Service Designer (12 Month FTC)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Service Designer - 12 Month Fixed-Term Contract

Company: Lloyds Banking Group

Location: London, United Kingdom

Job Type: Full-time, Contract

Category: Service Design / UX Design (within Financial Services)

Date Posted: July 24, 2026

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

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Spearhead the creation of seamless digital customer experiences within the Embedded Finance design team, focusing on enhancing customer advocacy and advancing Service Design practices.

• Collaborate closely with agile teams to define project scope, visualize outcomes, and drive pivotal initiatives informed by customer, colleague, and market insights.

• Champion the principles of Service Design across a range of product, service, and customer journeys, fostering innovation and continuous improvement within the design community.

• Contribute to the development of engaging, readable, and accessible content that ensures exceptional digital experiences for customers, aligning with the Group's "Help Britain Prosper" purpose.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the input job title is "Service Designer," this role's responsibilities and required skills (systems thinking, customer lifecycle perspective, digital experience design) strongly align with senior UX Design or Product Design roles that have a strong service design component. The focus on financial services and embedded finance also indicates a specialized domain. The "12 Month FTC" (Fixed-Term Contract) is a critical detail for candidates to note regarding employment duration.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Act as a creative and confident member of agile teams, contributing to priority setting, outcome visualization, and scope definition for new and enhanced services.

• Shape key initiatives by ensuring all service and proposition development is grounded in comprehensive colleague, customer, and market insights.

• Participate actively in workshops and discussions, ensuring a deep understanding of business context, needs, and risks to inform critical design decisions.

• Effectively communicate and manage expectations with stakeholders, incorporating diverse perspectives to define cohesive and impactful service solutions.

• Lead and support research efforts to meticulously document both current-state (“as-is”) and future-state (“to-be”) services, identifying key pain points and opportunities.

• Make well-reasoned design decisions, consistently championing the user perspective and critically evaluating the validity of imposed constraints.

• Foster strong collaborative relationships with fellow designers, customer journey managers, product owners, and engineering teams to ensure integrated and effective service delivery.

• Actively engage with the broader design community within Lloyds Banking Group to share knowledge, generate innovative ideas, and embed design principles across various product and service offerings.

• Design with a holistic, end-to-end customer lifecycle perspective, ensuring seamless transitions from onboarding through ongoing engagement and long-term value realization.

• Apply strong systems thinking to understand the interconnectedness of products, processes, people, and platforms, designing services that operate cohesively within the wider ecosystem.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic design thinking and practical execution within an agile framework, typical of senior design roles in large organizations. The emphasis on "systems thinking" and "end-to-end customer lifecycle" indicates a need for candidates who can see the bigger picture and design holistically, not just for isolated touchpoints.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio demonstrating practical application of service design principles and methodologies is essential. Backgrounds in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, or related fields are beneficial.

Experience: A minimum of 5 years of dedicated experience in Service Design or a closely related UX/Product Design role is required. This experience should showcase a proven track record of successfully designing and delivering complex digital services.

Required Skills:

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

• Systems Thinking: Ability to understand and map complex interdependencies between products, processes, people, and technology within a large organizational ecosystem.

• User Research & Insights: Proficiency in conducting and synthesizing user research to derive actionable insights that inform design decisions and service enhancements.

• Design Thinking: Strong command of design thinking principles and iterative design processes from problem framing to solution ideation and prototyping.

• Agile Methodology: Experience working effectively within agile development teams, contributing to sprint planning, backlog refinement, and iterative delivery cycles.

• Customer Journey Management: Ability to map, analyze, and design for the entire customer lifecycle, ensuring cohesive and positive experiences across all touchpoints.

• Stakeholder Management: Proven ability to build strong relationships, manage expectations, and influence stakeholders at various levels, including senior leadership.

• Digital Experience Design: Skill in creating engaging, readable, and accessible digital content and interfaces that deliver superior customer experiences.

• Problem Solving: A proactive and innovative approach to identifying and solving complex design challenges.

