Service Designer (12 month FTC)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Service Designer (12 Month FTC)

Company: Lloyds Banking Group

Location: Leeds Wellington Place, United Kingdom / Bristol, United Kingdom

Job Type: Full-Time, Temporary

Category: Service Design / User Experience Operations

Date Posted: 2026-04-23

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

Remote Status: Hybrid (2 days in office per week)

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive the definition and implementation of exceptional service experiences rooted in deep colleague, customer, and business insight, acting as a strategic partner within agile teams.

• Champion and advocate for Service Design principles and methodologies, fostering innovation and continuous improvement across product teams and the wider organization.

• Facilitate collaborative workshops and discussions with diverse stakeholders to uncover priorities, visualize outcomes, define scope, and ensure well-informed decision-making.

• Translate complex business needs and user insights into intuitive, engaging, and effective service solutions that align with strategic objectives and enhance customer journeys.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the role title is "Service Designer," its focus on process, collaboration, stakeholder management, and driving outcomes within agile teams positions it strongly within the broader "Operations" landscape, specifically in areas related to GTM strategy, customer experience operations, and business process optimization. The 12-month fixed-term contract (FTC) nature suggests a project-based need, likely to implement specific service improvements or new initiatives.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Collaborate effectively and confidently within agile multidisciplinary teams to uncover strategic priorities, visualize desired outcomes, and define project scope.

• Shape and define compelling experience visions and strategic initiatives, ensuring all design decisions are rigorously led by colleague, customer, business, and market insights.

• Plan, attend, and expertly facilitate workshops and discussions with a wide range of stakeholders, ensuring thorough understanding of business context, needs, and risks to inform critical decisions.

• Communicate clearly, confidently, and persuasively with colleagues and senior stakeholders to manage expectations, challenge constraints, deliver successful outcomes, and incorporate diverse perspectives into solution design.

• Work closely with Design Research teams to define key design themes and challenges, identify emerging issues and unmet customer needs, and proactively surface risks and drivers of pain points.

• Utilize a comprehensive suite of Service Design artefacts to create intuitive, engaging, and effective user experiences that demonstrably align with both core business objectives and evolving customer expectations.

• Make sound, user-centric design decisions, consistently bringing the user perspective to the forefront of all initiatives, and effectively measure and demonstrate the impact of your design work through data and analytics.

• Actively own and drive your personal development and growth within the Service Design craft, seeking out learning opportunities and contributing to the evolution of design practices.

• Foster a collaborative environment by working closely with other designers, product owners, and engineers to ensure seamless integration and delivery of designed services.

• Be an active and contributing member of the broader design community, sharing knowledge, generating innovative ideas, and embedding design principles across products, services, and customer journeys.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strong emphasis on cross-functional collaboration, strategic thinking, and outcome-driven execution, which are core tenets of effective operations roles. The focus on insight-led design and measuring impact aligns with the data-driven nature of Revenue Operations and Sales Operations.

✅ Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Business, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience:

• 5-10 years of progressive experience in Service Design, UX Design, or a closely related field, with a proven track record of delivering impactful service solutions.

• Demonstrable experience working effectively within agile or iterative development environments, contributing to sprint planning, backlog refinement, and delivery cycles.

• Experience in facilitating workshops, leading design thinking sessions, and managing stakeholder expectations in complex organizational settings.

Required Skills:

• Service Design: Deep understanding and practical application of service design methodologies, frameworks, and tools (e.g., customer journey mapping, service blueprints, personas, user flows).

• Design Thinking: Proficiency in applying design thinking principles to problem-solving and innovation, from empathy and ideation to prototyping and testing.

• Stakeholder Management: Excellent ability to build rapport, credibility, and influence with senior stakeholders, effectively managing expectations and driving consensus.

• Agile Methodologies: Experience working within agile frameworks (Scrum, Kanban) and collaborating effectively with agile teams.

• Strategic Planning: Ability to define and articulate experience visions, strategic initiatives, and align design with broader business objectives.

• User Research: Experience collaborating with or conducting user research to gather insights, identify needs, and validate design decisions.

• Facilitation: Strong skills in planning and facilitating workshops, meetings, and design sprints to drive productive collaboration and decision-making.

• Communication Skills: Exceptional verbal and written communication, with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences.

Preferred Skills:

• Relationship Building: Proven ability to forge strong, trusted relationships across various levels and functions within an organization.

• Problem Solving: A critical and analytical approach to problem-solving, with a keen ability to identify root causes and develop effective solutions.

• Experience Design: Broader understanding of user experience (UX) design principles and best practices.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Demonstrated success in working collaboratively with diverse teams, including product, engineering, research, and business stakeholders.

• Experience within the financial services industry or a large, complex organization.

