Senior Service Designer

Company description

We believe in the power of ingenuity to build a positive human future.  

As strategies, technologies, and innovation collide, we create opportunity from complexity. 

Our teams of interdisciplinary experts combine innovative thinking and breakthrough technologies to progress further, faster. Our clients adapt and transform, and together we achieve enduring results. 

We are over 4,000 strategists, innovators, designers, consultants, digital experts, scientists, engineers, and technologists. And we have deep expertise in consumer and manufacturing, defence and security, energy and utilities, financial services, government and public services, health and life sciences, and transport.  

Our teams operate globally from offices across the UK, Ireland, US, Nordics, and Netherlands. 

PA. Bringing Ingenuity to Life.

Job description

As our Senior Service Designer, you will champion design excellence in every aspect of our work and firm. You will spearhead challenging, complex, fast-paced, and innovative projects across various clients and sectors, shaping design strategy and implementation, whilst solving complex business and design challenges. 

This role demands a blend of vision and pragmatism—a leader capable of navigating complex challenges, fostering strong client relationships, and inspiring a global design community. As an outstanding and highly skilled design practitioner with deep-rooted expertise in end-to-end service design across industries and sectors, you will help to define our design future. 

What You'll Do 

Lead and Deliver: Lead complex design projects from strategy to execution, managing medium sized assignments, taking complex client challenges and structuring workstreams, outcomes and deliverables, identifying and managing risk in the process, building and maintaining strong client relationships while fostering high-performing and motivated teams.  

Design Excellence: Produce exceptional design deliverables across the entire design spectrum. Drive innovation, ensure quality, and consistently meet project deadlines.  

Strategic Leadership: Build teams that work on complex projects. Shape design approaches, influence client decisions, and mentor design colleagues. Contribute to business development by creating new client offers and enhancing existing ones.  

Consulting: A consultant with design at your core, balancing internal projects with client deliverables, and ensuring seamless integration of design and business objectives. Take clients on a journey through design decisions and rationales to achieve excellent outcomes. Build strong relationships with senior clients, working with PA teams to grow accounts. Lead and contribute to proposals, pitches and senior client conversations.  

Design Expertise: 

• Expertise in end-to-end service design tools and techniques, including service blueprinting, swimlane development, journey, ecosystem, stakeholder and service mapping 

• Design and launch of digital products & services 

• Service and Human-Centred Design Principles 

• Design Strategy and Implementation 

• User Research and Usability Testing 

• Prototyping and Wireframing 

• UX/UI Design 

• Visual Design 

• Interaction Design 

• Design Thinking and Innovation 

• Foundational knowledge of how to deploy AI technologies to achieve business needs & strategies 

• Use of AI technologies to help with administrative tasks and idea generation/innovation 

Qualifications

What We’re Looking For 

• A visionary and pragmatic Senior Service Designer with a proven track record in creating and delivering successful services for private and public sector clients. 

• Experience in a client facing role, either with an agency or consultancy, where you have built strong client relationships and owned assignment outcomes. Experience of leading proposals. 

• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and present complex ideas in a structured, intuitive way. 

• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to synthesise data, research, and insights into clear, actionable recommendations. 

• Experience leading cross-functional teams, ensuring alignment across disciplines and delivering high-quality outcomes. 

• A collaborative and empathetic leadership style, with a focus on mentoring, developing others, creating inclusive environments within teams and harnessing a culture of excellence. 

• Comfortable working across all PA industries including Consumer & Manufacturing, Public Sector, Defence & Security, Energy & Utilities, Financial Services and Transport 

• Familiarity with current trends in service design and emerging technologies, such as AI, automation, and digital transformation. Experience with the UK Government Service Standard is a bonus. 

• Strong business acumen, with the ability to identify new opportunities, contribute to business development, and build PA’s reputation as a leader in product management and service design. 

• Strategic thinking and innovation skills are essential, along with proficiency in industry-standard design tools and methodologies. 

• If you are passionate about driving design excellence and delivering impactful solutions, we want to hear from you. 

Hybrid Working 

We believe in collaboration and are guided by our client's work and needs; however, we value flexibility too. Our hybrid working model lets you balance work and life, with most roles requiring at least three days a week in the office or on client sites. Your schedule will be shaped by your role, team needs, and discussions with your manager to ensure the right mix of face-to-face and independent work. 

Our Recruitment Process: What to Expect 

Our interview process is designed to get you meeting number of people across the team you'll work in, and apply your designs and consultancy skills 

Intro Call with the Talent Team (20 mins) 

If your skills and experience match what we are looking for, our talent team will reach out to arrange an introductory call, to get to know you better and ask you a few questions. If we believe you're a good fit, you'll be invited to a first-stage interview. This call also gives you the chance to learn more about us. 

First-Stage Interview (45 mins) 

Our initial interview is a conversational 45-minute session aimed at understanding your background and experience. You'll have the opportunity to discuss a recent project, showcasing your approach and process. 

Portfolio Review (45 mins) 

During the portfolio review, you'll present 21-3 projects to members of our team. Walk us through how you tackled each project, the decisions you made, and the impact of your work. We want to understand your process and how you operate. 

Meeting with Our Senior Leadership Team (45 mins) 

In the final stage, you'll engage in a 45-minute discussion with a member of our senior leadership team. This is your chance to showcase your strategic thinking, demonstrate your impact on clients, and highlight your consultancy skills. 

Making a Decision 

After the interview process, our hiring team will convene to discuss feedback and make a final decision. We strive to get back to you as quickly as possible. 

Our recruitment process typically takes around three to four weeks. You will have a dedicated member of our Talent team to support you throughout the journey. We are committed to accommodating any reasonable adjustment requests to make the interview process more accessible. Please let us know how we can assist you. 

Additional information

Life At PA encompasses our peoples' experience at PA. It's about how we enrich peoples’ working lives by giving them access to unique people and growth opportunities and purpose led meaningful work.

Our purpose guides how we work with our clients and our teams, and support our communities, to deliver insight and impact, solving the world’s most complex challenges. We're focused on building a workplace that values human difference and diverse mindsets, and a culture of inclusion and equality that unlocks the potential in our people so everyone can be their best self.

Find out more about Life at PA here .

We are dedicated to supporting the physical, emotional, social and financial well-being of our people. Check out some of our extensive benefits:

• Health and lifestyle perks accompanying private healthcare for you and your family
• 25 days annual leave (plus a bonus half day on Christmas Eve) with the opportunity to buy 5 additional days
• Generous company pension scheme
• Opportunity to get involved with community and charity-based initiatives
• Annual performance-based bonus
• PA share ownership
• Tax efficient benefits (cycle to work, give as you earn)

We’re committed to advancing equality. We recruit, retain, reward and develop our people based solely on their abilities and contributions and without reference to their age, background, disability, genetic information, parental or family status, religion or belief, race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity (or expression), political belief veteran status, or other by any other range of human difference brought about by identity and experience. We welcome applications from underrepresented groups.

Adjustments or accommodations - Should you need any adjustments or accommodations to the recruitment process, at either application or interview, please contact us on [email protected]