Senior Service Designer (we have office locations in Cambridge, Leeds and London)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Service Designer

Company: Genomics England

Location: London, United Kingdom

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Service Design / User Experience Operations

Date Posted: 2025-12-23T12:20:11.789

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (5-10 years)

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• This role is pivotal in shaping the end-to-end experience of Genomics England's services, focusing on human-centred design principles.

• You will be responsible for mapping complex service landscapes, identifying user needs, and translating them into actionable design solutions.

• The Senior Service Designer will collaborate extensively with cross-functional teams, including Service Owners, Head of Research Cohorts, principal designers, researchers, and delivery teams to enhance service delivery and user experience.

• A key aspect of this role involves facilitating decision-making, advocating for users, and ensuring the design of equitable and inclusive services that meet user needs effectively within a regulated healthcare and research environment.

• This position requires strong strategic and systems thinking to navigate complex data flows, technical disciplines, and ambiguous problems, ultimately driving the implementation of improved service states.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the job title is "Senior Service Designer," the responsibilities and context strongly align with operations roles that focus on optimizing service delivery, user experience, and process flows within a complex, data-intensive, and regulated environment. The emphasis on mapping services, translating user needs into actionable designs, and collaborating with delivery teams positions this as a critical role in the operational effectiveness of Genomics England's mission. The "operations" category is inferred from the deep involvement in service mapping, process enhancement, and cross-functional operational collaboration.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the design and enhancement of end-to-end service experiences, meticulously mapping people, processes, data, and platforms to identify opportunities for improvement.

• Translate user needs, research insights, and service goals into tangible design solutions, ensuring a holistic approach that covers both front-stage and back-stage operational elements.

• Develop and deliver clear, concise design outputs such as user journeys, service maps, design briefs, and EPICs to guide decision-making and facilitate implementation by delivery teams.

• Proactively organize and manage personal work cadence in alignment with the Service Owner and stakeholders, ensuring regular engagement to capture needs, understand challenges, and maintain strategic alignment.

• Facilitate co-creation sessions and decision-making processes across diverse teams, employing appropriate service design methodologies to foster collaboration and drive shared outcomes.

• Advocate for the end-user, influencing teams to build equitable, inclusive, and effective services that demonstrably meet user needs and regulatory requirements.

• Integrate learnings from design research and testing into service improvements, informing team plans, roadmaps, and strategic development for enhanced operational efficiency.

• Collaborate closely with principal designers, researchers, and broader design teams to build and iterate on assets that visualize and bring future service states to life.

• Solve medium-to-high complexity service design challenges using a principled, human-centred approach, ensuring solutions are both effective and implementable within the Genomics England ecosystem.

• Scope design activities effectively, planning and executing tasks using an iterative, agile approach to deliver value incrementally and adapt to evolving requirements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strong focus on process optimization, stakeholder alignment, and translating user needs into operational improvements, which are core tenets of operations roles. The emphasis on "back stages," "data flows," and "implementable service experiences" directly relates to operational efficiency and effectiveness.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While formal education is not strictly defined, a strong portfolio showcasing practical application of service design principles and methodologies is paramount. Candidates are encouraged to highlight their breadth and depth of experience as a key indicator of capability.

Experience: Proven expertise in service design with hands-on experience in complex service environments, particularly within healthcare, research, or regulated industries. The role requires a track record of successfully translating user needs into implementable service solutions.

Required Skills:

• Service Design Expertise: Proven hands-on experience with core service design tools and methodologies, including service blueprints, journey maps, service patterns, and process mapping.

• Human-Centred Design: Deep understanding and practical application of human-centred design principles to solve complex user and service challenges.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to lead and collaborate effectively with diverse teams, including scientists, technical specialists, product managers, and delivery teams, to achieve shared outcomes.

• Strategic & Systems Thinking: Strong capacity for strategic thinking and systems-level analysis to understand complex interdependencies, navigate governance, policy, and regulatory constraints.