• Familiarity with design tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, Miro, or similar.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "colleague, customer, and business insight" and the need to "advocate for Service Design" points to a role that requires strong analytical skills, data interpretation, and strategic communication, aligning with the demands placed on operations professionals. The requirement for a portfolio is standard for design roles but signals the need for candidates to demonstrate tangible process improvements and outcome-driven work.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• End-to-End Service Design Case Studies: Showcase 2-3 comprehensive projects that illustrate your entire service design process, from initial problem definition and research to concept development, prototyping, testing, and implementation support.

• Insight-to-Outcome Demonstration: Clearly articulate how user and business insights informed your design decisions and how your work led to measurable business or customer outcomes. Quantify impact where possible.

• Process Artifacts: Include examples of key service design deliverables such as service blueprints, customer journey maps, user flows, personas, workshop outputs, and strategy documents.

• Collaboration & Facilitation Evidence: Demonstrate your ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams and facilitate stakeholder workshops, perhaps through anonymized examples of workshop plans or outputs.

• Problem-Solving Approach: Highlight instances where you tackled complex challenges or constraints, outlining your approach and the solutions you devised.

Process Documentation:

• Ability to document and articulate service design processes clearly, including workflows for user research integration, stakeholder engagement, and iterative design cycles.

• Experience in creating service blueprints or similar artefacts that map out the current and future state of a service, detailing touchpoints, backstage operations, and supporting systems.

• Understanding of how to integrate design processes with agile development workflows, ensuring smooth handoffs and continuous feedback loops.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section is critical for operations roles. A strong portfolio demonstrating structured problem-solving, process mapping, stakeholder engagement, and measurable results will be crucial for candidates. The emphasis on "outcomes" and "impact" is directly transferable to operations roles focused on efficiency and ROI.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: £61,344 - £68,160 per annum

Benefits:

• Pension Contribution: Generous contribution of up to 15% from the employer.

• Annual Performance-Related Bonus: Opportunity for bonus based on individual and company performance.

• Share Schemes: Including free shares, offering potential long-term financial growth.

• Lifestyle Adaptable Benefits: Access to a range of discounts and benefits that can be tailored to individual needs, such as discounted shopping.

• Generous Holiday Allowance: 30 days of annual leave, in addition to bank holidays.

• Wellbeing Initiatives: Comprehensive programs and resources to support employee health and wellness.

• Parental Leave Policies: Generous policies to support employees during parental leave.

• Flexible Working Options: Hybrid working model (minimum 2 days in office) and job share opportunities.

Working Hours: Full-time, approximately 40 hours per week.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is specific to the UK market for a mid-level to senior role in a large financial institution. The benefits package is competitive and typical for a large corporate employer in the UK, with a strong emphasis on long-term financial security and employee well-being. The inclusion of flexible working options is a key consideration for many professionals.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Services (Banking and Financial Services)

Company Size: Large Enterprise (Lloyds Banking Group is one of the UK's largest financial institutions, employing tens of thousands globally). This size implies a structured environment with established processes, significant resources, and opportunities for broad impact across diverse business units.

Founded: Lloyds Banking Group has a long history, with its constituent parts dating back centuries. This historical depth suggests a company with established traditions, a strong market presence, and a commitment to long-term stability.

Team Structure:

• The Service Designer will likely be part of a dedicated design or digital transformation team, working within or closely alongside agile product teams.

• This role will involve significant cross-functional collaboration with Product Owners, Designers, Researchers, Engineers, Business Analysts, and various business stakeholders across different departments.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Emphasis on leveraging colleague, customer, and business insights to drive design and strategic decisions.

• Agile & Iterative Development: Collaboration within agile teams suggests a workflow that is iterative, responsive to change, and focused on continuous delivery and improvement.

• User-Centricity: A core principle will be placing the user (colleague and customer) at the heart of all design and operational considerations.

• Innovation & Continuous Improvement: The company culture encourages fostering innovation and a mindset of ongoing enhancement of services and processes.

Company Website: https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Lloyds Banking Group's status as a major financial institution means operations roles here are likely to involve navigating complex regulatory environments, large-scale systems, and a diverse customer base. The company's stated commitment to "helping Britain prosper" suggests a mission-driven culture where operational efficiency directly contributes to societal impact.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role sits at a mid-to-senior level within the design and operations spectrum. It requires not just execution but also strategic input, stakeholder influence, and the ability to define and shape future experiences. It's a role that bridges creative design with practical implementation and business strategy, common in GTM and CX Operations.

Reporting Structure: The Service Designer will likely report into a Design Lead or Head of Digital/Transformation, working in close partnership with Product Owners and delivery leads within agile squads. This structure allows for both specialized craft development and integrated project delivery.

Operations Impact: The Service Designer's impact is crucial for enhancing customer satisfaction, improving operational efficiency through better service design, driving adoption of new digital services, and ultimately contributing to the Group's revenue and market position by creating compelling and effective customer journeys.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in specific areas of service design, customer experience strategy, or digital transformation.