• Communication Skills: Excellent verbal, written, and visual communication abilities, capable of articulating ideas, issues, and implications clearly to diverse audiences (senior, technical, non-technical).

• Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams, including designers, product owners, engineers, and business stakeholders.

• Accessibility Content Design: Understanding of accessibility standards and best practices for creating inclusive digital content.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience within the financial services industry, particularly in banking or embedded finance.

• Familiarity with UX/UI design tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD).

• Experience with prototyping tools and user testing methodologies.

• Knowledge of relevant regulatory requirements within the financial sector.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for 5+ years of experience suggests this is not an entry-level position. The emphasis on "systems thinking" and "end-to-end customer lifecycle" indicates that candidates who can demonstrate strategic thinking and a holistic approach to design will be highly valued. The mention of "advancing the practice of Service Design" points to a desire for someone who can not only execute but also contribute to the evolution of design within the organization.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Service Blueprints & Journey Maps: Showcase detailed service blueprints and customer journey maps that illustrate current-state pain points and proposed future-state improvements, demonstrating a deep understanding of end-to-end service delivery.

• Case Studies of Impact: Present 2-3 comprehensive case studies detailing complex service design challenges undertaken, the methodologies employed (including research, ideation, prototyping), and the measurable impact on customer experience, business objectives, or operational efficiency.

• Systems Thinking Examples: Include examples that demonstrate how you've analyzed and designed for interconnected systems, showing how different components (digital, human, process) work together to deliver a cohesive service.

• Accessibility & Inclusivity: Highlight projects where accessibility and inclusive design principles were a core consideration, demonstrating practical application and understanding of diverse user needs.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design & Optimization: Provide examples of how you have documented and optimized existing service workflows or designed new ones, clearly articulating the process steps, stakeholders involved, and efficiency gains achieved.

• Research Synthesis & Application: Demonstrate your ability to synthesize research findings into actionable design requirements and strategic recommendations, showing how insights directly influenced service design outcomes.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration Frameworks: Illustrate how you have facilitated collaboration and communication across diverse teams (e.g., product, engineering, marketing, operations) to ensure alignment and successful service implementation.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Service Designer role, a portfolio is paramount. It should go beyond visual design and clearly articulate the process of design, the thinking behind decisions, and the impact of the designed service. The emphasis on "systems thinking" and "customer lifecycle" means portfolios should showcase this broader perspective.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: £72,702 - £80,780 per annum.

Benefits:

• Pension: A generous contribution of up to 15% from Lloyds Banking Group.

• Performance Bonus: An annual performance-related bonus, reflecting individual and company success.

• Share Schemes: Opportunities to benefit from company growth through share schemes, including free shares.

• Lifestyle Adaptations: A range of benefits that can be tailored to individual needs, such as discounted shopping.

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

• Wellbeing Support: Access to various wellbeing initiatives designed to support employee health and mental wellness.

• Parental Leave: Generous policies for parental leave, supporting employees during significant life events.

Working Hours: Full-time, with an expectation of approximately 40 hours per week. The role operates on a hybrid model, requiring at least two days per week (or 40% of time) in the London office.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is specific and competitive for a senior service design role in London. The benefits package is comprehensive, typical of a large, established financial institution, offering significant value beyond base salary. The hybrid working model is clearly defined, specifying a minimum office presence.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Services (Banking). Lloyds Banking Group is a major player in the UK financial sector, focused on helping Britain prosper. This industry context implies a need for robust security, compliance, and a deep understanding of customer financial needs and regulatory landscapes.

Company Size: Large (over 10,000 employees). This scale means opportunities for broad impact, but also requires navigating complex organizational structures and processes.

Founded: 2009 (Lloyds Banking Group as it is today, formed through mergers of historic institutions). This long heritage in UK banking provides a stable foundation and a deep understanding of customer needs, while the current structure is focused on modernizing services.