• Problem-Solving & Ambiguity Navigation: Comfort and proficiency in working with complex data flows, technical disciplines, and ambiguous problems, translating insights into actionable design solutions.

• Communication & Facilitation: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to visualize and articulate complex problems, facilitate co-creation workshops, and present design concepts effectively.

• Agile Methodologies: Experience working within iterative and agile frameworks, enabling effective planning and execution of design activities.

• User Advocacy: A strong commitment to advocating for users, influencing teams to build equitable, inclusive, and effective services.

• Design Research & Testing: Experience in participating in and leveraging design research and testing to inform service improvements and strategic planning.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience within the genomics, healthcare, or life sciences sector.

• Familiarity with data management, data ethics, and regulatory frameworks relevant to healthcare and research.

• Proficiency in prototyping tools for visualizing service interactions and user flows.

• Experience in influencing organizational change and embedding design thinking across departments.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "complex data flows," "technical disciplines," and "governance, policy, and regulatory constraints" points to the need for operations-minded individuals who can manage intricate systems and processes. The requirement for a strong portfolio is a key indicator of the practical, results-oriented nature of this role, typical for operations positions where tangible outcomes are paramount.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio is essential, demonstrating hands-on experience with human-centred design in complex services.

• Showcase a range of service design outputs, including detailed service blueprints, user journey maps, process maps, and design briefs for real-world projects.

• Include case studies that illustrate your ability to translate user needs and research insights into actionable design solutions that have led to tangible service improvements.

• Highlight instances where you have successfully navigated complex data flows, technical disciplines, or regulatory constraints within your design process.

Process Documentation:

• Provide examples of how you have documented service processes, including front-stage interactions and back-stage operations, to identify inefficiencies and opportunities for optimization.

• Showcase your experience in creating design briefs and EPICs that clearly outline user needs, service goals, and design requirements for implementation teams.

• Illustrate your methods for scoping design activities and planning iterative work using agile approaches, including how you track progress and manage dependencies.

• Include documentation that reflects your collaborative process, such as workshop outputs, co-creation artifacts, and evidence of stakeholder alignment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit requirement for a portfolio with service blueprints, journey maps, and process mapping directly aligns with the documentation and visualization needs of operations roles. The emphasis on translating insights into actionable designs and demonstrating improvements underscores the results-driven nature of this position.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: £66,500 per annum.

Benefits:

• Generous Leave: 30 days' holiday plus bank holidays, with additional leave for long service.

• Flexible Working: Up to 30 days of remote working abroad annually (subject to approval).

• Family-Friendly Policies: Blended working arrangements, flexible working options, and enhanced maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave benefits.

• Pension & Financial: Defined contribution pension scheme with Genomics England matching contributions up to 10% (with options for higher contributions), Life Assurance (3x salary), and a Give As You Earn scheme.

• Learning & Development: Individual learning budgets, support for training and certifications, and reimbursement for one annual professional subscription (subject to approval).

• Recognition & Rewards: Employee recognition programme and a referral scheme.

• Health & Wellbeing: Subsidised gym membership, a free Headspace account, access to an Employee Assistance Programme, eye tests, and flu jabs.

Working Hours: Typically 40 hours per week. The role operates within a blended working model, with an expectation of a minimum of 2 days per month in the office, though this will vary by role and team agreement.

📝 Enhancement Note: The stated salary of £66,500 aligns with senior-level roles in design and operations within the UK, particularly in London, for organizations of this size and industry. The comprehensive benefits package, including learning and development and flexible working, is competitive and attractive to professionals seeking roles with good work-life balance and growth potential.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Healthcare, Life Sciences, Genomics, and Research. Genomics England partners with the NHS, positioning it at the intersection of public health service delivery and cutting-edge scientific research, with a strong focus on data utilization and patient benefit.

Company Size: While not explicitly stated, Genomics England is a significant organization, implied by its partnership with the NHS and its mission to scale and evolve genomic healthcare and research. This suggests a mid-to-large size organization with established processes and a growing impact.