• Leadership Development: Potential to move into Senior Service Designer, Lead Service Designer, or management roles overseeing design teams or transformation initiatives.

• Cross-Functional Mobility: Opportunities to move into related operational roles such as Business Analysis, Product Management, or UX Strategy within the broader LBG organization.

• Skill Enhancement: Continuous learning through internal training, workshops, and potential external certifications in design thinking, agile, or customer experience management.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "FTC" (Fixed-Term Contract) nature of this role means it's ideal for professionals looking for a challenging, project-based engagement, or as a pathway to a permanent role if performance and business needs align. The growth analysis focuses on typical career trajectories for design and operations professionals within large enterprises.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Hybrid Working Model. This involves spending a minimum of two days per week (or 40% of working time) at a designated Lloyds Banking Group office site. This blend aims to foster collaboration and team cohesion while offering flexibility.

Office Location(s): The role is based in either Leeds Wellington Place or Bristol. These are modern, well-equipped office hubs designed to support collaborative work environments, with access to amenities and facilities.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Spaces: Offices will feature a mix of open-plan areas, meeting rooms, and dedicated collaboration zones to facilitate teamwork and idea-sharing.

• Technology & Tools: Access to standard office technology, high-speed internet, and potentially specialized design software and collaboration platforms used by the teams.

• Team Interaction: The hybrid model encourages in-person interaction for key team activities, workshops, and relationship-building, complemented by digital tools for ongoing communication.

Work Schedule: Full-time, approximately 40 hours per week. While a hybrid model is in place, the core working hours are standard, with flexibility expected around project needs and team collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model is increasingly common and requires individuals to be self-disciplined and adept at managing their time effectively between remote and in-office work. The emphasis on collaboration on in-office days suggests that candidates should be comfortable with in-person interactions and team-based activities.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will likely review applications and conduct an initial screening call to assess basic qualifications, experience, and cultural fit.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: Candidates will typically be asked to present their portfolio, walking through 1-2 key case studies. This stage assesses your design process, problem-solving skills, and ability to articulate impact. Be prepared to discuss your role, challenges, and outcomes.

• Stakeholder/Team Interviews: Interviews with potential colleagues, including other designers, product owners, or business leads. These will focus on your collaboration style, technical skills, and how you approach design challenges within an agile context.

• Final Interview: Potentially with a senior leader to discuss strategic alignment, leadership potential, and overall fit within the organization's values and goals.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select case studies that best demonstrate your end-to-end service design capabilities, focusing on projects with clear business impact and user-centric outcomes. Tailor your selection to highlight skills mentioned in the job description.

• Storytelling is Key: Structure your case studies as compelling narratives. Clearly define the problem, your role and approach, the process you followed, the solutions you developed, and most importantly, the measurable results and learnings.

• Quantify Impact: Wherever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs. This could include improvements in customer satisfaction scores (NPS, CSAT), efficiency gains, conversion rates, or cost savings.

• Showcase Collaboration: Highlight how you worked with cross-functional teams and stakeholders. Explain how you managed differing perspectives and drove consensus.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Prepare to answer detailed questions about your design choices, rationale, and the tools/methods you employed.

Challenge Preparation:

• Design Challenge: You might be given a hypothetical problem to solve or a service to critique and redesign. Focus on your structured approach, user empathy, and ability to think strategically.

• Presentation Skills: Practice presenting your portfolio and any challenge work concisely and engagingly. Ensure you can articulate your thought process clearly and answer questions thoughtfully.

• Understanding LBG: Research Lloyds Banking Group's mission, values, current strategic priorities, and its position within the financial services industry. Understand their customer base and their commitment to digital transformation and customer service.

📝 Enhancement Note: For operations-focused candidates, the portfolio review is analogous to a "process review" or "project showcase." Emphasize the structured methodology, problem-solving, stakeholder management, and measurable outcomes in your presentation.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop), Miro, Mural (for collaboration and workshops).

• Project Management & Agile: Jira, Confluence (or similar tools for backlog management, sprint tracking, and documentation).

• Research & Insight Gathering: Tools for user interviews, surveys, analytics platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics), and potentially specialized UX research tools.

Analytics & Reporting:

CRM & Automation:

• Understanding of how customer data is managed within CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, though LBG may use proprietary systems) and how service design can leverage or improve automated customer interactions.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the role is "Service Designer," proficiency with collaboration and documentation tools like Jira and Confluence, and the ability to interpret data from analytics platforms, are highly relevant to operations professionals. The focus is on how these tools support the design and implementation of services that drive business outcomes.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer Focus: A paramount value is to serve customers and colleagues effectively, ensuring their needs and experiences are at the forefront of all decisions.

• Integrity: Operating with honesty, transparency, and ethical conduct, which is critical in the financial services sector.

