Lead Interaction Designer - GDS - G7

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

1. joining up public sector services
2. harnessing the power of AI for the public good
3. strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
4. elevating leadership and investing in talent
5. funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
6. committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need

As the lead interaction designer on the GOV.UK website, you are responsible for design direction on a website that sees approximately 12 million visits per week, and is one of the most recognisable and trusted sites in the UK. You’ll have a passion for accessible, inclusive and usable design in the public sector.

Job description

You'll be part of a fantastic design community in government, where we share ideas and challenges with 1000s of designers across the public sector. This is a chance to work on emerging services that matter, at a huge scale, with people who value design. Find out more about what it’s like designing in government on our Design in Government blog.

As a Lead Interaction Designer, you’ll:

• lead design across the teams that work on our GOV.UK website, ensuring that they meet user needs and achieve organisational priorities
• shape product strategy and delivery in collaboration with the rest of the leadership team, by forming a narrative around the team’s work, whilst planning for future design work on the platform
• collaborate with other design leads in adjacent directorates such as the publishing platform, to deliver a joined up and coherent user experience
• represent the work with senior stakeholders, ensuring it meets the needs of other parts of the public sector and is clearly understood
• develop design patterns in the public sector, in collaboration with other parts of GDS and the public sector, through communities of practice
• collaborate with the Head of Design to design a community within the directorate and beyond that delivers quality work on time, to a high standard, and that is bold and innovative 
• guide, support and mentor design team members within your team and beyond, ensuring designers have what they need to deliver quality work

Person specification

We’re interested in people who have demonstrable experience in:

• designing usable, accessible digital products that work at scale across multiple channels, for example apps, conversational interfaces, or web
• working on products and services that offer personalisation and customisation
• collaborating with other designers to develop new patterns or principles
• negotiating important design decisions with senior stakeholders
• communicating long-term design vision for a product area
• supporting designers or design teams in delivering quality work, or in their own professional development