 - £80,419
New entrants to the Civil Service joining the MoJ are expected to start at the minimum of the pay band.
Existing Civil Servants moving on a level transfer will retain their current base salary or move to the minimum of the pay band for the role, whichever is higher.
Existing Civil Servants who are promoted will either move to the bottom of the new grade’s pay band or receive a 10% uplift, whichever provides the greater increase.
Candidates may also be eligible for a non‑pensionable Government Digital & Data Allowance of up to £12,201 per year (London) or £12,319 (National). This is a temporary allowance, reviewed annually and may be retained, amended, or withdrawn.
The final offer will reflect the skills and experience you demonstrate during the assessment process.
How to Apply
In Justice Digital, Data and Science, we recruit using a combination of the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability and Success Profiles Frameworks. We shall assess a combination of your Experience, Technical skills and Behaviours during the assessment process.
Stage 1 - Application and sift:
To apply for this position, you must submit the following as part of your application.
A CV detailing your career history (including any relevant qualifications). Your CV will be assessed against the essential criteria outlined within the Person Specification of this advert.
A Personal Statement (no more than 750 words) which should outline your experience and skills, giving clear examples of work undertaken. It should specifically address the following 2 criteria listed below, using a separate paragraph for each.
- Designing together - can lead collaborative design work with multidisciplinary teams and senior stakeholders across organisational boundaries.
- Leading design - can develop a service design capability through coaching, professional leadership and community building across multiple teams.
A diverse sift panel will review the information in your CV and Personal Statement to assess the sift criteria specified above. We operate an anonymous shortlisting process. Please ensure your CV and Personal Statement do not include your name or any other identifying details.
Should we receive a high volume of applications, a pre-sift based on Leading design - can develop a service design capability through coaching, professional leadership and community building across multiple teams will be conducted before the sift.
Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply - Application Guidance
Stage 2 - Interviews:
Successful candidates who meet the required standard will then be invited to a 1-hour panel interview held via Microsoft Teams. At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements - Experience, Technical and the following Behaviours:
Communicating and influencing
Managing a quality service
Leadership
As part of your interview, you will be asked to deliver a presentation that assesses your experience. Further details will be provided if successful at sift.
Appointments are made strictly in merit order. In the event that two or more candidates receive identical interview scores, the Leadership behaviour will be applied as the primary lead criterion to determine the final merit order.
Should you be unsuccessful in the role that you have applied for but demonstrate the capability for a role at a lower level, we reserve the right to discuss this opportunity with you and offer you the position without needing a further application.
A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, from which further appointments may be made.
Use of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Terms & Conditions
Please review our Terms and Conditions which set out how we recruit and provide further information related to the role and salary arrangements.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact digitalanddatarecruitment@justice.gov.uk