Founded: Genomics England was established to deliver on the Prime Minister's challenge to use genomic technology and data to improve healthcare and drive medical research. Its founding is rooted in a strategic national initiative to advance genomic medicine.

Team Structure:

• The Senior Service Designer will likely be part of a Design & Research department, working closely with Service Owners and the Head of Research Cohorts.

• Reporting lines are expected to involve collaboration with principal designers, researchers, and product/delivery teams, indicating a matrixed or squad-based operational structure.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Insights: The company's mission inherently relies on the analysis of complex genomic and health data to drive research and improve diagnostics.

• Human-Centred Design & User Focus: A strong emphasis on patients and participants at the heart of their mission, translating into a design philosophy focused on user needs.

• Agile & Iterative Development: The role's description highlights an agile approach to scoping and planning design activities, suggesting iterative development cycles and continuous improvement.

Company Website: https://www.genomicsengland.co.uk/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's mission and industry context are crucial for understanding the operational challenges and opportunities. The focus on data, patient outcomes, and research implies a need for robust, data-informed operational processes and a commitment to continuous improvement, making this role a key enabler of their strategic objectives.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a Senior-level role, indicating significant autonomy, responsibility for complex projects, and the expectation to mentor or guide others. It sits within a specialized function (Service Design) that directly impacts operational service delivery and user experience.

Reporting Structure: The Senior Service Designer will report into a design leadership function (potentially a Head of Design or similar) and will work very closely with Service Owners and the Head of Research Cohorts, indicating a collaborative and influential reporting dynamic. This cross-functional collaboration is key to driving operational change.

Operations Impact: The role's impact is significant, directly influencing how services are experienced by users (patients, researchers, clinicians) and how effectively they are delivered. By mapping end-to-end services and designing human-centred solutions, the Senior Service Designer contributes to:

• Improved operational efficiency and effectiveness of genomic services.

• Enhanced user satisfaction and adoption of new services.

• Facilitating groundbreaking genomic research through better data access and user experience.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Specialization: Deepen expertise in complex service design within the high-impact genomics and healthcare sector.

• Leadership & Influence: Opportunity to lead significant design initiatives, influence strategic direction, and potentially mentor junior designers.

• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Gain exposure to scientific research, technical disciplines, and healthcare policy, broadening understanding of the broader operational ecosystem.

• Professional Development: Access to individual learning budgets, training, certifications, and professional subscriptions to support career advancement.

• Impactful Contribution: Play a key role in a mission-driven organization with a direct impact on patient care and scientific discovery.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Senior" title and responsibilities suggest a role with substantial operational influence. The growth opportunities are framed around developing specialized skills and gaining leadership experience within a unique and impactful sector, which is a common trajectory for senior operations professionals.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Genomics England operates a blended working model, indicating a modern, flexible work environment that balances in-office collaboration with remote flexibility.

Office Location(s): The role is based in London, with other office locations in Cambridge and Leeds. This offers potential for collaboration across different sites.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The blended model and emphasis on co-creation suggest a workspace designed to foster collaboration, with opportunities for in-person brainstorming and team interaction.

• Tools & Technology: While specific tools aren't listed, the nature of service design and operations in this field implies access to standard design software, collaboration platforms, and potentially specialized data visualization tools.

• Team Interaction: Expect regular interaction with a diverse set of colleagues, including designers, researchers, scientists, and operational delivery teams, facilitating knowledge sharing and problem-solving.

Work Schedule: A standard 40-hour work week, with a blended working model that requires a minimum of 2 days per month in the office. This provides flexibility for focused individual work and essential team collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The blended working model is a key operational feature, requiring individuals to self-manage their time effectively and contribute to team collaboration both in-person and remotely. This is a common operational characteristic in many modern organizations.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Application review, likely focusing on the CV and cover letter for alignment with key skills and experience.

• Portfolio Review: A critical stage where candidates will present their portfolio, demonstrating their service design expertise, human-centred approach, and ability to deliver complex solutions. Expect to discuss specific case studies in detail.

