Design Lead

Our Digital team is undergoing transformation turning our existing capabilities into a modern, and high-performing digital function with agility, user-centricity and innovation embedded throughout. Our vision is to be a catalyst for pensions innovation and regulatory effectiveness. Using digital, data, and technology to revolutionise pension regulation, making it more efficient, secure, transparent, and customer-centred.
As Design Lead, you will play a crucial role in guiding multi-disciplinary teams to deliver value for users. You will be responsible for ensuring the quality of design outputs and maintaining service standards throughout the product lifecycle. You will inform our strategic approach to end-to-end services and support a culture of continuous improvement.
This role requires you to work closely with multidisciplinary teams and senior stakeholders to develop and iterate user-centred products and services. You will manage and mentor user-centred design practitioners, including contractors, increasing design capability and supporting professional development. You’ll advocate for user-centred approaches and grow knowledge of user-centred design within Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) and across The Pensions Regulator (TPR).
This is an exciting time to join us as we implement our DDaT strategy, driving forward our mission to innovate and enhance regulatory effectiveness. Your expertise and leadership will be pivotal in achieving our vision and ensuring that our services are truly user-centred.
Responsibilities
+ Design leadership: oversee a user-centred, evidence-based approach to service delivery, assuring the quality of design practices and outputs across teams.
+ User focus: work closely with teams and senior stakeholders to develop and iterate user-centred products and services, ensuring alignment with user needs and organisational goals.
+ Inclusive design: use ethical design practices to ensure inclusive and accessible services that promote equity and inclusivity.
+ Strategic service development: inform and shape our strategic approach to end-to-end services and evaluation frameworks that demonstrate clear value for users
+ Build capability: identify knowledge gaps and training needs in teams and work with the Head of User-Centred Design to build capability.
+ Practitioner development: manage and/or mentor user-centred design practitioners, including contractors, fostering professional growth and ensuring high standards of practice.
+ Process improvement: improve design processes and tooling to foster effective design practices, integration and consistency.
+ Efficiency and consistency: develop and maintain a system of reusable patterns and components in line with design standards and principles, including the Government Service Standard and TPR’s code of practice.
+ Collaboration and networking: build partnerships across disciplines, departments and other organisations to share knowledge and explore opportunities that deliver value to users.

+ Proven experience in creating and iterating user-centred products and services, gained through years of working in product design, interaction design, service design, or similar disciplines.
+ Excellent knowledge and experience using insights to design inclusive and accessible end-to-end services across multiple channels.
+ Ability to think strategically about end-to-end service design and evaluation.
+ Strong stakeholder management skills including advocating for user-centred approaches and ability to explain user-centred approaches and service design to a wide range of audiences with varied levels of technical knowledge.
+ Ability to identify development needs in yourself and others and to organise training and other activities to develop skills and knowledge
+ Excellent knowledge of design and prototyping tools (such as Figma), an understanding of frontend development, and the ability to work with developers to grow pattern libraries and common components.
+ Knowledge of working with other disciplines to explore technical, policy, and environmental contexts to define a problem space.
+ Ability to lead multidisciplinary teams, including supervising external agencies and temporary staff, and work effectively with multiple stakeholders
+ Adept at problem-solving, with a good understanding of inclusive design, including designing for and with users with accessibility needs.
Desirable:
+ Experience in design system development and application across multiple services
Person Specification
+ Ability to prioritise and use initiative
+ Negotiating skills
+ Problem solving and analytical skills
+ Communication skills at all levels
+ Leadership skills

More than half the UK working population rely on The Pensions Regulator (TPR) to regulate their retirement savings. With a career at TPR, you’ll be joining an organisation that will impact on millions of lives for decades to come.
Everyone at TPR plays an important role in helping to keep more than £2trn of savings safe. We’re committed to bringing people into TPR who are ready to make a difference and put UK savers at the heart of what we do.
It is important to us that TPR remains a great place to work. We do all we can to help our people reach their full potential with learning, secondment, and development opportunities. We put our 900+ employees first, supporting flexible working and offer a diverse, lively, and inclusive environment. This includes our Family Network (Balance), Disability Network, LGBT+ Network (Proud), Minority Ethnic Network, Mental Health Network, and Women’s Network which offer spaces to connect.
Our new corporate strategy outlines a bold and challenging vision of how pensions regulation should evolve to keep pace with a change in the scale and nature of the industry. We are at the start of that journey. Join us to find out what part you can play., Current TPR employees in their first 12 months of employment who want to apply for this vacancy should first contact their line manager to discuss their application.

Alongside your salary of £63,446, Pensions Regulator contributes £18,380 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Salary and benefits
As well as a salary between £63,446 and £81,069 we offer:
+ Civil Service Pension arrangements, which are recognised as some of the best in the pensions world
+ discretionary bonus arrangements
+ access to performance related pay progression
+ 25 days annual leave provision
+ flexible working arrangements
+ development opportunities
+ enhanced parental leave arrangements
+ a free employee assistance programme
+ an excellent office location in Brighton, We are an inclusive employer and offer equal opportunities regardless of an individual’s age, disability, gender identity, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to the recruitment, employment, retention, and development of people with disabilities, and to improving their employment opportunities. Candidates who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria for the job will be offered an interview.
Applications will be considered on a part time and job share basis.
In accordance with Home Office guidance, the successful candidate will be required to provide their right to work in the UK before they start employment. Unfortunately, TPR is not able to offer sponsorship at the time. TPR is a UK-based organisation with a working location in Brighton, candidates must live in the UK to be employed by us.
The Pensions Regulator is an arm’s length government body and part of the public service.
Any offer of employment will be subject to the receipt of satisfactory background screening checks and criminal record checks (BPSS).
Whilst it is our aim to respond to all applicants, if you have not heard from us within 21 days of the advert closing, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. Specific feedback will only be provided if you have attended an interview or assessment.
If you have any queries about this role, or if you have a disability and wish to request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, please email recruitmentteam@tpr.gov.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
Open to UK nationals only.

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.