Team Structure:

• Embedded Finance Design Team: This specialized team likely focuses on integrating financial services or products into non-financial platforms or experiences. It suggests a forward-thinking approach within the Group, exploring new business models and customer touchpoints.

• Reporting Structure: Likely reports into a broader Design or Digital Transformation leadership structure within the Group. The role operates within "agile teams," indicating a matrixed or project-based reporting line for day-to-day work, collaborating with Product Owners and other design specialists.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: The role explicitly requires close collaboration with designers, customer journey managers, product owners, and engineers, highlighting a multidisciplinary approach to service development.

Methodology:

• Agile Delivery: The team operates within agile frameworks, emphasizing iterative development, rapid feedback loops, and continuous improvement.

• Data-Driven Design: A strong emphasis on "colleague, customer and market insight" suggests a data-informed approach to decision-making and service design.

• User-Centricity: The core of the role is to "give our customers great digital experiences," underscoring a commitment to user needs and usability.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Embedded Finance" specialization is a key differentiator, suggesting the team is at the forefront of innovative financial service delivery. The company's purpose "to help Britain prosper" is a strong cultural anchor, implying a focus on societal impact alongside business goals.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role sits at a mid-to-senior level within the design discipline. As a Service Designer with 5+ years of experience, the individual is expected to lead design initiatives, mentor junior colleagues, and influence design strategy. The "FTC" (Fixed-Term Contract) nature means it's a significant project-based role rather than a permanent career path within the stated duration, though it offers substantial experience.

Reporting Structure: Daily work will be within agile teams, reporting to a lead designer or product owner for project tasks. The role also contributes to the broader design community, suggesting a network of peers and potential mentors across the organization.

Operations Impact: The Service Designer's impact is directly tied to improving customer experience, driving adoption of new digital services, fostering customer loyalty, and potentially reducing operational costs through optimized service design. In the context of "Embedded Finance," this role can significantly influence how customers interact with financial products within partner ecosystems, directly impacting revenue and market reach.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in Service Design within the financial services and embedded finance sectors, gaining experience with complex regulatory environments and large-scale digital transformations.

• Leadership: Develop leadership skills by guiding design efforts on pivotal initiatives and potentially mentoring junior designers within the team.

• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Gain exposure to product management, agile development, and business strategy within a major financial institution.

• Networking: Build a strong professional network within Lloyds Banking Group's extensive design and digital teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: While this is a fixed-term contract, it offers a valuable opportunity to gain experience in a specialized area (Embedded Finance) within a large, reputable organization. The growth opportunities focus on skill development and exposure rather than a direct permanent career path within the 12-month period.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Hybrid working model, requiring a minimum of 2 days (40%) per week in the London office. This indicates a blend of remote flexibility and in-person collaboration.

Office Location(s): London, United Kingdom (specific office address mentioned as 25 Gresham Street). This is a prime business location in London, suggesting a modern, well-equipped workspace.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Hub: The office serves as a hub for collaboration, workshops, and team interaction, fostering a sense of community and facilitating real-time problem-solving.

• Tools & Technology: Access to standard corporate IT infrastructure and likely design software and collaboration tools necessary for hybrid work.

• Team Interaction: Opportunities to engage directly with colleagues, participate in design critiques, and build rapport with team members, essential for effective agile team function.

Work Schedule: Standard full-time hours (approx. 40 per week), with flexibility inherent in the hybrid model, allowing for better work-life integration. The contractual end date is August 12, 2026.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model is a key aspect, balancing the benefits of remote work with the advantages of in-person collaboration, particularly crucial for design teams requiring brainstorming and feedback sessions.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Review of CV and portfolio to assess experience, skills, and alignment with the role's requirements.

• Hiring Manager Interview: Discussion focused on your background, experience, and understanding of service design principles, particularly in complex environments.

• Design Challenge/Workshop: Likely a practical exercise or workshop session to assess your approach to problem-solving, systems thinking, and collaboration. This may involve designing a service concept or critiquing an existing one.

