Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Senior Interaction Designer
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Job Summary
At i.AI, you will help design the interactions, flows and interfaces behind frontier AI products being developed for real public services. Your work will shape how emerging technologies are used to solve real problems for real users - in ways that are useful, trusted, accessible and grounded in evidence.
You will join a multidisciplinary team working at the cutting edge of AI delivery in government. This is an environment for designers who want to tackle hard questions, work through ambiguity, influence product direction early, and help ensure teams build the right things in the right way.
This is a rare opportunity to work on some of the most important and fast-moving questions in government: how AI can be turned into practical tools that improve public services, while staying focused on user needs, ethical considerations and measurable impact.
At i.AI, we do not explore technology for its own sake. We work quickly to understand whether there is genuine value in a problem area by building working products, putting them in front of users, and learning from what happens next. Design is central to that process.
If you are excited by difficult questions, fast feedback loops, and the chance to improve public services through evidence-led design, this is an opportunity to make a genuine impact
Job Description
About the role
Interaction Designers work within agile teams to design interaction flows and product interfaces that meet our standards for usability, branding and accessibility. Their work helps teams deliver better products and services, reduce cost and risk, and continuously improve based on evidence.
This is a rare opportunity to work on some of the most important and fast-moving questions in government: how emerging AI technologies can be used to solve real problems for real users, in ways that are useful, trusted and grounded in evidence.
You will work in one of our multidisciplinary product teams, each focused on a different application of AI to a government problem space - for example planning, education, government operations or frontline services. Our goal is not to explore technology for its own sake. We work quickly to understand whether there is genuine value in a problem area by building working products, putting them in front of users, and measuring real impact.
i.AI is an incubator, which means our teams are small, nimble and optimised for learning fast. You will need to be flexible, comfortable with ambiguity, and motivated by turning insight into action. In return, you will have the chance to shape products at an early stage, influence strategic decisions, and ensure teams stay focused on the needs, behaviours and realities of the people they are trying to serve.
If you are excited by difficult questions, fast feedback loops, and the chance to improve public services through evidence-led design, this is an opportunity to make a genuine impact.
What You Will Work On
- Deliver high-quality, user-centred designs as part of a multidisciplinary team
- Use evidence to challenge assumptions, validate decisions and negotiate with stakeholders
- Build ethical review and evaluation into your work to reduce unintended consequences
- Develop patterns for how people interact with AI, working with teams across i.AI and beyond
- Lead good design practice, including line managing junior designers
- Contribute to i.AI's design community and to GDS and cross-government design communities
- Foster an inclusive team culture built on honest feedback and continuous improvement
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Person specification
Who We Think Will Thrive In This Role
You may be a strong fit if you bring some of the following:
- Designs clear, usable, accessible interfaces that work across devices and browsers, grounded in user needs
- Has a track record in user-centred digital product design in a product-led organisation, and knows which tool or method suits the job
- Is proficient across a range of design and prototyping tools, including HTML prototyping (AI-assisted is fine)
- Collaborates well in multidisciplinary teams, iterates designs using data, research and best practice, and builds strong working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders
- Communicates clearly and persuasively, bringing clarity and alignment across project and leadership teams, especially when things are ambiguous
- Reflects critically and asks difficult questions, seeing the big picture and its wider implications while staying focused on the minimum viable product
- Contributes to the wider design community, for example by speaking at meetups or writing blog posts
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Take home test
Salary and Benefits
Alongside your salary of £56,850, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £16,469 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:
- A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
- Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
- An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
- Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
- A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection Process Details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.
Candidates should expect to go through some or all of the following stages once an application has been submitted:
- A short initial conversation
- Technical take home test
- Second interview in which we’ll review the technical test
- Third interview with wider representation from the team
- Final interview with members of the senior team
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Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality Requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
Contact Point for Applicants
Job Contact :
- Name : Aaron Kukadia Gadher
- Email : Aaron.KukadiaGadher@dsit.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : Aaron.KukadiaGadher@dsit.gov.uk
Further Information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance dsitresourcing.GRS@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/
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