• Skills-Based Interviews: Interviews focusing on specific competencies such as strategic thinking, systems thinking, problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration. Case study exercises or scenario-based questions may be used.

• Team/Stakeholder Interviews: Meetings with potential colleagues, Service Owners, and other stakeholders to assess cultural fit, communication style, and collaborative potential.

• Final Interview: Potentially with senior leadership to discuss strategic alignment and overall fit for the organization's mission.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Structure for Impact: Organize your portfolio around key projects that clearly demonstrate your problem-solving process, methodologies used (service blueprints, journey maps), and the impact of your designs.

• Quantify Achievements: Where possible, quantify the impact of your service design work (e.g., improved efficiency, user satisfaction metrics, reduced error rates).

• Showcase Complexity: Highlight projects that involved navigating complex data flows, technical constraints, or regulatory environments, as this is a key aspect of this role.

• Tell a Story: For each project, articulate the challenge, your approach, the solutions you designed and implemented, and the outcomes. Emphasize your role and contributions.

• Tailor to Genomics England: Understand Genomics England's mission and tailor your presentation to highlight how your skills can support their work in genomics, healthcare, and research.

Challenge Preparation:

• Service Design Scenarios: Be prepared for hypothetical scenarios that require you to map out a service, identify user needs, and propose design solutions for a given problem within the healthcare or research context.

• Process Mapping Exercise: You might be asked to quickly map out a simplified process, identify pain points, and suggest improvements.

• Collaboration & Facilitation: Prepare examples of how you have facilitated workshops, managed stakeholder disagreements, and driven consensus in a cross-functional setting.

• Understanding the Ecosystem: Research Genomics England's work, its partners (like the NHS), and the broader landscape of genomic medicine to inform your responses.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a portfolio review and case studies is a strong indicator of this role's operational nature, where demonstrating practical problem-solving and process improvement skills is crucial. The preparation tips are geared towards showcasing an operational mindset.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Service Design & Mapping Tools: Proficiency with tools like Miro, Mural, Lucidchart, or similar for creating service blueprints, journey maps, process flows, and wireframes.

• Prototyping Tools: Experience with tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or InVision for creating interactive prototypes to visualize future service states.

• Collaboration Platforms: Familiarity with platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Google Workspace for team communication and project management.

Analytics & Reporting:

CRM & Automation:

• Understanding of how CRM systems and automation platforms (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot, Zapier) can support service delivery and user experience, even if not directly managing them. Knowledge of how data flows between systems to support user journeys is valuable.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the role is Service Design, the mention of "complex data flows," "technical disciplines," and the need to integrate with "delivery teams" implies an understanding of the underlying systems and operational infrastructure that support services. Proficiency in collaboration and visualization tools is standard for operations-focused design roles.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Human-Centred: A core value that places the user (patient, researcher, clinician) at the forefront of all design and operational decisions, ensuring services are effective and empathetic.

• Data-Driven: Commitment to using data and insights from research and service performance to inform design choices and drive continuous operational improvement.

• Collaborative: A strong emphasis on working together across diverse teams and disciplines to achieve shared goals and deliver integrated services.

• Impact-Oriented: A focus on delivering tangible outcomes that advance genomic healthcare and research, contributing to a significant societal mission.

• Innovative & Iterative: Encouraging experimentation, learning from failures, and continuously refining services and processes for better effectiveness.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Proactive engagement with diverse teams (scientists, technical specialists, delivery teams, Service Owners) to ensure a holistic and implementable service experience.

• Co-Creation & Facilitation: Employing workshops and facilitated sessions to bring stakeholders together, foster shared understanding, and drive collective decision-making.

• Knowledge Sharing: Willingness to share insights, best practices, and learnings across teams to build collective capability and improve operational processes.

• Feedback Exchange: An open approach to receiving and giving constructive feedback to continuously improve designs and team dynamics.

📝 Enhancement Note: The described values and collaboration style are indicative of a high-performing operations environment where cross-functional synergy and a user-centric yet data-informed approach are critical for success.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Complexity: Dealing with intricate data flows, complex technical systems, and multi-stakeholder environments within the genomics and healthcare sector.

