Senior Service Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Service Designer

Company: Barclays

Location: Glasgow Campus, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Service Design / UX Design

Date Posted: June 23, 2026

Experience Level: 5-10 years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Design and develop user-centered digital banking products and services, focusing on creating intuitive and visually appealing interfaces.

• Conduct comprehensive user research and usability testing to understand customer needs and integrate feedback into product design.

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers, developers, and research teams, to ensure seamless execution of design strategies.

• Maintain and evolve the bank's brand identity and design standards across all digital platforms, ensuring a consistent and inclusive user experience.

• Drive continuous improvement by monitoring industry trends and emerging technologies in digital banking and service design.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Senior Service Designer," the responsibilities and required skills strongly align with a Senior UX/UI Designer role within a financial services context. The emphasis on digital banking products, user interface design, and user research indicates a focus on the practical application of design principles to enhance customer interactions with banking platforms.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Execute end-to-end user research, including qualitative and quantitative methods, to deeply understand customer needs, pain points, and preferences for digital banking products and services.

• Design and maintain intuitive, user-friendly, and visually appealing interfaces for digital banking platforms and applications, ensuring a seamless and engaging user experience.

• Develop wireframes, interactive prototypes, and journey maps to effectively visualize and test product concepts and features before development, facilitating stakeholder understanding and buy-in.

• Ensure all designs comply with relevant accessibility standards and guidelines (e.g., WCAG) to provide an inclusive and equitable experience for all users.

• Collaborate closely with product managers, developers, researchers, and other stakeholders to integrate user feedback and technical requirements into the design process.

• Monitor and analyze industry trends, design best practices, and emerging technologies to continuously enhance the quality, innovation, and effectiveness of Barclays' digital banking products.

• Facilitate and lead design thinking workshops and co-creation sessions with internal teams and stakeholders to drive innovation and align on design strategies.

• Shape and develop value propositions for new digital banking features and services, ensuring they meet both customer needs and business objectives.

• Manage and maintain a consistent visual language and design system across all digital products to reinforce the Barclays brand identity.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Assistant Vice President Expectations" section outlines leadership and strategic responsibilities that are typical for a senior-level individual contributor or a team lead within a large financial institution. This includes influencing decision-making, contributing to policy development, leading complex assignments, and mentoring junior team members.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

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

• Advanced studies or certifications in Service Design, UX Design, or Digital Product Design are highly advantageous. Experience:

• 5-10 years of professional experience in Service Design, UX/UI Design, or a closely related field, with a strong focus on digital product development.

• Proven experience in the financial services industry, particularly within digital banking or fintech, is highly preferred.

• Demonstrated experience in leading design initiatives and influencing cross-functional teams. Required Skills:

• User Research & Usability Testing: Proficient in planning, conducting, and analyzing user research (interviews, surveys, contextual inquiries) and usability testing to gather actionable insights.

• UX/UI Design: Strong skills in creating wireframes, user flows, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity visual designs for web and mobile applications.

• Service Mapping & Journey Mapping: Expertise in end-to-end and front-to-back journey and service mapping to visualize customer experiences and identify improvement opportunities.

• Workshop Facilitation: Proven ability to facilitate design thinking workshops, brainstorming sessions, and co-creation activities with diverse stakeholder groups.

• Proposition Development: Experience in shaping and developing compelling value propositions for new products and services.

• Stakeholder Management: Excellent ability to manage relationships with various stakeholders, including product managers, developers, business analysts, and senior leadership.

• Accessibility Standards: Solid understanding of accessibility guidelines (e.g., WCAG 2.1 AA) and ability to integrate them into design solutions.

• Design Systems & Brand Guidelines: Experience in creating and adhering to design systems and brand guidelines to ensure consistency across digital products.

Preferred Skills:

• Visual Design Tools: Proficiency with industry-standard design and prototyping tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, InVision, etc.

• Agile Methodologies: Experience working within Agile/Scrum development environments.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Demonstrated success in collaborating effectively with research teams, product teams, and engineering departments.

• Data Analysis: Ability to interpret user data and analytics to inform design decisions and measure design impact.

• Strategic Thinking: Capacity to understand business objectives and translate them into effective design strategies that drive business outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Assistant Vice President Expectations" and the mention of assessing "risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen, strategic thinking, and digital and technology skills" suggest that candidates will be evaluated not just on their design craft but also on their ability to contribute to broader business objectives, manage risk, and drive digital transformation within the organization.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio showcasing end-to-end service design or UX/UI design projects, with a strong emphasis on digital banking or complex financial products.