• Collaboration: Fostering a team-oriented environment where diverse perspectives are valued, and collective success is prioritized.

• Innovation: Encouraging new ideas, embracing change, and continuously seeking better ways to deliver services and improve processes.

• Efficiency: Striving for operational excellence and optimizing processes to deliver value effectively and sustainably.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Expect a highly collaborative environment where designers work seamlessly with product managers, engineers, researchers, and business stakeholders.

• Open Communication: A culture that encourages open dialogue, constructive feedback, and transparency in decision-making.

• Shared Ownership: Teams often operate with a sense of shared responsibility for outcomes, moving beyond individual tasks to collective achievement.

• Learning & Development: A supportive environment for continuous learning, knowledge sharing, and professional growth within the design and operational spheres.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "Customer Focus," "Integrity," and "Efficiency" directly aligns with the core values expected of operations professionals in any sector, particularly in finance. The collaborative style is key for GTM and RevOps roles that bridge multiple departments.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Large Organizations: Working within a large, established institution like Lloyds Banking Group can present challenges in terms of organizational structure, legacy systems, and diverse stakeholder needs. Strategies for effective influence and navigating complex decision-making processes will be key.

• Balancing Innovation with Regulation: The financial services industry is heavily regulated. Balancing the drive for innovative service design with compliance requirements will be an ongoing challenge.

• Driving Adoption of New Services: Ensuring new or improved services are effectively adopted by both colleagues and customers requires strong communication, training, and ongoing support strategies.

• Measuring ROI of Design: Clearly demonstrating the tangible return on investment for Service Design initiatives can sometimes be challenging and requires sophisticated measurement and reporting.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Design Skills: Opportunities to attend workshops or training on cutting-edge service design techniques, UX research methods, and design thinking facilitation.

• Industry Exposure: Gaining deep insights into the financial services sector, its challenges, and its digital transformation journey.

• Leadership & Mentorship: Potential for mentorship from senior leaders within the design or digital transformation functions, and opportunities to mentor junior team members.

• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Learning from experts in product management, agile development, data analytics, and business strategy within the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: Understanding these challenges helps candidates prepare for potential roadblocks and highlight their problem-solving capabilities. The growth opportunities are standard for a large enterprise and offer clear pathways for career advancement in operations and design.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a complex service you've designed or improved. What was the problem, your approach, and the measurable impact?" (Focus on structured problem-solving, user empathy, and quantifiable results).

• "How do you balance user needs with business objectives and technical constraints in your design process?" (Demonstrate strategic thinking and pragmatic execution).

• "Walk us through a time you had to influence senior stakeholders to adopt a new design or strategy. What was your approach and the outcome?" (Highlight communication, persuasion, and stakeholder management skills).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What do you know about Lloyds Banking Group's mission and values, and how do you see your role contributing to them?" (Research LBG's "Help Britain Prosper" mission, focus on customer-centricity, and integrity).

• "How do you stay current with design trends and best practices, and how do you advocate for them within a team or organization?" (Demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning and evangelism).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Focus on Process & Impact: Don't just show pretty pictures. Explain the why behind your design choices and focus on the what you achieved. Use your portfolio as evidence of your structured approach and ability to deliver outcomes.

• Be Concise & Engaging: Allocate time for each case study and practice your delivery. Be prepared for questions that probe deeper into your decision-making.

• Highlight Collaboration: Explicitly mention how you partnered with different teams and stakeholders. This is crucial for operations roles that are inherently collaborative.

• Connect to LBG: Where possible, subtly link your experience and approach to the challenges and opportunities at Lloyds Banking Group.

📝 Enhancement Note: The strategy questions are designed to elicit responses that showcase core operations competencies: structured problem-solving, strategic alignment, stakeholder influence, and measurable results. The portfolio presentation advice emphasizes demonstrating these competencies visually and verbally.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations-aligned Service Designer position:

• Submit Your Application: Complete the online application form via the provided link, ensuring all fields are accurately filled.

• Tailor Your CV: Optimize your resume to highlight your experience in Service Design, Design Thinking, Stakeholder Management, Agile methodologies, and any relevant experience in the financial services sector. Use keywords from the job description and emphasize quantifiable achievements.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your strongest service design case studies that best showcase your end-to-end process, problem-solving skills, collaboration, and measurable impact. Ensure it's easily accessible (e.g., a personal website, PDF, or portfolio platform).

• Prepare Your Presentation: Practice walking through your selected portfolio case studies. Focus on telling a clear story about the problem, your solution, your process, and the results. Be ready to discuss your role and contributions in detail.

• Research Lloyds Banking Group: Familiarize yourself with LBG's mission, values, recent news, and their strategic direction, particularly regarding digital transformation and customer experience. Understand their commitment to "helping Britain prosper."

⚠️ 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.