Service Design Lead

London, SE1 – hybrid working

Shape services around people. Improve lives through better design.

At Peabody, we're committed to creating better outcomes for residents and delivering services that are simple, effective and designed around people's needs. We're looking for an experienced and passionate Service Design Lead to help shape the future of our services, driving meaningful improvements that enhance the experience of both residents and colleagues.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead service design across key resident and colleague journeys, using insight, evidence and collaboration to transform how services are delivered. You'll play a pivotal role in helping us better understand the people we serve, identify opportunities for improvement and innovation, and design solutions that create lasting social impact.

A key focus of this role will be working alongside colleagues in Repairs and Complaints, helping to redesign and improve some of our most important resident journeys. You'll use insight from residents and colleagues to identify opportunities, remove pain points and support the delivery of services that are easier to use, more effective and deliver better outcomes. You'll also work across the wider organisation, helping teams design and improve services that enhance both the resident and colleague experience.

What you'll be doing

As our Service Design Lead, you'll lead end-to-end service design activity, ensuring services are designed around user needs and informed by evidence and insight. You'll work closely with residents, colleagues and stakeholders across the organisation to understand challenges, uncover opportunities and deliver practical, sustainable improvements.

What you'll be doing

* Lead end-to-end service design projects, from discovery and research through to implementation, evaluation and continuous improvement.

* Build a deep understanding of resident and colleague needs through user research, resident feedback, operational data and service performance insights, using evidence to identify opportunities for improvement and innovation.

* Partner with Repairs and Complaints teams, alongside colleagues across the wider organisation, to improve some of Peabody's most important resident and colleague journeys.

* Facilitate workshops, co-design sessions and stakeholder engagement activities to develop, test and refine user-centred solutions.

* Map, design, prototype and test services, processes and products, identifying opportunities to simplify experiences, reduce inefficiencies, mitigate risks and improve outcomes.

* Develop evidence-based recommendations and business cases for change, working closely with operational, digital, data and transformation teams to deliver sustainable and scalable improvements.

* Measure the impact of service improvements and champion human-centred design approaches, helping build service design capability across Peabody.

About you

You'll be passionate about improving services and creating positive social impact. You'll enjoy working with people, solving complex problems and turning insight into meaningful change.

You'll bring:

* Experience in Service Design, Human-Centred Design, Product Design or a related discipline, with a strong track record of leading end-to-end design projects and delivering measurable service improvements.

* The ability to navigate ambiguity, analyse complex challenges and turn insight into practical, user-centred solutions.

* Strong research and analytical skills, with experience using qualitative and quantitative data to inform decision-making, influence change and build compelling business cases.

* Excellent facilitation, communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage, collaborate and influence at all levels.

* A curious, evidence-led approach, with a passion for continuous improvement, innovation and delivering better outcomes for residents and colleagues.

* The ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery, working collaboratively to turn ideas into sustainable improvements.

Why join Peabody?

This is a chance to shape services that make a real difference to residents' lives. As our Service Design Lead, you'll work with colleagues across the organisation, including our Repairs and Complaints teams, to understand people's experiences, solve complex problems and design services that work better for everyone.

Using insight, evidence and human-centred design, you'll help improve resident and colleague experiences, drive innovation and deliver meaningful change at scale.

Here’s what you’ll get when you join us:

* Flexible and hybrid working

* 30 days' annual leave, plus bank holidays

* Up to 10% pension contribution, matched 1:1

* Two additional paid volunteering days each year

* Flexible benefits scheme, including options for healthcare, dental care, and more

What to expect from our recruitment process

We’re committed to a fair, inclusive, and transparent recruitment process.

Interviews/assessment will be held in person on the 10 and 11 August in our Westminster Office.

Please read before you apply

* You must have the right to work in the UK; we are unable to provide visa sponsorship.

* We reserve the right to close this advert early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

* To support fairness, transparency and consistent processes, internal candidates should submit their application using their internal work email address rather than a personal account.

We’re committed to delivering Simple, Safe, and Smart services. Our values — Be kind, Do the right thing, Love new ideas, Celebrate diversity, Keep our promises, and Pull together — are at the heart of everything we do. If you're passionate about designing better services and creating positive social impact, we'd love to hear from you. Please apply by submitting an anonymised CV and provide a short supporting statement outlining why you're the ideal candidate for the Service Design Lead role.

As part of your application, you'll also be asked to upload an example of a service, process or customer journey that you've designed or significantly improved end-to-end. We'll ask you to tell us about the challenge you were addressing, your approach, your role in delivering the work and the impact it achieved. We're interested in understanding both what you delivered and how you went about it.

Closing date: 30th July 2026 at midnight