Head of Design and Improvement

England, United Kingdom

4/18/2025

Are you ready to chart your own career path? At SJP we need talented individuals like yourself to support our evolving culture. If you’re seeking an employer that is passionate about excellence, innovation and autonomy, SJP could be the place for you.

At a glance:

Location: United Kingdom

Workplace Type: Hybrid

Employment Type: Permanent

Seniority: Mid-Senior Level

The Head of Design & improvement will manage and develop a multi-disciplinary design team focused on transforming complex services and user journeys. You will create the right conditions for great design and experience. Building a capability that ensures the quality and impact of our human-centred design practice, creating coherent, inclusive experiences

This is a leadership role that requires both strategic oversight and the ability to inspire and support others. You’ll work closely with senior leaders across product, policy, operations and technology to align priorities and ensure the work stays connected to user needs and organisational goals

The role will require strategic leadership that articulates the vision for business optimisation and improvement, working closely with strategic programmes, working with other elements of the design community, such as architecture and business analysis

By researching, reimagining and measuring SJP’s services and processes, you will ensure they are more efficient, effective and intuitive to use, so they better deliver to the needs of our service users, deliver better customer experiences and successful business outcomes

The role holder will champion and embed digital experience and user experience through leadership and cultivation of our User Experience and testing team, supporting and enhancing the delivery of SJP’s corporate strategy across research, ideation, conception, design, prototypes and testing of our digital product portfolio

What you'll be doing:

• Lead, coach and support a team of experienced service designers, UX practitioners and business improvement specialists – fostering growth, collaboration, inclusion, continuous learning and a strong design culture
• Drive a proactive and iterative approach to service design, business improvement and user experience, based on insights and research, with consumer outcomes and user experience at the heart of what they do
• Provide leadership direction aligned to corporate objectives for design across services and touchpoints, ensuring a joined up experience for users and internal stakeholders alike
• Drive quality, coherence and accessibility across all design outputs, building trust and credibility within the team, division and across the wider organisation
• Foster a healthy, inclusive and psychologically safe culture where diverse perspectives and expertise are respected, welcomed and heard
• Develop and operate of a modern Service Design, Business Improvement and Insight function that provides professional expertise and strategic advice and guidance at an enterprise and business level, to help shape and support the overall SJP corporate strategy
• Enhance and maintain the user design and business process principles and promote enterprise compliance alongside accessibility standard and regulations making digital products, services and processes inclusive for all users
• Support capability building across the organisation, helping non-design thinkers view user experience and service outcomes more holistically
• Establish and own key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of design initiatives and use research and data analytics to derive actionable insights for continuous improvement
• Stay up to date with the latest trends across Service Design, Business Improvement and User Experience methodologies to drive innovation and maintain competitiveness, influencing new approaches and fostering a people centric, outcomes driven culture of design thinking and continuous improvement within the organisation
• Lead and manage SJP’s digital insight and performance activity, including user research and digital analytics (Qualitative and Quantitative) with the aim of effectively supporting decision making, and a providing a broader understanding of the needs of the SJP business, advisers and clients
  
  

Who we're looking for:

We’re looking for a people-first leader to guide a team of expert service designers, UX professionals and business improvement specialists. This role is about empowering talent, navigating complexity and bringing clarity to ambiguity

You’re a confident leader who thrives on building strong teams, aligning cross-functional stakeholders and creating space for specialists to their best work

Essential Criteria

• Proven experience of leading high-performing cross-functional teams in fast paced, complex environments, with a track record of unlocking the best thinking from all individuals and creating a feeling of equality and inclusion within the team
• A collaborative mindset, quick to build trust and help others develop. Focusing on achieving excellence across all design disciplines, working with all functions of the Design Community of Practice to achieve outcome-based excellence
• Ability to look beyond and challenge existing ways of working, established methodologies and disciplines, driving the definition and resolution of complex problems in areas critical to the achievement of business outcomes and objectives
• Ability and willingness to drive a proactive and iterative approach to service design, user experience and business improvement, based on research and insight, with measurable, tangible outcomes for our clients, partners and other stakeholders both internal and external
  
  

Desirable Criteria

• Knowledge and experience working alongside or leading design or research teams
• Understanding of user centred design or business improvement methodologies (Systems Thinking, Lean etc) as well as user and digital experience capabilities
• Familiarity with user research, testing and industry digital design delivery methodologies
• A desire to create world class services with the ability to create, promote and deliver digital product and experience strategies across multiple channels and various audiences
  
  

Special Requirements:

There may be a need for travel within the UK or to sites outside the UK may be required on an exceptional basis

What's in it for you?

We reward you for the work you do, whether that’s through our discretionary annual bonus scheme that reflects both personal and company performance, competitive annual leave allowance (28 days plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase an additional 5 days), or online rewards platform with a variety of discounts.

We also have benefits to support whatever stage of life you are in, including:

• Competitive parental leave (28 weeks full pay)
• Private medical insurance (optional taxable benefit)
• 10% non-contributory pension (increasing with length of service)
  
  

Reasonable Adjustments We're an equal opportunities employer and want to ensure our recruitment process is accessible and inclusive for all, if you require reasonable adjustment(s) at any stage please let us know by emailing us at [email protected]

Research tells us that applicants (especially those from underrepresented groups) can be put off from applying for a role if they do not meet all the criteria or have been on an extended career-break. If you think you would be a good match for this role and can demonstrate some transferable experience please apply, regardless of whether you tick every box.

What's next?

If you're excited about this role and believe you have the skills and experience we're looking for, we'd love to hear from you! Please submit an application by clicking ‘apply’ below and our team will be in touch.

As a business regulated by the FCA we would advise you to familiarise yourself with the conduct regulations and in particular consumer duty obligations prior to an interview with SJP.