• Stakeholder/Team Interviews: Conversations with potential colleagues (designers, product owners, engineers) to evaluate cultural fit, communication style, and collaborative abilities.

• Final Interview: Potential discussion with senior leadership to assess strategic thinking and overall fit with the Group's objectives.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Showcase Process, Not Just Outcomes: Clearly articulate your design process, including research methods, ideation techniques, and decision-making rationale. Explain why you made certain choices.

• Highlight Systems Thinking: Choose case studies that demonstrate your ability to understand and design for complex systems and the end-to-end customer lifecycle. Use diagrams or service blueprints where appropriate.

• Quantify Impact: Wherever possible, include metrics or evidence of the impact your designs have had on user experience, business goals, or efficiency.

• Tailor to the Role: Emphasize projects relevant to financial services, digital experiences, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Be Prepared to Discuss: Be ready to walk through your portfolio in detail and answer questions about your contributions, challenges, and learnings from each project.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand Lloyds Banking Group: Research the company's purpose ("Help Britain Prosper"), its current digital initiatives, and its position in the financial services market.

• Service Design Fundamentals: Refresh your knowledge of core service design tools and techniques, especially those related to systems thinking and customer journey mapping.

• Agile Context: Be prepared to discuss how you operate and contribute within an agile team environment.

• Problem-Solving Scenarios: Anticipate scenarios related to designing digital financial services, improving customer journeys, or integrating new services into existing ecosystems.

• Presenting Complex Ideas: Practice articulating complex design concepts clearly and concisely for both technical and non-technical audiences.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is likely multi-stage, typical for senior roles in large corporations. A strong portfolio is non-negotiable and should explicitly demonstrate the required skills, particularly systems thinking and end-to-end journey design.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools: While specific tools aren't listed, a Service Designer in this context would typically utilize:

• Diagramming & Whiteboarding: Tools like Miro, Mural, Lucidchart, or even physical whiteboards for collaborative ideation, journey mapping, and service blueprinting.

• Prototyping Tools: Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, Axure RP for creating wireframes, interactive prototypes, and mockups.

• User Research Platforms: Tools for surveys, usability testing, and participant recruitment (e.g., UserTesting.com, SurveyMonkey, Dovetail).

• Project Management & Collaboration: JIRA, Confluence, Microsoft Teams, Slack for team communication and task management within agile workflows.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Web Analytics: Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics for understanding user behavior on digital platforms.

• Customer Feedback Tools: NPS (Net Promoter Score) tools, sentiment analysis platforms.

• Data Visualization: Tableau, Power BI (or similar) to help visualize data insights supporting design decisions.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a CRM role, understanding how service design impacts CRM data and customer lifecycle management is key. Experience with Salesforce or other enterprise CRM systems might be beneficial.

• Familiarity with automation concepts in service delivery (e.g., chatbots, automated workflows) would be advantageous.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis is on design and research tools. While direct CRM or automation tool proficiency isn't the primary focus, understanding how designed services integrate with backend systems and impact automated processes is crucial for a holistic service designer.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer Focus: A paramount value, evident in the drive to create "seamless digital experiences" and "great digital experiences for our customers."

• Integrity & Trust: As a financial institution, these are foundational. Designs must be secure, reliable, and build customer trust.

• Collaboration: The role demands working "closely with other designers, customer journey managers, product owners, and engineers," emphasizing teamwork and shared ownership.

• Innovation & Continuous Improvement: The company is "transforming at pace," and the role involves "advancing the practice of Service Design" and encouraging "innovation and continuous improvement."

• Inclusivity: A strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, aiming to create an environment where "everyone can thrive." This extends to designing accessible services.

Collaboration Style:

• Agile & Iterative: Working within agile teams implies a fast-paced, adaptive, and iterative approach to collaboration, with frequent feedback loops.

• Cross-Functional Integration: Designs are co-created and refined with multiple disciplines, requiring effective communication and negotiation skills.

