Senior Service Designer - SC Cleared - Inside IR35 Contract

Overview

Version 1 has celebrated over 28 years in Technology Services and continues to be trusted by global brands to deliver solutions that drive customer success. Our expertise enables our customers to navigate the rapidly changing Digital-First world we live in. We foster strong partnerships with leading technology giants including Microsoft, AWS, Oracle, Red Hat, OutSystems, Snowflake, ensuring that our customers are provided with the highest quality solutions and services.

We’re an award-winning employer reflecting how our employees are at the very heart of Version 1 and what we do:

• 10+ years as a Great Place to Work in Ireland & UK
• Best Workplace for Women in the UK & Ireland by GPTW
• Best Workplace for Wellbeing in the UK by GPTW

We’re a core values driven company, we hire people who share our values, and we reward those who display and foster them, it’s deeply embedded within our DNA. Invest in us and we’ll invest in you!

Role and Responsibilities

We're looking for a strategic, systems-minded Service Designer 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 centred around real user needs.

Service Designers at Version 1 work across the full service lifecycle, from discovery through to live. 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.

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.

This is a contract role with an immediate start date so I am looking to speak to people with 0 / 1 week notice periods.

Due to client demands you will need to hold active SC Clearance for this role.

Qualifications

• 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
• Have excellent communication skills, able to adapt information to different audiences and mediums
• Can build a strong evidence base to support design decisions—and clearly explain or defend those decisions when challenged
• Can interpret performance data to make design decisions and inform success metrics to effectively valuate success and impact
• Think beyond the immediate problem to design services that are sustainable, strategic and future-proof
• Visualise complex systems clearly through service blueprints, journey maps or ecosystem diagrams (to name a few) and adapt the output to the audience learning preferences
• Are skilled at navigating difficult conversations, helping teams find common ground, and knowing when to escalate issues constructively
• 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
• Are confident with tools like Miro and Lucid with basic level of Figma
• Understand and can effectively use design-thinking, systems thinking and co-design techniques to help guide teams and make decisions
• Have experience working to the GOV.UK Service Standard or within the public sector is desirable but not essential

Benefits

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