About this role
Our Experience Design Principals lead and deliver complex client engagements across our public sector portfolio. Sitting within the Experience Design Practice in our Strategy & Design Service Line, they work alongside leadership peers in Advisory & Change and Product & Innovation to deliver holistic outcomes. We're looking for "T-shaped" experience design leaders whose careers have been built around designing and researching digital products and user experiences, with expertise rooted in hands-on practice. You will bring a deep mastery of your core design/research craft alongside a broad, practical understanding of the wider User Centred Design (UCD) landscape. You will have a strong working understanding of our capabilities and the techniques used across our practice - including user research, content design, and interaction design. Because interaction design and service design heavily overlap, you will also confidently advise on Service Design principles. We believe that great delivery stems from: A deep understanding of user needs and behaviours, keeping accessibility and citizen outcomes at the heart of everything we build. The ability to align user needs with client goals, technical constraints or opportunities, and commercial requirements. The ability to articulate this alignment as a clear, powerful, and inspiring service vision. Strong consulting and practice craft skills to realise that vision collaboratively. Agile leadership, enabling cross-functional teams to implement effectively in a changing environment. As an Experience Design Principal, your time will be split across client strategy, hands-on quality assurance, people development, and practice growth: Lead the Experience Design aspects of one or more of our client engagements. You will translate product visions into experience design strategies that deliver category-leading user experiences, overseeing the hands-on delivery of usability improvements and end-to-end journeys across all channels (web and app). Partner closely with user researchers, interaction designers, content designers, engineers, data analysts, and client product owners to make ongoing, recommended improvements that drive better user and business outcomes. You will comfortably blend just-in-time delivery of design artefacts with continuous discovery and long-term ideation. Supporting the Head of Experience Design in running our Experience Design communities of practice, in their regular meetings, away days, knowledge sharing and slack channel engagements. Engage deeply with clients to understand their challenges, provide solution advice, and build lasting, trusted-advisor relationships. You will oversee multiple and concurrent client deliveries to ensure quality and drive the sharing of best practice. Coach and develop team members on your engagements, providing detailed performance feedback. You will undertake people management responsibilities, including performance reviews and the professional development of your engagement and practice colleagues. Act as an experience design authority to provide oversight and ensure alignment with internal and industry best practices. As a member of the practice leadership team, you will participate in business development activities (including bids and pre-sales), identify new opportunities, and help scale the practice to meet business needs.