Hippo is a rapidly growing digital consultancy passionate about building and delivering transformative digital solutions for a diverse range of Public and Private sector clients. We are recruiting for Senior Service Designers with expertise in human-centred design to support our mission. We work at the intersection of strategy, design, and technology to solve complex problems and create lasting value. Our collaborative and agile culture empowers our teams to make a genuine impact.
As a Senior Service Designer, you will play an important role in making Hippo the best Consultancy out there. You will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team combining data, design, product, delivery, analysis and engineering to deliver bespoke digital services that make a positive and meaningful impact on organisations and society. We're confident in our abilities, authentic in our approach, and passionate about what we do.
You will act as a Senior Consultant to deliver Service Design services to our clients. You will be an expert in designing end-to-end journeys that connect digital and offline touchpoints. You are a leader of people, confident in using systems thinking and service mapping to identify opportunities for improvement and articulate a clear vision to our diverse range of clients.
Our solutions empower our customers to build and support secure, scalable, and well-engineered systems beyond traditional boundaries that allow our customers to understand and get the most from their data and digital services. The Senior Service Designer will be a key player and leader in this.
Please note we are looking for candidates who are looking for growth at the Senior level; therefore, the advertised salary band represents the entry point for this level, allowing for clear progression within the role.
Your Role in a Nutshell
Lead the design of end-to-end services, creating and testing service prototypes that solve complex problems across multiple channels and touchpoints.
Lead the creation of visual service maps, such as service blueprints and ecosystem maps, to understand the "as-is" landscape and provide clear, actionable "to-be" recommendations.
Translate user research findings and organizational constraints into actionable service concepts and clear roadmaps for delivery.
Lead collaborative workshops with multi-disciplinary teams and stakeholders to align on service vision and technical feasibility.
Build strong, lasting relationships with stakeholders, supporting them to understand the value of service design and user-centred principles.
Collaborate with Product Owners and Delivery Managers to ensure service design activities are integrated into a prioritised backlog and strategic roadmap.
Identify and apply the best Agile service design processes for projects, ensuring consistent quality and measurable outcomes for users and the business.
Coach and mentor colleagues and actively shape Hippo’s Service Design community of practice.
Essential Experience
Expertise in Service Design within a user-centred design (UCD) environment, with a focus on both digital and non-digital interactions.
Proven ability to work well with researchers and other designers to turn high-level insights into cohesive service solutions.
Familiarity with service design standards, such as the Government Digital Service (GDS) Service Standard or equivalents.
Experience in designing accessible and inclusive services, considering the needs of all users across the entire service lifecycle.
Ability to analyse complex data from different sources (e.g., performance metrics, user feedback) to help the team make strategic service decisions.
Experience planning and adjusting Agile design workflows to ensure the timely delivery of complex service blueprints and prototypes.
Desirable Experience
Experience managing service design work by focusing on client needs and helping to write clear project proposals or business cases.
Ability to help set project goals and ensure all design work contributes to achieving meaningful organizational change.
Track record of contributing to professional service design groups and offering constructive feedback to others in "crits."
What makes us GREAT?
Alongside working with some of the most talented people out there and on-top of a competitive salary, which we’re transparent about from the outset, you can also expect a range of benefits:
Contributory Pension Scheme (Hippo 6% & Employee 2%)
25 Days Holiday plus UK Public Holidays
Perkbox access for a wide range of discounts
Critical illness cover
Life assurance and death in service cover
Volunteer days
Cycle-to-work scheme for the avid cyclists
Salary sacrifice electric vehicles scheme
Season ticket loans
Financial and general wellbeing sessions
Flexible benefits scheme with options of:
Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Hippo
At Hippo, we’re dedicated to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that works for everyone. We understand that having a diverse team unlocks our capacity for innovation, creativity and problem solving. Only by building a community of diverse perspectives, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds can we create an environment where all can contribute and thrive.
We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups including women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent and people with disabilities. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process that reflects our workplace culture. We are a registered Disability Confident Employer, Mindful Employer, Endometriosis Friendly Employer and a member of the Armed Forces Covenant. Hippo continually strives to remove barriers, provide accommodations and offer reasonable adjustments to ensure equity throughout our practices.
Hi, we’re Hippo
At Hippo, we design with empathy and build for impact. We do this by combining data-informed evidence, human-centred design and software engineering. We're a digital services partner who is genuinely invested in helping our clients thrive as modern organisations. Our delivery methodology is truly agile, from concept to reality, supporting innovation and continuous improvement to achieve your desired outcomes.
We firmly believe that technology should serve humanity, not the other way around. We take a human-centred approach to everything we do because we understand that complex problems require a service design approach. This means understanding how users behave and ensuring our solutions work for them in the real world.
Our combination of data, design, and engineering delivers bespoke digital services that make a positive and meaningful impact on organisations and society.
Have a look through our Website at Our Story & Purpose, Our Culture & Values, Case Studies and Our Solutions & Services to find out some more!
Hippo Locations
We are headquartered in Leeds and have offices across the UK in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Bristol. We're on the lookout for top talent nationwide but you need to be located within reasonable travelling distance from one of our offices. Given the dynamic nature of a consulting business, you may be required to work on-site at a Hippo office or at an in/out of town client location for a number of days per week (client dependent) and therefore candidates will need to be open/flexible to travel and working on one of those sites at least 2 days per week. We offer a generous relocation support package of up to £8,000 (please ask for terms and conditions) to help make your move a smooth one.
