Service Designer
Future Cities Catapult - London, United Kingdom
Posted 1 day ago
About this job
Job description
The Future Cities Catapult is seeking a service-minded designer with a broad design background who is keen to apply systems and service-thinking to city challenges.
As part of the Innovation and the Lab team, you will be working in multidisciplinary teams, including researchers, data scientists and diverse external stakeholders.
In building our Lab’s unique combination of capabilities, we are looking for someone who is passionate about making ideas tangible and actionable, as well as excited about experimenting with new and innovative processes that bring together design, data and futures.
Responsibilities
- Leading the design innovation process and multidisciplinary project teams for a wide variety of projects.
- Develop and refine our bespoke innovation processes, integrating with and complementing the breadth of activity across the Lab and the rest of the Catapult.
- Facilitating a wide variety of stakeholders through Future Cities Catapult workshops and events.
- Leading on the use of service design tools and techniques to make ideas tangible and actionable for cities, citizens and UK business.
The role-specific first year outcomes are:
- Within the first 3 months: Refine the bespoke Future Cities Lab design processes and offer.
- Within 12 months: Compete 4 to 6 Design Sprints.
- Within 12 months: Develop new services that address citizens and city needs (2 to 4 projects).
- Within 12 months: Contribution to the development of ideas and services, manifesting in 6 or more prototypes for SMEs and cities.
Desired Skills and Experience
You are well-versed in user-centred design and innovation processes, ideally with broad experience across different types of service experiences, from digital to traditional. You have experience working with complex project stakeholders and leading non-designers though a design process.
As a member of a truly multi-disciplinary startup, you are comfortable being introduced to and experimenting with new approaches yourself.
You are confident scoping and leading the whole design process, from user research to idea generation to prototyping and pilots. You have particular experience working on the trickier end of service design delivery: prototyping, iteration, piloting and implementation.
You are passionate about working on citizen and urban challenges. Ideally, you are interested or experienced in designing for behaviour change (around health, finances, energy use, etc.) and/or interested in the emerging world of big/open data and how these could make services and cities better.
Competencies
- Leading and running a user-centred design and innovation processes, particularly around services.
- Relevant use of the tools of service design: journeys, touchpoints, blueprints, maps, personas and the like.
- Creative idea generation and the translation of research insights into great service experiences.
- Comfort with adapting processes to suit different project needs and structures (unlike more traditional design consultancies, the Future Cities Catapult will play different roles in different projects and programmes).
- Delivering and implementing service designs through prototyping and piloting.
- Excellent communication skills, visually and verbally. You enjoy presenting work, designing presentations, articulating concepts and facilitating workshops.
- Workshop design, prep and facilitation.
Desired Skills and Experience
- Demonstrable experience in user-centred design delivering design solutions, with a focus on services (from analog to digital), ideally across sectors (public, private, third).
- A background in some other kind of design: e.g. product or 3D, strategic, architecture, urban or interaction design.
- Interest/experience in designing services or products:
- for behaviour change (around health, finances, energy use, etc).
- enhanced by data.
- supplemented or enhanced by technology.
- for B2B (business to business) focused organisations.
- Experience helping organisations become more innovative with their own tools, processes and cultures.
- Willingness to travel for work or research, mostly UK-based, but possibly internationally.
- Comfort navigating and producing documents and prototypes with the Adobe software suite.
- The ability to thrive in the fast-paced, changing environment of our dynamic new start up and provide self-directed, high-quality support to a wide variety of project stakeholders.
About this company
We are the Future Cities Catapult, a global centre of excellence on urban innovation. A place where cities, businesses and universities come together to develop solutions to the future needs of our cities.
We’re one of seven ‘Catapults’ launched by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board. The aim for each of them is to become a world-leading innovation centre in its own specialist area. In doing this, we will help UK businesses develop the products and services that cities will need in the future, and then sell them to the world.
Our Catapult is all about urban innovation. We’re focussed squarely on the challenge of urban integration: how cities can take a more joined-up approach to the way they plan and operate.
Based in the heart of London, our role is to get people working together to solve real challenges faced by real cities right now.
Cities sharing what’s worked for them in the past. Companies and universities working together. New innovations being road tested at scale. New solutions getting to market. Teaming up to remove barriers to innovation. The Future Cities Catapult is a neutral space where all this happens.
We’re making London the place to come for cities that need help with urban innovation. And we’re also driving future economic growth in the process. Because we’re based in London we unlock global markets for British business, and help UK businesses create the products and services that cities need around the world.
