Lead Service Designer

Company Description

A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact.

As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

What we offer

• Impact - The work you do here matters to millions. 
• Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it? 
• Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs.
• Benefits - We care about your well-being.

Agency Description

The PHL Service Design Studio (SDS) sits within the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and supports service improvement efforts across the City of Philadelphia.

SDS believes our municipal government is closer to creating a more equitable Philadelphia when community members and colleagues, who’ve been historically marginalized by government actions, can access and deliver services with ease and agency. To support this belief, SDS collaborates with residents, direct service staff, and leaders to design accessible and trauma-responsive services that honor the diverse needs of Philadelphians.

In practice, that looks like partnering with:

• Agencies: We advance their strategic goals and service improvement efforts.
• Policymakers: We help prototype policy ideas before implementation.
• Program directors: We evaluate the effectiveness of service delivery.
• Colleagues: We coach colleagues on how to use participatory design methods.

For more information, visit our website at phila.gov/service-design-studio and Twitter @DesignStudioPHL.

Job Description

As a Lead Service Designer, you’ll:

• Report to the Service Design and Delivery Practice Lead.
• Contribute to service improvement projects—from beginning to end.
• Lead projects with the support of Practice Leads and Strategists.
• Collaborate with colleagues to build and grow the Service Design and Delivery Practice Area for long-term sustainability.
• Lead skill-share sessions with colleagues to help them apply service design methods to their work.
• Contribute to the field of service design.

Essential functions

Below are the primary duties of this position:

Researching

• Contribute to the design and facilitation of thoughtful and ethical qualitative research to understand the service-related needs of community members, staff, leaders, and other stakeholders.
• Work with team members to synthesize research into insights and well-defined opportunity areas for service design intervention.
• Closely collaborate with team members to develop feasible, person-centered, and comprehensive cross-channel recommendations that improve resident and staff interactions with government.

Designing

• Transform evidence-based recommendations into project deliverables, like service blueprints, process flows, stakeholder maps, and project reports.
• Visually communicate research insights and prototyped-ideas in clear ways, so stakeholders can align on concepts.
• Develop compelling narratives that communicate the human experience to decision-makers, so they can make clear decisions that align with evidence and human need.

Implementing

• Work with UX designers, content strategists, technologists, and other subject matter experts to develop and build tools and resources (e.g., websites, one-pagers, applications, etc.) that support service improvement strategies.
• Participate in the evaluation of pilot projects to understand efficacy.

Collaborating with colleagues

• Communicate work without jargon or pretense.