Lead service designer

Band 8b · Service designer · 596 job evaluation points

UK GDaD PCF level: Lead service designer

Most often performed at Civil Service grade G7 or G6.

A lead service designer is an expert practitioner who influences and mentors others.
At this role level, you will:
work with service managers and programme directors to develop design concepts
set direction and assure the quality of design delivery across teams
lead multiple or highly complex services

Contains public sector information from the UK Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (https://understand-digital-data-roles-skills.service.gov.uk/), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.

Responsibilities

Set the design direction for multiple services or a whole care pathway, and assure the quality of design across teams.
Work with senior clinical and operational leaders to redesign how care is organized and delivered.
Make sure designs work for people most affected by health inequalities and for staff under pressure.
Set standards for how teams design for clinical safety and for assisted routes.
Line manage and develop service designers.

Skills

Skill	Expected level	What this level means
Design communicationUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: communicate design strategy across organisational boundaries coach others in how to effectively communicate design develop or introduce more effective methods of communicating design and working in the open
Designing for everyoneUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: improve the practice of inclusive, accessible and environmentally sustainable design in multiple teams or across your organisation against measurable criteria help others understand and mitigate potential barriers, biases and assumptions that may exclude or harm users
Designing strategicallyUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: develop a strategy defining the purpose, impact and stages of your work to design content or services, aligning it with wider goals use risks, opportunities and constraints in technology, systems and policy to shape your design work identify and create new design patterns and components
Designing togetherUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: effectively plan and run design sessions that include senior leaders or stakeholders coach other designers in how to involve stakeholders of any level in the design process develop or introduce more effective ways to design together help teams connect and work across organisational boundaries
Evidence-based designUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: embed a practice of hypothesis-driven design in a team guide the organisation in how to use evidence to improve content or services analyse, synthesise and use evidence to improve the way the organisation works ensure user insights are shared with and used by the wider organisation and across government
Iterative designUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: embed the practice of iterative design and agile working in teams or wider organisation guide designers in creating materials to test complex ideas at any fidelity help teams adapt quickly to changes in requirements, priorities or user needs iterate delivery processes or team structures to help teams work effectively
Leading designUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead and coordinate design work for a team advocate for user-centred design with leaders outside of digital and data create an inclusive, productive environment for designers to work in mentor and coach other designers iterate and improve design processes within your team
Understanding health and care servicesThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: analyze how a service fits into care pathways across organizations work with clinicians, care staff, and patients to shape digital services explain the effect of digital decisions on care, safety, and staff workload
Equality, diversity, and inclusionThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: carry out equality impact assessments build inclusive teams and practices
Information governance and data protectionThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead data protection impact assessments and information sharing agreements advise teams on lawful basis, consent, confidentiality, and retention investigate incidents and recommend improvements
Clinical risk managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead hazard identification and risk assessment for a product or change write and maintain hazard logs and clinical safety case reports agree risk controls with product teams and check that they work advise teams on applying clinical risk management standards
Designing for clinical safety and human factorsThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: apply human factors methods, such as task analysis and use-error analysis, to complex clinical workflows design to reduce alert fatigue and cognitive load across a whole service provide design evidence for clinical safety cases and usability evidence for regulated software
People managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: line manage a team, setting objectives and running appraisals support wellbeing and manage attendance, performance, and conduct plan the team's development and succession

Typical qualifications and experience

Extensive experience of leading service design across teams.

Band 8b outline

Knowledge: Expert knowledge across several disciplines or a large service.
Autonomy: Shapes policy and strategy for a large area.
Scope: Several services or teams, or a principal-level discipline.
Leadership: Manages managers, or is the principal authority in a discipline.
Accountability: Several services, their staff, and their budgets.

Job evaluation (illustrative)

Factor	Level	Level summary	Points
Communication and relationship skills	5	Gives highly complex or contentious information needing developed persuasion and negotiation, presents to large groups, or communicates where there are significant barriers to acceptance.	45
Knowledge, training, and experience	7	Highly developed specialist knowledge across the range of the specialism (master's level or equivalent).	196
Analytical and judgmental skills	5	Judgments on highly complex facts or situations needing analysis, interpretation, and comparison of options.	60
Planning and organizational skills	5	Forms long-term strategic plans, with uncertainty and effects across the organization.	60
Physical skills	2	Skills gained through practice, such as standard keyboard use or driving.	15
Responsibility for patient and client care	1	Helps patients, clients, or relatives during incidental contact.	4
Responsibility for policy and service development	5	Implements and develops a range of policies or services for a directorate.	45
Responsibility for financial and physical resources	3	Authorizes payments, buys some assets or supplies, monitors or holds a delegated budget, or maintains assets.	21
Responsibility for people	4	Line manages a function or department, designs training programs as a main duty, or delivers a full range of HR services.	32
Responsibility for information resources	5	Designs and develops major information systems, or runs information systems for several services as the main duty.	34
Responsibility for research and development	2	Regularly does research, development, trials, or equipment and system testing as part of the job.	12
Freedom to act	5	Works within general policies, and in most cases decides how to interpret them.	45
Physical effort	1	Sitting, standing, and walking, with little physical effort.	3
Mental effort	3	Frequent concentration on unpredictable work, or occasional prolonged concentration.	12
Emotional effort	1	Rare exposure, or occasional indirect exposure, to distressing circumstances.	5
Working conditions	2	Occasional unpleasant conditions, frequent travel or outdoor work, or near-continuous screen use on most days.	7
Total (Band 8b: 585 to 629)			596

There is no Band 8a level, because the UK GDaD PCF places lead service designer at G7 or G6 and this reference follows the suggested Band 8b. Policy is level 5 because the lead designer shapes how a range of services across a directorate work.