• Knowledge Sharing Culture: Encouragement to "share knowledge, create ideas, and embed principles of design across a range of product, service, and customer journeys" suggests an open and collaborative learning environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's purpose ("Help Britain Prosper") and its strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion are key cultural differentiators that candidates should consider and be prepared to discuss.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Large Organization Complexity: Working within a large, established financial institution like Lloyds Banking Group involves understanding and navigating complex organizational structures, legacy systems, and established processes.

• Balancing Innovation with Regulation: The financial services industry is heavily regulated. Designing innovative services requires balancing creative freedom with strict compliance and security requirements.

• Driving Adoption of Service Design: As a practice, service design may require continuous advocacy and education to ensure its principles are understood and embedded across all relevant teams.

• Fixed-Term Contract Nature: Adapting to a 12-month timeframe requires a focus on delivering impactful results within a defined period and managing the transition at the end of the contract.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Specialized Domain Expertise: Gaining deep experience in Embedded Finance and its application within a major banking group.

• Large-Scale Transformation: Exposure to significant digital transformation initiatives within a leading UK financial institution.

• Cross-Functional Acumen: Developing a broader understanding of product management, business strategy, and engineering within a complex enterprise context.

• Design Community Engagement: Learning from and contributing to a large, established design community within the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The primary challenge unique to this role is the fixed-term nature, requiring candidates to be highly effective and deliver impact within a specific timeframe. The opportunity lies in the specialized domain and the scale of the organization.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a complex service you've designed. How did you approach understanding the end-to-end customer lifecycle and the interconnected systems involved?" (Focus: Systems Thinking, Lifecycle Design)

• "How do you incorporate user research and market insights into your service design process, especially when dealing with constraints or competing priorities?" (Focus: Research, Problem Solving, Pragmatism)

• "Walk me through a time you had to collaborate with a diverse team (e.g., engineers, product managers, business stakeholders) to deliver a service. What was your approach to communication and stakeholder management?" (Focus: Collaboration, Communication)

• "How would you advocate for and embed Service Design principles within a new team or project at Lloyds Banking Group?" (Focus: Advocacy, Influence, Culture) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Lloyds Banking Group's purpose 'to help Britain prosper' and how do you see your role as a Service Designer contributing to it?" (Focus: Alignment with Values)

• "How do you approach designing for accessibility and inclusivity, particularly within the context of financial services?" (Focus: Inclusivity, Domain Relevance)

• "Given that this is a 12-month fixed-term contract, how do you prioritize impact and ensure key deliverables are met within that timeframe?" (Focus: Time Management, Deliverables) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly outline the problem, your role, the process/methodology used, the solution, and the impact (quantified if possible).

• Emphasize Systems & Journeys: Use your service blueprints and journey maps to visually explain the complexity and your holistic approach.

• Showcase Collaboration: Discuss how you worked with others and how their input shaped the final design.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Prepare to answer detailed questions about your design decisions, challenges faced, and alternative approaches considered.

• Connect to Lloyds: Whenever possible, draw parallels between your experience and the requirements or context of this role at Lloyds Banking Group.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating not just design skills, but also strategic thinking, collaborative capabilities, and an understanding of the financial services context. The portfolio is the primary tool to evidence these skills.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Service Designer (12 Month FTC) position:

• Submit your application: Utilize the provided link to formally apply through the Lloyds Banking Group careers portal.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 key projects that best showcase your service design expertise, with a strong emphasis on systems thinking, end-to-end customer journey design, and measurable impact. Ensure it clearly articulates your process and contribution.

• Tailor Your CV: Highlight your 5+ years of service design experience, specific methodologies used, and any relevant experience in financial services or digital product development. Use keywords from the job description, such as "Service Design," "Systems Thinking," "Agile," and "Customer Journey Mapping."

• Prepare for the Interview: Research Lloyds Banking Group's purpose and values. Practice articulating your experience using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for behavioral questions, and be ready to present your portfolio with confidence.

• Understand the Context: Familiarize yourself with the "Embedded Finance" domain and the hybrid working expectations for this role.

⚠️ 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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