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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Lead AI Service Designer and User Researcher - **Company:** Department for Energy Security and Net Zero - **Location:** London, UK (Remote available) - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** £56,900.0 - £69,765.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, Software Product Management, Service Design, User-Centered Design - **Published:** September 3, 2026 - **Apply:** https://uk.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=3c989f543b485811 ## About the Role * Significant experience of user-centred design in a large, complex organisation, spanning both user research and service design. * Experience of designing and delivering inclusive research with a range of users and across different methods, and the judgement to choose the right method for the question being asked. * Experience of mapping and designing end-to-end journeys, covering business process as well as user journey, and of balancing user needs against business, operational and technical constraints. * Experience of turning ambiguous ideas into structured, testable problem statements, requirements and measures of success. * Able to create actionable, evidence-based insight and communicate it clearly and confidently to senior stakeholders. * Able to navigate a complex stakeholder landscape and gain support for research plans, findings and ways of working. * Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team, and of commissioning or quality-assuring design and research delivered by others. * A demonstrable commitment to accessible, inclusive and equitable design. Desirable Criteria * Experience of discovery on AI or data-enabled products, including recognising where AI is not the right answer. * Familiarity with the Government Service Standard and experience of government service assessments. * Experience of working with linked administrative or personal data and the information governance constraints that come with it. * Experience of working in an agile environment with complexity, uncertainty and organisational constraints., * Changing and Improving * Communicating and Influencing * Working Together Technical skills, This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills., 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. ## Description The DESNZ Change & Transformation Directorate is shaping what it means to be a truly consumer-focused department, reimagining our operating model, organisational capabilities, systems, processes and structures to meet both immediate and long-term goals. A key part of that transformation is harnessing the power of AI. The AI Product Development Team is a new, discovery-led product team within the Change & Transformation Directorate. We take the department's highest-value AI ideas and shape them into well-understood problems and well-designed solutions, then direct the specialist capacity needed to build them., * Run product discovery on everything the team takes on, understanding the problem and the users before the team commits to a solution: who the users are, what they are actually trying to do, and what is getting in the way. * Turn ideas into structured, testable use cases with clear problem statements, barriers and data requirements. * Map the end-to-end journeys and design the service around them, covering the as-is and to-be business process as well as the user journey. * Elicit requirements from users and business owners, and test ideas before the team decides what or whether to build, using prototypes, journey walkthroughs and research with real users. * Set the accessibility, inclusion and user-need standards the team designs to. * Commission and quality-assure any additional design or research capacity. * Act as the voice of the user in the team's investment and prioritisation advice to the DESNZ Data & AI Committee, and in handover to the business owners who adopt what we build., Candidates who meet the minimum benchmark may be placed on a Reserve List for consideration for similar roles, including those at a lower grade. Candidates who narrowly miss the benchmark and are not placed on the Reserve List may still be considered for an offer in a similar role at a lower grade. Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you. Any move to the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website. DESNZ does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home). DESNZ cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DESNZ holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify., * 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 ## Related Videos - [Design as an algorithm, not as a feature](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/471-design-as-an-algorithm-not-as-a-feature) - [Insight into AI-Driven Design](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1016-insight-into-ai-driven-design) - [What If We Designed Employee Experience Like a Customer Journey?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1824-what-if-we-designed-employee-experience-like-a-customer-journey) - [Edit Your Future: Queerverse Radical AI](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/909-edit-your-future-queerverse-radical-ai) - [GenAI after the Hype: Transforming Organizations with GenAI-based Agents](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1099-genai-after-the-hype-transforming-organizations-with-genai-based-agents) - [AI is dead, long live AK](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1093-ai-is-dead-long-live-ak) ## Related Articles - [How to Become an AI Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/331-how-to-become-an-ai-engineer) - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [Got AI ideas but no money? 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