Service Designer, SEO, 12 Month FTC, Liverpool/Newport

As a member of the Digital, Data and Technology function the post-holder will work closely with colleagues across the Commission in a multidisciplinary team and be responsible for the design of the end-to-end journey of a service. This helps a user complete their goal and the Charity Commission to deliver on its responsibilities. In this role, your work will involve the creation of, or change to, transactions, products and content across both digital and offline channels provided by the Charity Commission.

A service designer is a confident and competent designer who can develop designs based on evidence of user needs and organisational outcomes.

You will:

• Be trusted to make good decisions
• Recognise when to ask for further guidance and support
• Contribute to the development of design concepts
• Interpret evidence-based research and incorporate this into your work

Key Responsibilities

• Design communicationClearly explain problems and design ideas to others
• Clearly explain design decisions to others using appropriate tools and methods
• Designing for everyoneWork with others to design and deliver inclusive, accessible and environmentally sustainable content or services that meet the needs of all users
• Ensure a design meets appropriate standards, for example accessibility regulations, with support
• Designing strategically Align your design work to both the goals and vision of your team and the strategic objectives of your organisation
• Identify potential risks and use design to mitigate them
• Identify opportunities and use design to take advantage of them
• Contribute to the development of design patterns and components

Designing together

• Effectively plan and run a design session with your team, users or internal and external stakeholders
• Identify and engage the right people throughout the design process
• Give and receive constructive design feedback

Evidence-based design

• Analyse, synthesise and clearly explain evidence relevant to users or a service, for example, web analytics data
• Work with researchers or analysts to use evidence to inform, develop and test a design idea

Iterative design

• Apply iterative design principles and agile methodologies to your work
• Iterate and improve a design based on successive rounds of research
• Prototype your ideas at different fidelities to explore and test designs
• Use a range of design tools and techniques
• Use and iterate design patterns and components

Leading design

• Lead and coordinate design work in your team, with support
• Communicate the value of user-centred design to your team
• Support other designers
• Work with digital and data leaders in your organisation, when needed

Problem solving

• Draw together and present reasoned solutions based on a wide range of complex evidence and data - able to act or decide even when details are not clear.
• Recognise patterns and trends from a wide range of evidence / data and draw key conclusions, outlining benefits, risks and design opportunities.
• Identify the main issues in complex problems; clarify understanding or expectations to discover opportunities to create value to users and the business.
• Influence internal and external stakeholders and senior leaders through your analysis and make use of qualitative and quantitative evidence to inform design decisions.

Decision-making

• Present findings and related design / business recommendations to key decision makers.
• Work within clear criteria and timescales laid down by colleagues.
• Plot timelines and manage your workload to suit your own capacity and the project/business need.
• Make day to day operational decisions relating to the co-ordination of user research activity within the Commission.

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)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

To apply for this post, you must complete an online application with the following:

• A blind CV setting out your Job History/Full Qualifications/Previous skill and experiences.
• A Personal Statement (maximum 750 words) demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria for the role outlined on the Job Description.

We will assess your CV and Personal Statement against the Essential criteria for the role.

We will ask you to carry out a Presentation at interview and we will assess you against the following Behaviours at interview:

• Changing and Improving
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Interview Arrangements

Interviews will be taking place via MS Teams

The sift is due to take place on the 9th November /2026

Interviews will be taking place on 18th and 19th November

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

At the interview, the panel can then probe further and ask applicants to provide further specific examples that show how they best demonstrate their skills.

We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process to manage numbers.

Behaviours:

The distinguishing Behaviours (the required skills, knowledge, and behaviours) for this role are set out in the Civil Service Behaviours Framework 2018 (Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) and should be referred to when making this application.

You are required, under the Behaviours approach, to describe how you have dealt with a specific situation.

You must give evidence of your knowledge, skills, and behaviours and how you have applied this, such as what you did or said and how you interacted with other people.

When you are giving your examples, do not spend too many words on description and background information. Avoid using general or unspecific statements. Instead say what the situation was, what you did, what your thought process was and what was the result.

This post is full time however those applicants who do or wish to work an alternative working pattern are welcome to apply. The preferred working pattern may or may not be available. You should discuss this with the vacancy holder.

Reasonable Adjustment:

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled persons, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via Charitycommissionrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Reserve Lists:

If we have more successful candidates than available vacancies, we will hold a 12-month reserve list as standard.

During that time, we may use the list to fill the same, or similar roles with closely matching essential criteria, without further testing of merit. Any appointments from the Reserve list will be made in strict merit order.

Applying:

We recognise everyone as an individual, accepting people for who they are and treating everyone fairly.

All applications for these vacancies must be made online. There are limited exceptions to this. Paper applications will only be considered if you have a disability that will prevent you from applying online. If this is the case, please email Charitycommissionrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Once you have submitted your application it cannot be amended; only submit your application when you have completely finished and answered all the relevant questions.

Please note that late applications will not be accepted.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.