Interaction Designer

The role sits within the UKHSA’s core User-Centred Design (UCD) team, which is part of the Readiness and Surge division. Readiness and Surge works across UKHSA and sets the strategic direction for UKHSA’s readiness to respond to all threats and hazards. We focus on Agency capability, putting external stakeholder and customer needs at the centre of designs for the future. We identify opportunities to improve public health outcomes through better user experiences.

The team are responsible for:

• Embedding UCD approaches into UKHSA ways of working
• UCD expertise in project delivery
• Ensuring user needs are understood and designed for, advocating for all users, to achieve equitable outcomes
• Ensuring our products are accessible and developed to the Government Service Standard and use appropriate style guides and patterns
• Leading the UKHSA-wide UCD community of practice to support organisational and in-profession development
• Standards for UCD professionals

Working for your organisation

We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.

UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all., As an interaction designer, you’ll work as part of a multidisciplinary squad collaborating with teams across UKHSA. This role involves providing strategy, guidance and support to internal teams across UKHSA to ensure that their policies, services and products are user-centred.

You’ll be comfortable working with complexity, knowing which design methods to use to explore problems across digital and non-digital channels.

You’ll be working with stakeholders to design services that reduce friction and complexity across the whole service, finding accessible solutions to problems and helping UKHSA to achieve its public health objectives.

You’ll deliver interactive prototypes across projects, serving a wide range of user types and will be able to solve usability issues without compromising accessibility.

Together with other UCD professions you’ll ensure quality, innovation, and creativity in how we approach all aspects of design and how we bring concepts to life for stakeholders to effect change.

You’ll be an active part of the UCD community. You’ll actively demonstrate and encourage sharing of insights and practices within the community and across the organisation.

As an interaction designer you’ll:

• Deliver effective designs - supporting service transformation by using user-centred design methods, best practice and appropriate tooling to explore problems and opportunities within large, complex organisations
• Working with stakeholders and customers to understand existing services and identify key opportunities to improve the service end-to-end
• Experience of work with other professions and stakeholders to discover and analyse insights to identify common themes, pain points and user needs
• Identify solutions to complex problems within services, and support these by developing design concepts, balancing user needs with business, operational and technical requirements
• Prototype complex ideas at an appropriate fidelity and iterate them
• Advocate for the value of a user-centred, inclusive, and evidence-based approach to interaction design and delivery to embed effective and user-centred design practice
• Experience of planning design activities, working directly with other professions to ensure effective and timely delivery
• Improve design practice by using a range of design techniques and encouraging others to also think of alternative ways to conduct design work, developing the practical experience of non-specialists
• Actively participate in the UCD community of practice, fostering a culture of continuous professional development, working openly and collaboratively to contribute to building the service design capability, The User Centred Design Team will be running two webinars:
• 13th of August at 15:00 Hrs.
• 20th of August at 15.00 Hrs.

The purpose of the webinar is to enable you to hear more about this role and speak to some of the team. This is a great opportunity to learn more about our culture, what we do at UKHSA and provide general advice on the application process.

If you would like to attend one of the webinars, pleases contact ucdteam@ukhsa.gov.uk who will email you a Teams invite for the webinar date of your choice.

Stage 1: Application & Sift Success Profiles - GOV.UK

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed 8 essential criteria, and this will be in the form of a:

• Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
• 750 word supporting statement

This should outline how you consider your skills, experience and knowledge provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.

You will receive a joint score for your application form and statement. (Please note you will not be able to upload your CV. You must complete the application form in as much detail as possible. Please do not email us your CV).

Healthjobs UK has a word limit of 1500, but your supporting statement must be no more than 750 words. Please do not exceed 750 words.

Longlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will longlist into 3 piles of:

• Meets all essential criteria
• Meets some essential criteria
• Meets no essential criteria

If used, the pile ‘Meets all essential criteria’ will proceed to shortlisting.

Shortlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will conduct an initial sift, on the lead criteria of:

• Experience in the use of various prototyping tools and methods to deliver interactive prototypes, demonstrating ability to create designs that are accessible without compromising delivery timelines, This role is being offered as hybrid working based at any of our Core HQs. We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA’s core HQs (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London). Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport links and benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Security Clearance Level Requirement Successful candidates must pass a basic disclosure and barring security check before they can be appointed. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Baseline Personnel Security Standard.

Eligibility Criteria Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including internal applicants)., If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and it could be time accrued over that period.

Internal Fraud Check If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant’s personal details – name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub, and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for external candidates to the Civil Service.

Careers website Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers

If you are not currently a civil servant, you will take up the post on a Fixed Term Appointment. You may be able to take this role up as a Secondment. If you are an existing Civil Servant based outside of UKHSA, you will take up the post as a loan, which you will need your department to agree. You cannot take the post up as a fixed term. If you are an existing UKHSA member of staff, you will take up the post as either a level transfer or a temporary promotion as per UKHSA’s pay policy. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment., * 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)
• 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

• Experience in interaction design and applying user-centred design methods and practices in complex organisations
• To be able to manage relationships with a variety of internal and external stakeholders to improve services and gain support for standards, design solutions, roadmaps, and ways of working
• Experience in the use of various prototyping tools and methods to deliver interactive prototypes, demonstrating ability to create designs that are accessible without compromising delivery timelines
• To be able to communicate with developer colleagues, leveraging knowledge of front-end languages to ensure designs are developed to standard and remain accessible
• To be able to apply iterative design principles and agile methodologies to your work
• To be able to demonstrate the importance of designing inclusive, equitable, accessible and sustainable services
• To be able to plan design activities, working directly with other professions to ensure effective and timely delivery
• To be able to identify new design patterns and components based on evidence

Desirable role criteria:

You may also have experience of:

• Coding using HTML/CSS
• The GOV.UK Prototype Kit and associated hosting technologies
• Government service assessment, You will be invited to a single remote interview to assess your technical skills and will also incorporate a 15 minute presentation on your understanding of user-centred design and interaction design.

The technical skills to be assessed for this role are

• Design communication
• Designing for everyone
• Evidence based design
• Iterative design, Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Pulled from the full job description

• Pay rise
• Company pension
• Transport links, Alongside your salary of £41,983, UK Health Security Agency contributes £12,162 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides .
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%