Service Design Lead

We are looking for an experienced and confident Service Design Lead to play a key role in shaping the future of customer services within Durham County Council. This is an exciting opportunity to lead discovery, service design and future-state operating model development as part of the Customer Journey Transformation Programme, helping to create simpler, more accessible and more responsive services for residents and communities. WHAT IS INVOLVED? You will use evidence, insight and design thinking to understand customer needs, demand, behaviours, service outcomes and operational context. Working across services and with programme, operational, digital, analytical and policy colleagues, you will help shape future service models, challenge current ways of working and identify opportunities for transformational change before detailed design and implementation takes place. What you will be doing:

• Lead discovery activity to understand customer needs, demand, service outcomes and operational challenges.
• Develop, test and refine future-state service concepts and operating model options.
• Apply service design, design thinking and systems thinking methods to explore root causes, test assumptions and identify effective solutions.
• Design future service models that consider people, process, technology, policy, data, organisational requirements and customer outcomes.
• Facilitate workshops and collaborative design activity with services, frontline teams, stakeholders and customers where appropriate.
• Work with operational, digital, analytical and policy colleagues to translate insight and service ambition into practical improvement proposals.
• Support the development of the council's future customer operating model and contribute to wider transformation objectives.
This role offers the opportunity to contribute directly to the council's wider transformation ambitions, helping to redesign services around residents, improve customer experience and support more efficient and sustainable ways of working. You will be joining at an important time, as the council develops new approaches to customer journeys, digital enablement, service improvement and future operating models.

You should have a degree level qualification or equivalent relevant professional experience. You will bring experience of leading discovery, service design, customer journey redesign or future-state service model development in a complex organisation. You will be confident using customer insight, demand analysis, performance information and operational evidence to challenge assumptions and shape better services. You should have strong facilitation, communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across organisational boundaries and influence at different levels. You will be comfortable working through complexity and ambiguity, balancing customer need, operational reality, organisational priorities and transformation ambition. We are particularly interested in candidates who are outcome-focused, solution-oriented and committed to inclusive, evidence-led and resident-focused service improvement. Experience of local government, digital, automation, channel redesign, benefits realisation or business case development would be beneficial.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran. OUR OFFER TO YOU We offer a competitive rewards package that includes attractive salaries, a generous annual leave entitlement of 27 days (rising to 32 after five years' continuous local government service), membership of the excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme, and a range of flexible working arrangements including hybrid working (home and office) where applicable. Explore the full range of rewards and benefits on our website. Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions.