Service Designer - LOTI

Package Description

Job Title:    LOTI Service Designer

Division:    London Office of Technology and Innovation

Pay Band:    D, £50,721

Responsible to:    LOTI Digital Innovation Delivery Lead

Location:    London Councils,12 Arthur Street, London, EC4R 9AB.

Duration:    Two years fixed

Secondments:    LOTI is open to offering this role as a secondment opportunity.

Start date:     From September 2025 (depending on notice period)

Indicative Timeline:

• 2 September @ 5pm - closing date for advert
• 10 - 12 September - 1st stage interviews and assessments (in-person at London Councils' office)
• 15 September - 2nd stage interviews (online)

Role Responsibility

Reporting into LOTI’s Digital Innovation Delivery Lead, your main responsibilities will be to:

• Work to deliver the user research and service design aspects of projects led by different members of the LOTI team, while being supported and under the guidance of your line manager.

• Use (and advise the LOTI team and its members on how to deploy) a variety of service design tools and methods such as primary and secondary research, user stories, personas, wireframes/prototypes etc., in order to help design products and services that address real resident needs and successfully achieve project outcomes across thematic areas.

• Iteratively map and design processes, services and/or products providing expertise in the optimisation of accessibility and usability, ensuring that solutions meet the Government Digital Service Standard.

• Use LOTI’s outcomes-driven methodology and agile methods for the planning and execution of projects.

• Undertake activities that are likely to include:

  • Conducting discoveries to better understand and define resident needs and problems, scoping potential solutions for streamlining services and developing products;

  • Mapping of user journeys/process flows;

  • Developing and owning detailed research and design plans;

  • Iteratively prototyping and testing services and products using the latest tools and methods, working with LOTI’s partners and contractors.

  • Making insight-led recommendations and supporting the scaling and adoption of services/products;

  • Designing, supporting and/or running project-related workshops and events;

  • Convening project partners at each stage of the design process to clarify hypotheses and keep them focused on the project’s key goals and activities;

  • Managing relationships with technical contractors and other experts;

  • Guiding partners on the use of LOTI’s outcomes-driven methodology;

  • Monitoring and seeking effective solutions to issues and risks, escalating where necessary;

  • Working with data and AI specialists in the LOTI team to ensure ethics and information governance processes and principles are followed as part of the design of projects;

  • Ensuring the progress and outputs of each design project are captured and shared as part of our commitment to working in the open;

  • Ensuring the views of all participating project partners are fully considered, verified and validated and that effective prioritisation is applied to ensure a successful project outcome.

• Write clear and concise start/end of project summaries and reports, sometimes in conjunction with other partners/consultants, making recommendations based on gathered insights.

• Represent LOTI at meetings with local authorities, the GLA, other organisations and relevant networks and communities of practice, as required. 

• Actively participate in the coordination and delivery of other LOTI team projects and activities.

Organisational Responsibilities

• To adhere to London Councils’ policies, procedures, regulations and protocols in the discharge of all duties, in all aspects of work, including the Data Protection Act 2018.

• To take care at all times to uphold health and safety at work for self and others and observe London Councils’ Health and Safety policy and related procedures. 

• To uphold the highest standards of ethical conduct in line with the expectations of a local government officer and to adhere to such standards in order to uphold the reputation of London Councils and local government in London.  

The Ideal Candidate

Our ideal candidate will:

• Be creative and have experience of using a wide range of tools and methods to deliver highly engaging workshops, design and test prototypes and deliver projects.

• Be curious and willing to find out what makes good services work.

• Be committed to constantly learning, trialing new tools and methods and honing your craft.

• Enjoy problem-solving in complex, changeable and sometimes ambiguous environments with many different stakeholders, where creativity and a strong dose of pragmatism are required.  

• Have buckets of initiative and a willingness to find or develop new approaches based on the needs of our team and LOTI members.

• Be informed and credible in talking to local authorities and LOTI partners about the role of user-centred design methods in improving public services.

• Be comfortable designing and running exploratory design-led workshops on a range of topics, that seek to clarify desired outcomes.

• Be able to contribute to design briefs for technology partners and oversee the delivery of technology products.

• Have the mindset and energy needed to switch between different contexts and topics, often several times a day.

• Have experience managing projects using agile methods involving multiple teams and/or organisations, while building strong relationships with all partners.

• Be a clear and articulate communicator, both in writing and in person.

• Be comfortable working in a small and fast-moving team, managing a mixed and varied workload, and responding effectively to the needs of a range of stakeholders.

About the Company

About LOTI

LOTI is London local government’s collaborative innovation team. We help London borough councils and the Greater London Authority (GLA) use innovation, data and technology to be high performing organisations, improve services and tackle London’s biggest challenges together. We connect more than 1,500 local government colleagues online and in person, helping them to share knowledge, build capacity, run projects and influence change together. Read all about our activities at: https://loti.london/.

How we work

The LOTI team is currently made up of 10 people. While being small, LOTI can draw on the time, ideas and energy of dozens of people from across our membership. We are committed to being a high-performing team, constantly reviewing, learning and adapting our ways of working, and operating in a high-challenge, high-support culture. We approach all aspects of our work with an outcomes-driven mindset, with an emphasis on finding creative and pragmatic solutions that can work in the complex environment of local government.

Note

LOTI’s work constantly evolves as we try new things, learn and adapt to meet the needs of our members. This job description is therefore not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the post-holder works. Other duties appropriate to the post may be assigned from time to time.

Hybrid working

The nature of LOTI’s activities is such that a significant amount of work can be conducted remotely. We currently envisage that 1-2 days a week (usually a Monday plus one other) will be spent in London, but the timing and frequency will be discussed and agreed with the team based on the needs of our members and London Councils' policies.