Contract type/Duration: Permanent
Working hours: Full Time 9 Day Fortnight working pattern
Band: 2.2
Salary: £41,555 - £54,171 (depending on office location and proven ability)
Reports to: Head of Regional and Local Growth Design and Analysis
Location: Milton Keynes, Birmingham or London (minimum of two days a week in the office. You can do more than two days if preferable)
Closing date: 20th of July 2026
The Role
Within Connected Places Catapult, our Design and Analysis team leads the strategic application of design, human insights and economics to create demonstrable outcomes. We use research, analysis and design to shape how we interact with each other, the places we live in, and the innovative organisations that drive change through their products and services.
We are looking for a brilliant consultant Service Designer to join our team. You will bring design thinking, service design and real-world testing methods to some of today’s most complex challenges in the built environment, cities, local economic growth and transport.
You will have a strong design background and be able to apply service design principles to place-based challenges. You are committed to turning ideas into tangible outcomes that work for people and society. You are excited by experimentation, and by the opportunity to bring together design and technology in new and innovative ways.
You will have a keen interest in emerging technologies, along with hands-on experience in applying service design through prototyping, testing and the development of new approaches. You will work on a wide range of projects alongside engineers, data scientists, urban planners, analysts and user researchers. Experience of working in the built environment, including digital construction or BIM-related contexts, would be beneficial.
Your work will be varied and dynamic. One day you might support a local authority in designing new approaches to market engagement using testbeds and living labs. The next, you could be facilitating ideation workshops on the underpinning service design for carbon accounting, or developing innovative ways to run competitions that help grow new SMEs.
If you are ready to use your design skills to make a meaningful impact on people, places and the planet, we would love to hear from you.
- Service design - Apply service design tools in multiple projects and translate (design) research into insights, design opportunities and eventually ideas and concepts. Qualification or experience in a design discipline (e.g. product design, service design, industrial design, strategic design) or equivalent.
- Design Research - Being able to independently perform qualitative design research, applying design ethnography using methods such as contextual interviews, observation, card sorting etc.
- Design of live trial environments – Creating methodologies and processes to determine how a variety of different solutions can be tested in the real world.
- Workshop design – Planning, design and delivery of different types of workshops that involve a variety of stakeholders within our established program of projects.
- Stakeholder management - Working closely with team members to ensure relationships with all project partners are managed successfully.
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Support revenue targets.
- Spot opportunities.
- Contribute to bids and proposals.
- Support client confidence in and building credibility of CPC.
- Support scoping and delivery of streams of work.
- Deliver plans as designed.
- Implement effective project management process.
- Organise your own contribution to the work stream.
- Collaborate effectively across the work streams/project team.
- Provide excellence in delivery.
- Meet (or exceed) utilisation targets.
- Promote innovative and professional delivery focus across project team.
- Support buy in across a range of stakeholders through professional and technical expertise.
- Accountable for timely and high-quality actions/tasks and updates.
- Maintain own professional development.
- Ensure an ethos of equity, inclusivity and diversity underpin your work activity, contribute to inclusive innovation across all Catapult activities.
- You may be required to undertake any other reasonable duties to support the Catapult in achieving its strategic outcomes and ensure effective business operations.
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Identify new methodologies or approaches.
- Identify solutions beyond the tried and tested methods.
- Collaborate effectively across teams and disciplines.
- Influence effectively in projects and tasks.
- Customer perspective is understood and applied.
- Uses multi-channel communication to ensure clarity and connection on activities.
- Able to plan and deliver on multiple activities.
- Respond to and learns from change with ease. ·
- Embed inclusive and sustainability practices in planning and delivery.
- Experience of the built environment, including digital construction, BIM or related sectors, would be advantageous.
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9 day fortnight for everyone
- 23.5 holiday entitlement for everyone, with pro-rata calculations for part-time employees, along with a Christmas shutdown period for additional days off.
- Competitive pension, up to 10% company contribution to help you save for your future.
- Two paid days of volunteering leave per year (pro-rata for part-time employees) to support charitable activities.
- Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) providing 24/7 confidential work/life support services to you and your immediate family members.
- Cycle to Work Scheme encouraging a healthy and sustainable commute.
- Cash Health Plan, offering reimbursement for a wide range of essential and everyday healthcare expenses, promoting your well-being.
- Payroll Giving scheme, allowing regular charitable contributions from pre-tax income, maximizing the impact of your donations.
- Discounts and offers from a wide variety of retailers, enhancing your purchasing power and providing savings opportunities.
- Mortgage Advice benefit, delivered in partnership with Charles Cameron & Associates – provides employees with free, expert mortgage advice and end-to-end mortgage support from the application process through to completion.
At Connected Places Catapult, we are on a mission to create better connected places across the UK and beyond. We believe that innovation is the key to unlocking the potential of our towns, cities, and transport systems, making them more sustainable, inclusive, and prosperous for everyone.
When connected places work, it benefits:
People: wellbeing, access and inclusion for everyone.
Planet: sustainable and increasingly regenerative living and moving.
Prosperity: prosperous local economies and trade.
From supporting SMEs to develop clean transport technologies to helping local authorities unlock innovation in public procurement, our work is making a tangible difference. We help businesses secure millions in investment, create jobs, and drive forward solutions that address climate change, social isolation, and economic inequality.
