Senior Interaction Designer

Job summary

The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) is a new arm’s-length body which is being set up, at unprecedented pace, to administer compensation to people whose lives have been impacted by the infected blood scandal.

Are you driven and ready for an exciting opportunity which will make a real impact? This is a challenging and fulfilling role that requires pace, impact, sensitivity, and compassion.

The multidisciplinary teams within IBCA’s Digital Service Design Directorate are organised around delivering our mission and priorities. These are:

• to create a user-centred, empathetic end-to-end service at the heart of IBCA
• to provide the means of paying compensation to those eligible
• to iterate our service through starting small and scaling fast, through a test and learn approach.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and talented senior interaction designer to help us achieve our mission and priorities. You will be working across the whole end-to-end journey, improving the experience for people who are making a claim for compensation as well as the staff who are supporting them. This is a unique opportunity to work on the user experience that will make a real difference to people.

Job description

As a senior interaction designer at IBCA, you will be working at pace, collaborating with user Researchers, content designers, business analysts, product managers and developers to create user-centred designs that meets user and business needs.

You will get to work on products that will be used by people who are claiming compensation as well as colleagues who support them through the process. Your work will be varied and will involve design at multiple stages of the process, for both digital and offline channels.

You will join our supportive interaction design community and work alongside other designers to contribute to our emerging common components and patterns.

IBCA follows trauma-informed design principles. As an interaction designer, it is important that you are empathetic and able to work in a trauma informed way. It is essential that you are able to put users’ needs at the heart of your work.

The successful candidate will need to:

• Understand user needs and business objectives in a highly complex service area
• Develop design concepts that help reimagine how services can be delivered end-to-end
• Rapidly design and test digital prototypes with users
• Make design decisions in collaboration with the product team, senior stakeholders, and users
• Contribute to design standards, ensuring patterns and components are consistent, accessible, and easy to use and well documented.
• Help identify new patterns and components unique to IBCA that can be developed into a library of reusable components.
• Contribute to, and support the facilitation of our Interaction Design Community of Practice
• Ensure designs meet WCAG 2.2 standards, focusing on users with access needs as well as those experiencing trauma/vulnerability.
  
  

Person specification

Essential

• Extensive experience in UCD, from initial discovery through to live delivery. You know how to use research to inform design decisions.
• Designing interactions for end-to-end services from concept to delivery, being responsible for the quality and accessibility of interactions.
• Expertise in digital prototyping tools such as Figma, HTML/CSS, or GDS Prototype Kit. You can move between low and high-fidelity designs quickly.
• Ability to create clear, compelling design concepts and artifacts that communicate complex journeys simply.
• Experience working within technical, data and policy constraints while advocating for the best user outcome.
• Experience managing difficult discussions with senior stakeholders and technical teams to reach a consensus.
• Influencing decisions, dealing with challenging situations and removing blockers to make sure interactions are user-centred, usable and accessible.
• Applying design standards to your work and supporting other interaction designers to make sure design standards are met.
• Working in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines.

Desirable

• GDS Experience: Experience working with the GOV.UK Design System and meeting the Government Service Standard or equivalent experience working with large-scale, accessible design systems and rigorous organisational service standards
• Passionate about communities of practice: Are an active member of a design community, comfortable facilitating and networking with others and contributing to ways of working and community activities such as design critiques
• Trauma-Informed Design: Understanding of how to design services for users in vulnerable circumstances or those dealing with bereavement and health issues.

Additional information:

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Ability to prototype in figma or code
• User centred design

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,655, Infected Blood Compensation Authority contributes £16,992 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Premium allowance paid monthly after probation
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%
• 32.5 days of paid annual leave plus 8 bank holidays
• Family friendly policies to support you and your everyday responsibilities
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave, up to 12 months shared parental leave

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, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of your application you will be required to provide a CV setting out your career history and qualifications, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role.

You will also be required to provide a Statement of Suitability (1000 words max.)

Please use your statement of suitability to explain how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria in the person specification section of the job advert.

Your CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the essential criteria listed in the 'Person Specification' section of the job advert.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using your Statement of Suitability. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Should you be successful at sift, you will be invited to attend an interview where you will be assessed on behaviours and technical skills.

Candidates who are successful for interview will be asked to complete a task before the interview to demonstrate their approach to user-centred design problem solving in a multi-disciplinary team. We will provide more detail to candidates if they are selected for interview.

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Expected sift date – week commencing 8th June 2026
Expected interview date/s – week commencing 29th June 2026
Interview location - Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via IBCA.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to IBCA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website)

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service/Disclosure Scotland on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to
the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

PLEASE NOTE: IBCA employees are public servants, therefore the Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNR) do not apply. Candidates who do not meet the CSNR are welcome to apply and applications will not be rejected: successful candidates however will be subject to a Right to Work check to work within the UK.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.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.

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.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : IBCA Recruitment Team
• Email : ibca.recruitment@ibca.org.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : IBCA.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

Our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of selection for appointment on the basis of merit by a fair and open competition. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact the Resourcing Team at IBCA.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Attachments

Employee Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 1851kB)