Senior Interaction Designer

Job summary

Senior Interaction Designer

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is seeking a senior interaction designer to contribute to its digital transformation. This role involves designing user-centred public services at scale within multidisciplinary teams, aligning with Government Design Principles. Key responsibilities include identifying and resolving complex public infrastructure issues, promoting best practices and standards in user centred design, and mentoring junior designers. The successful candidate will be proactive, take ownership of design activities (like facilitating critiques and documenting user journeys), and possess excellent leadership, collaboration, presentation, and communication skills to work effectively with various stakeholders.

Find out more on our Design in Government blog.

This role will be carried out in-line with IPO Hybrid working arrangements where staff are currently expected to spend at least 20% of their time working onsite from one of our offices. This role is based in our Newport Office.

The requirement for attendance at an office location can vary by role so we would encourage candidates to discuss working arrangements with the recruiting manager to agree a reasonable balance between working from home and the office.

Job description

Main duties consist of but are not limited to:

• Design and Develop User-Centred Services: Work in agile, multidisciplinary teams to rapidly develop design concepts for complex transformation programs, collaborating with service managers and programme directors. This includes actively participating in user research, creating prototypes, and designing user interactions across various channels, devices, and technologies, all while being able to justify design decisions with evidence and data.
• Promote and Implement Design Excellence: Champion a consistent, high-quality user experience by promoting reusable design elements and best practices across the IPO and wider government communities. This involves contributing to user-centred design standards and guidance, utilising the GOV.UK Design System, and ensuring designs meet accessibility, legal, and security requirements, as well as the GOV.UK Service Standard.
• Lead and Mentor Design Professionals: Provide management support, coaching, mentoring, and training to other designers (including HEO Interaction Designers), focusing on their development, the quality of their work, and ensuring adherence to best practices.

Person specification

Essential criteria

• Experience working effectively in an agile, multi-disciplinary team environment, delivering iterative design components as part of a project team.
• Experience in designing accessible solutions across various channels to meet customer needs. Proven ability to produce essential user-centred design deliverables, such as user flows, process flows, service blueprints, and site maps.
• Proficient in using prototyping tools like GOV.UK Prototype Kit, Figma, or Adobe XD to create and validate high-fidelity prototypes.
• Experience in conducting usability testing, either independently or collaboratively with user researchers.
• Demonstrated experience working with the GOV.UK Design System, Service Manual, and design principles, including the ability to recommend new patterns or update existing ones within the system.
• Experience in leading community of practice activities.
• Proven ability to mentor and coach designers across the UCD profession.

How to Apply

Click the 'Applynow' button and complete the application form by providing the following:

Your CV

• Upload an anonymised copy of your current CV. Please remove all identifying markers such as name, title, education institution etc.
• Make sure it clearly shows how you meet the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification.

750-word Personal Statement

• Use this to explain why you're suitable for the role.
• Structure your statement around the essential criteria in the Person Specification.
• Make sure to provide clear examples to show how you meet each requirement.

If you require job-specific information, please contact Dominic Read
E-mail: Dominic.Read@ipo.gov.uk
Telephone: 01633 433189

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Working Together
• Developing Self and Others
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £47,766, Intellectual Property Office contributes £13,837 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Unlimited Pluralsight video learning access
• Access to Microsoft’s ESI training suite
• Hybrid working with no core hours
• Substantial support for career progression
• 25 days annual leave moving to 30 days in annual increments
• You will also get 8 days public leave and 1 day privilege leave

For more information about what’s on offer at the Intellectual Property Office please review our IPO benefit pack attached to the bottom of this advert.

Please note that benefits may be subject to change.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Additional details on security and vetting

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check and if successful you must also hold, or be willing to obtain, a higher Security Clearance.

For meaningful checks to be carried out individuals will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, depending on the level of clearance, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. For this role the successful individual will need to have consistently lived in the UK for a minimum 5 years in order to meet the relevant security clearance.

Further information on the vetting process can be found at National security vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK

If you have questions regarding this or are unsure if you meet the eligibility criteria, please contact Recruitment@ipo.gov.uk

Stage 1 – Sift

An initial sift of applications will be carried out to create a shortlist. This will be based on the evidence provided for the following Success Profile elements:

Experience

Your CV will be used to assess your suitability for the role and Your 750 word Personal statement will demonstrate your Experience against the listed person specification/essential criteria.

Stage 2 – Interviews

If invited to interview Behaviours and Experience based questioning will be used.

Please note candidates that proceed to the interview stage will be required to deliver a presentation against the Ability Success Profile. Further details will be provided in the invite to interview information.

This recruitment campaign will keep a reserve list for 12 months. If you meet the requirements for this role but aren't offered after passing the interview, you'll be placed on the reserve list. If a suitable position opens up during this time, we will reach out to individuals in merit order.

The successful candidate would be expected to remain in the role for a minimum of 12 months before applying for another role.

Applicants to note: CVs sent direct to the IPO will not be accepted.

There may be important information contained within the job role profile candidates may also wish to refer to. We recommend candidates download and save a copy of the role profile for reference.

This post is being advertised to Internal, acrossGovernment and external candidates at the same time.

Incomplete and/or late submissions will not be accepted or considered. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

We do not routinely reimburse travel expenses for candidates, however if participating in the selection process would cause you undue financial hardship or if it restricts your ability to participate, please contact the recruitment team for more information.

In line with Government guidance, successfully appointed candidates will need to provide documents for our Right to Work checks. Information on this will be sent within the invite to interview text.

If you require a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, then please let the recruitment team know viarecruitment@ipo.gov.uk

Please be aware that only one application per candidate is permitted for each recruitment campaign. Multiple applications, including those made using different accounts, may result in your application being withdrawn or rejected at any stage of the process.

For more information on the IPO’s terms and conditions, please review the attached IPO Modernised Terms and Conditions document attached at the bottom of this advert.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : IPO Recruitment team
• Email : recruitment@ipo.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@ipo.gov.uk

Further information

Commissioners Statement
The Civil Service recruits by merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

Complaints Procedure:
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, please contact;
Penny Phillpotts
Intellectual Property Office,
Concept House,
Cardiff Road,
Newport,
NP10 8QQ.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

Attachments

IPO Modernised Terms and Conditions Opens in new window (doc, 148kB)What's on offer at the IPO Opens in new window (pdf, 2034kB)Senior interaction designer - March 2026 Opens in new window (docx, 117kB)