• Balancing User Needs with Constraints: Designing services that meet user needs effectively while adhering to strict governance, policy, and regulatory frameworks.

• Driving Adoption of New Services: Encouraging uptake and effective utilization of new or improved services across diverse user groups and internal teams.

• Measuring Impact: Demonstrating the tangible impact of service design interventions on operational efficiency, user satisfaction, and organizational mission goals.

• Ambiguity Management: Thriving in situations with ambiguity, translating unclear requirements into concrete, actionable design solutions.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Specialized Domain Knowledge: Deepen understanding of genomics, bioinformatics, healthcare systems, and research methodologies.

• Advanced Service Design Techniques: Further develop expertise in complex service mapping, strategic design, and service innovation.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Hone skills in influencing, facilitating, and leading diverse teams without direct authority.

• Industry Exposure: Gain insights into cutting-edge research and healthcare delivery practices at a national level.

• Professional Certifications: Opportunities to pursue relevant certifications in design, agile methodologies, or project management.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges and growth opportunities are framed in a way that appeals to operations professionals looking to solve complex problems, develop strategic thinking, and gain specialized domain expertise.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Service Design Process: "Walk us through your process for designing a complex service from initial research to implementation, highlighting how you would involve stakeholders and manage constraints." (Prepare to discuss your methodology, tools, and how you ensure user needs are met across front and back stages).

• Systems Thinking in Practice: "Describe a time you had to design a service that involved complex data flows or integrated with multiple technical systems. How did you approach understanding these complexities and ensure a seamless user experience?" (Focus on your ability to map dependencies and anticipate operational impacts).

• Advocating for Users: "How do you champion user needs when they conflict with business priorities or technical limitations? Provide an example." (Be ready to discuss strategies for user advocacy and finding balanced solutions).

Company & Culture Questions:

• Mission Alignment: "Why are you interested in working for Genomics England, and how do your skills align with our mission to advance genomic healthcare and research?" (Research the company's recent projects, partnerships, and strategic goals).

• Collaboration Style: "Describe your ideal collaboration with Service Owners and delivery teams. How do you ensure effective communication and alignment on design goals?" (Highlight your proactive communication and co-creation approach).

• Measuring Success: "How would you measure the success of a service design initiative within an organization like Genomics England? What key metrics would you track?" (Think about operational efficiency, user adoption, satisfaction, and impact on research/healthcare outcomes).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Project Selection: Choose 2-3 projects that best showcase your skills in complex service design, human-centred approaches, and navigating operational challenges.

• Narrative Arc: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role and process, the solutions developed, and the measurable impact. Use visuals effectively.

• Focus on "Back Stage": Emphasize how your designs considered and improved the operational ("back stage") aspects of the service, not just the user-facing elements.

• Demonstrate Stakeholder Management: Explain how you engaged with diverse stakeholders and facilitated decision-making.

• Be Prepared for Deep Dives: Anticipate questions about your specific contributions, design choices, and the challenges you faced.

📝 Enhancement Note: These interview preparation tips are designed to help candidates showcase their operational thinking, problem-solving abilities, and strategic approach, which are crucial for senior roles in operations and service design.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Service Designer position:

• Submit Your Application: Visit the provided job URL and complete the online application form.

• Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Clearly articulate how your service design expertise, human-centred approach, and experience with complex systems and data flows align with the responsibilities and requirements outlined. Specifically address your interest in Genomics England's mission.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Ensure your portfolio is up-to-date and showcases relevant projects. Focus on demonstrating your process, problem-solving skills, and the impact of your work, particularly highlighting your experience with operational aspects ("back stage") and complex environments.

• Prepare Your Portfolio Presentation: Be ready to walk through your selected portfolio projects during the interview process, focusing on storytelling, impact, and your collaborative approach.

• Research Genomics England: Familiarize yourself with their mission, current projects, partnerships (especially with the NHS), and company culture to demonstrate genuine interest and strategic alignment.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.

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