Public Sector Resourcing
Senior Service Designer

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Senior Service Designer - 6 Month Contract (Inside IR35)
On behalf of DWP we are looking for a Senior Service Designer for a 6 month (Inside IR35) contract. Hybrid working with 3 days per week in either Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds or Sheffield.
About the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions, and child maintenance policy. As the UK’s biggest public service department, it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers. As such, we operate on a scale that is almost unmatched anywhere in Europe and most people in Britain come into contact with us at some point in their lives.
Working with DWP
Working with DWP, you will be helping us to drive our priorities to:
- Help people to move into work and support those already in work to progress, with the aim of increasing overall workforce participation
- Help people to plan and save for later life, while providing a safety net for those who need it now
- Provide effective, efficient, and innovative services to the millions of claimants who rely on us every day, including the most vulnerable in society
- Improve experience of our services while maximising value for money for the taxpayer
Key Responsibilities
As a Senior Service Designer, your main responsibilities will be to:
- Lead the design and optimisation of end-to-end services across multiple channels and touchpoints.
- Conduct and facilitate service design activities including service mapping, customer journey mapping, service blueprinting and design workshops.
- Collaborate closely with Product Managers, User Researchers, Business Analysts, Content Designers, Interaction Designers and Technical Teams.
- Translate user, business, policy and operational requirements into effective service solutions.
- Identify service pain points, dependencies, risks and opportunities for improvement across complex service landscapes.
- Facilitate stakeholder engagement to build alignment across digital, operational, programme and policy teams.
- Use research insights, performance data and evidence to inform service design decisions.
- Support service assessments and ensure alignment with Government Service Standards.
- Produce high-quality service design artefacts, recommendations and strategic outputs.
- Champion user-centred design practices and coach teams in service design methodologies.
Reasons to use Rodeo
I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?
Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.
Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.
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Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
Graduate Consultant — 2026 Scheme
Why you're a good match
StrongYour economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.
See breakdownIt searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Why you're a good match
You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.
Experience fit
Your summer at the bank plus your econometrics coursework map directly to the day-one responsibilities on this scheme — client modelling, market briefings, and deal support.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Required Experience
- Extensive service design experience within large and complex organisations.
- Experience supporting services through Discovery, Alpha, Beta and Live phases.
- Experience working within multidisciplinary agile delivery teams.
- Ability to analyse complex service ecosystems and identify strategic improvement opportunities.
- Experience producing high-quality design artefacts and recommendations for senior stakeholders.
Desirable Skills
- Previous experience within DWP or another central government department.
- Knowledge of accessibility standards and inclusive design principles.
- Experience designing services for vulnerable users or high-volume citizen-facing services.
- Experience using collaboration and design tools such as Miro, Mural, Lucid or Figma.
- Understanding of operational service delivery and service performance measurement.
- Experience coaching or mentoring Service Designers.


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Important Notes
- This role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.
- As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, DWP guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group.
- DWP guarantees to interview veterans or spouses/partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates/military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group.
- In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following: "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different".
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