Overview

We're looking for a strategic, systems-minded Service Designer & Change Lead to join our growing design capability. You'll work at the heart of multidisciplinary teams to shape end-to-end services that are accessible, efficient, and centered around real user needs, whilst leading organisational and cultural transformation to ensure successful adoption and sustainable change.

Service Designers & Change Leads at Version 1 work across the full service lifecycle, from discovery through to live and beyond. You'll lead on mapping current and future states, aligning digital delivery with policy and operational realities, and helping clients make confident, evidence-based decisions. Crucially, you'll also design and implement change strategies that ensure new services and ways of working are successfully adopted and embedded within organisations.

You'll collaborate closely with content designers, interaction designers, product managers, user researchers, business analysts and technical leads. You'll help shape service visions, facilitate workshops, and define the structures, processes and journeys that underpin great services. Additionally, you'll guide organisations through transformation—whether that's moving from waterfall to agile delivery, implementing new technologies like AI, or redesigning organisational structures using progressive approaches inspired by frameworks like sociocracy and Brave New Work's OS Canvas.

Responsibilities

• Work across the full service lifecycle from discovery through to live and beyond, mapping current and future states and aligning delivery with policy and operational realities.
• Design and implement change strategies to ensure successful adoption and embedded new services and ways of working.
• Collaborate with content designers, interaction designers, product managers, user researchers, business analysts, and technical leads to shape service visions and functional journeys.
• Facilitate workshops, define structures and processes, and guide organisations through transformation (e.g., agile adoption, AI enablement, and progressive organizational design).

Qualifications

Service Design Expertise

• Can simplify complexity—cutting through noise to make services usable, scalable, and understandable for teams and users
• Are comfortable working in ambiguity and helping teams find direction
• Can plan and lead workshops and navigate, manage and influence diverse stakeholders
• Understand and design for accessibility and inclusion across channels and touchpoints
• Can define the service vision and unite a team around it
• Feel confident pitching the value of service design to colleagues, clients and stakeholders—including those unfamiliar with it

Change Management Capabilities

• Have experience applying change management methodologies such as ADKAR, Kotter's 8-Step Process, or Lean Change Management
• Can assess organisational readiness for change and design tailored change strategies
• Are skilled at identifying and working with change champions, resistors, and stakeholders across all levels of an organisation
• Understand how to measure and evaluate change success, including adoption rates and cultural shifts
• Can design and deliver change communications that resonate with different audiences and address concerns proactively
• Have experience supporting transitions from traditional project delivery to agile ways of working
• Are comfortable facilitating difficult conversations about organisational change and helping teams navigate uncertainty

Systems And Organisational Thinking

• Think beyond the immediate problem to design services and organisational structures that are sustainable, strategic and future-proof
• Have knowledge of progressive organisational models (such as sociocracy, holacracy, or self-management) and when to apply them
• Can assess and redesign organisational structures, governance, and decision-making processes
• Understand how to implement new policies (such as AI governance) and ensure meaningful adoption rather than just compliance

Communication And Facilitation

• Have excellent communication skills, able to adapt information to different audiences and mediums
• Can build a strong evidence base to support design and change decisions—and clearly explain or defend those decisions when challenged
• Are skilled at navigating difficult conversations, helping teams find common ground, and knowing when to escalate issues constructively
• Can facilitate workshops that bring together diverse stakeholders to co-create solutions and build buy-in for change

Technical And Analytical Skills

• Can interpret performance data to make design decisions and inform success metrics to effectively evaluate success and impact
• Visualise complex systems clearly through service blueprints, journey maps, organisational charts, or ecosystem diagrams and adapt the output to the audience learning preferences
• Are confident with tools like Miro and Lucid with basic level of Figma
• Understand and can effectively use design-thinking, systems thinking, change management frameworks, and co-design techniques to help guide teams and make decisions

Collaborative Working

• Work with clients, not just for them—co-creating solutions as one team, and building trusted, respectful partnerships
• Have experience working in agile, multidisciplinary teams
• Can coach and mentor others in both service design and change management approaches

Desirable Experience

• Have experience working to the GOV.UK Service Standard or within the public sector
• Have worked on digital transformation programmes that involved significant organisational change
• Have experience with AI implementation and governance
• Are familiar with progressive organisational design approaches and frameworks

Additional Information

Why Version 1?

At Version 1, we believe in providing our employees with a comprehensive benefits package that prioritises their wellbeing, professional growth, and financial stability.

• Share in our success with our Quarterly Performance-Related Profit Share Scheme, where employees collectively benefit from a share of our company's profits.
• Strong Career Progression & mentorship coaching through our Strength in Balance & Leadership schemes with a dedicated quarterly Pathways Career Development programme.
• Flexible/remote working; Version 1 is tremendously understanding of life events and people’s individual circumstances and offer flexibility to help achieve a healthy work life balance.
• Financial Wellbeing initiatives including; Pension, Private Healthcare Cover, Life Assurance, Financial advice and an Employee Discount scheme.
• Employee Wellbeing schemes including Gym Discounts, Bike to Work, Fitness classes, Mindfulness Workshops, Employee Assistance Programme and much more. Generous holiday allowance, enhanced maternity/paternity leave, marriage/civil partnership leave and special leave policies.
• Educational assistance, incentivised certifications, and accreditations, including AWS, Microsoft, Oracle, and Red Hat.
• Reward schemes including Version 1’s Annual Excellence Awards & ‘Call-Out’ platform.
• Environment, Social and Community First initiatives allow you to get involved in local fundraising and development opportunities as part of fostering our diversity, inclusion and belonging schemes.

Ashley Smith - Talent Acquisition Capability Partner

Ashley.Smith@version1.com

Seniority level

• Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Information Technology

Industries

• IT Services and IT Consulting