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Future Cities Catapult –Service Designer
Permanent, full-time
Location: Central London
Responsible to: Head of Innovation
Working Hours: 37.5h per week
Contract: Permanent, 3 month probation 1 month notice
Holiday: 25 days per annum, plus statutory holidays.
Equal Opportunities: The FCC strives to be an equal opportunities
employer and commitment to this process will be
expected.
About the role
The Future Cities Catapult is seeking a service-minded designer with a broad design
background who is keen to apply systems and service-thinking to city challenges.
As part of the Innovation and the Lab team, you will be working in multidisciplinary
teams, including researchers, data scientists and diverse external stakeholders.
In building our Lab’s unique combination of capabilities, we are looking for someone
who is passionate about making ideas tangible and actionable, as well as excited about
experimenting with new and innovative processes that bring together design, data and
futures.
Responsibilities
Leading the design innovation process and multidisciplinary project teams for a
wide variety of projects.
Develop and refine our bespoke innovation processes, integrating with and
complementing the breadth of activity across the Lab and the rest of the Catapult.
Facilitating a wide variety of stakeholders through Future Cities Catapult
workshops and events.
Leading on the use of service design tools and techniques to make ideas tangible
and actionable for cities, citizens and UK business.
The role-specific first year outcomes are:
Within the first 3 months: Refine the bespoke Future Cities Lab design processes
and offer.
Within 12 months: Compete 4 to 6 Design Sprints.
Within 12 months: Develop new services that address citizens and city needs (2 to
4 projects).
Within 12 months: Contribution to the development of ideas and services,
manifesting in 6 or more prototypes for SMEs and cities.
2
About You
You are well-versed in user-centred design and innovation processes, ideally with
broad experience across different types of service experiences, from digital to
traditional. You have experience working with complex project stakeholders and
leading non-designers though a design process.
As a member of a truly multi-disciplinary startup, you are comfortable being
introduced to and experimenting with new approaches yourself.
You are confident scoping and leading the whole design process, from user research to
idea generation to prototyping and pilots. You have particular experience working on
the trickier end of service design delivery: prototyping, iteration, piloting and
implementation.
You are passionate about working on citizen and urban challenges. Ideally, you are
interested or experienced in designing for behaviour change (around health, finances,
energy use, etc.) and/or interested in the emerging world of big/open data and how
these could make services and cities better.
Competencies
Leading and running a user-centred design and innovation processes, particularly
around services.
Relevant use of the tools of service design: journeys, touchpoints, blueprints, maps,
personas and the like.
Creative idea generation and the translation of research insights into great service
experiences.
Comfort with adapting processes to suit different project needs and structures
(unlike more traditional design consultancies, the Future Cities Catapult will play
different roles in different projects and programmes).
Delivering and implementing service designs through prototyping and piloting.
Excellent communication skills, visually and verbally. You enjoy presenting work,
designing presentations, articulating concepts and facilitating workshops.
Workshop design, prep and facilitation.
Desired Skills and Experience
Demonstrable experience in user-centred design delivering design solutions, with
a focus on services (from analog to digital), ideally across sectors (public, private,
third).
A background in some other kind of design: e.g. product or 3D, strategic,
architecture, urban or interaction design.
Interest/experience in designing services or products:
o for behaviour change (around health, finances, energy use, etc).
3
o enhanced by data.
o supplemented or enhanced by technology.
o for B2B (business to business) focused organisations.
Experience helping organisations become more innovative with their own tools,
processes and cultures.
Willingness to travel for work or research, mostly UK-based, but possibly
internationally.
Comfort navigating and producing documents and prototypes with the Adobe
software suite.
The ability to thrive in the fast-paced, changing environment of our dynamic new
start up and provide self-directed, high-quality support to a wide variety of project
stakeholders.
About Us
We are the Future Cities Catapult, a global centre of excellence on urban innovation. A
place where cities, businesses and universities come together to develop solutions to
the future needs of our cities.
As you can guess by the name, our Catapult is all about urban innovation. In particular,
we're focused squarely on the challenge of urban integration: how cities can take a
more joined-up approach to the way they plan and operate. To improve quality of life,
strengthen their economy and protect the environment.
If you meet the requirements and are keen to join the Future Cities
catapult, send your CV along with a cover letter to
jobs@futurecities.catapult.org.uk.
Applications closing date: 25th of June 2014
www.futurecties.catapult.org.uk
Twitter: @FutureCitiesCat