• Detailed case studies demonstrating your process from initial research and problem definition through to final design solutions and their impact.

• Clear articulation of your role within team projects, highlighting your specific contributions and decision-making processes.

• Examples of wireframes, user flows, interactive prototypes, and final UI designs, presented with context and rationale.

• Evidence of your ability to conduct user research, usability testing, and integrate feedback into iterative design improvements. Process Documentation:

• Showcase your approach to conducting user research, including methodology, participant recruitment, and analysis of findings.

• Provide examples of your service mapping or customer journey mapping processes, illustrating how you identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.

• Demonstrate your workflow for creating wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs, including the tools and techniques used.

• Include examples of how you have applied accessibility standards and design system principles in your work.

• Present case studies that clearly outline the problem, your design process, the solutions implemented, and measurable outcomes or impact achieved.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the "Senior" title and the mention of "Assistant Vice President Expectations," the portfolio should not only demonstrate design skills but also strategic thinking, leadership potential, and an understanding of business impact. Projects should ideally show how design decisions contributed to key business metrics or improved operational efficiency within a financial context.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

Based on industry benchmarks for Senior Service Designers/UX Designers in Glasgow, Scotland, with 5-10 years of experience in a large financial institution, the estimated annual salary range is approximately £60,000 - £85,000 per annum. This range can vary based on the candidate's specific experience, skills, and performance during the interview process.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Access to private medical insurance, dental, and vision plans.

• Retirement Savings Plan: Generous pension scheme with employer contributions.

• Generous Paid Time Off: Competitive annual leave allowance, plus bank holidays and potential for additional days for long service.

• Life Assurance: Financial protection for your beneficiaries.

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Confidential support for personal and professional well-being.

• Professional Development: Opportunities for training, certifications, conferences, and continuous learning in design and financial technology.

• Employee Discounts: Access to preferential rates on Barclays products and services.

• Flexible Working: While this role is on-site, discussions around flexible arrangements may be possible based on team and business needs.

• Career Advancement: Clear pathways for growth within Barclays, including opportunities for leadership and specialization.

Working Hours:

• Standard full-time working hours are typically 40 hours per week, from Monday to Friday.

• While the role is on-site, Barclays generally promotes a culture that supports work-life balance, with potential for some flexibility in start and end times, subject to team and business requirements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimate based on typical compensation for similar roles in the UK financial sector in Glasgow. It is crucial for candidates to research local market rates and be prepared to discuss their salary expectations during the interview process. Benefits are standard for a large UK financial institution.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Services / Banking. Barclays is a global financial services provider engaged in retail banking and commercial banking, credit cards, and investment banking operations. This context means a strong emphasis on security, regulatory compliance, customer trust, and innovation within a highly competitive and regulated environment.

Company Size: Barclays is a large, multinational corporation with tens of thousands of employees globally. This scale implies structured processes, established career paths, and significant resources, but also potentially a more hierarchical decision-making structure and a need for strong adaptability.

Founded: Barclays was founded in 1690, making it one of the oldest banks in the world. This long history suggests a stable organization with deep-rooted values and a commitment to long-term customer relationships, alongside a drive for modernization and digital transformation.

Team Structure:

• The Senior Service Designer will likely be part of a broader Digital Design, UX, or Product Development team.

• This team will collaborate closely with Product Management, Engineering, Data Science, Marketing, and other business units to deliver digital banking solutions.

• The reporting structure may involve a Head of UX, a Director of Digital Product, or a similar leadership role, with potential for leading specific project teams or mentoring junior designers.

• Cross-functional collaboration is essential, requiring strong communication and partnership skills to navigate complex organizational dynamics and deliver integrated solutions. Methodology:

• Data-Driven Design: Decisions are informed by user research, usability testing, analytics, and customer feedback.

• Agile Development: Projects likely follow Agile methodologies, requiring iterative design cycles and close collaboration with development teams.

• Customer-Centricity: A strong focus on understanding and meeting customer needs is paramount, especially in retail banking.

• Risk & Compliance: Designs must adhere to strict financial regulations, security protocols, and accessibility standards.

• Continuous Improvement: A culture of monitoring performance, gathering feedback, and iterating on designs to optimize user experience and business outcomes.

Company Website: https://home.barclays/

📝 Enhancement Note: Understanding Barclays' position as a large, established financial institution is key. The operations and design teams will be focused on balancing innovation with stability, security, and regulatory compliance. Candidates should be prepared to discuss how they navigate these constraints.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is classified