Senior Interaction Designer - Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency - Leeds, United Kingdom

We are currently looking for a Senior Interaction Designer to join our Digital and Service Design Function within the Digital and Technology group.

This is a full-time opportunity, on a permanent basis. The role will be based in 7/8 Wellington Place, Leeds, LS1 4AP.  

Government departments and agencies are working towards implementing a minimum 60% attendance in office sites.

We are currently implementing a flexible, hybrid way of working, with a minimum of 8 days per month working on site to enable the collaboration and contact with partners and stakeholders needed to deliver MHRA business. Attendance on site is driven by business needs so depending on the nature of the role, this can flex up to 12 days a month, with the remainder of time worked either remotely or in the office. Some roles will need to be on site more regularly. Please discuss this with the recruiting manager before accepting an appointment. 

This role attracts a Market Pay Supplement of up to £20,371 per annum, in recognition of the specialist skills required and current market rates. The supplement is reviewed annually and is non-pensionable.

Who are we? 

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency enhance and improve the health of millions of people every day through the effective regulation of medicines and medical devices, underpinned by science and research.  

The Digital and Technology Group (DTG) lies at the heart of the Agency and is responsible for delivering an optimised IT infrastructure and maximising the secure use of data to enable our scientists, inspectors, and the rest of the organisation to deliver world-class services which can improve outcomes for patients and the general public. Its centre of excellence is also responsible for delivering a broad portfolio of change initiatives, both to transform the Agency’s legacy technologies and to deliver innovative new solutions. The Group was essential in the race to approve COVID-19 vaccines in 2020 and in supporting the UK to set up its own medicines and devices approvals systems following our exit from the EU. 

What’s the role? 

This is an exciting opportunity for a Senior Interaction Designer to help shape a new user-centred design practice at the MHRA. Working across multidisciplinary teams and high-profile services, the post holder will contribute to designing high-quality digital products and services, liaising with external suppliers as well as co-ordinating customers, colleagues and stakeholders. This role will involve working with senior product and service owners, programme directors and SROs to develop design concepts and supporting design activities across multiple and often highly complex services. 

Key responsibilities: 

• Provide design leadership and hands-on interaction design for complex projects and portfolios of work;




• Use best practice and standards consistent with the rest of government;




• Advise and support software engineers in the development of designs, and iterate gov.uk patterns and components




• Work closely with service designers to gather and interpret evidence from service design walkthroughs and analysis, using this insight to design solutions and communicate well-reasoned rationale to stakeholders, ensuring that chosen approaches are grounded in user needs and service context

Who are we looking for? 

Our successful candidate will: 

• Clarify your own understanding and stakeholder needs and expectations using evidence, before making decisions. 




• Analyse and accurately interpret data from various sources to support decisions. Find the best option by identifying positives, negatives, risks and implications. Present reasonable conclusions from a wide range of complex and sometimes incomplete evidence. 




• Communicate with others in a clear, honest and enthusiastic way in order to build trust.  Explain complex issues in a way that is easy to understand. 




• Demonstrate positive customer service by understanding the complexity and diversity of customer needs and expectations with emphasis on the importance of considering the different needs and contexts of end users. 




• Deliver high quality, efficient and cost-effective digital products and services, with clear manageable plans for delivery within given constraints. 

Person Specification: 

Method of assessment: A=Application, T=Test, I=Interview, P=Presentation 

Behaviour Criteria:

• Changing and Improving (I, P)




• Making Effective Decisions (I, P)




• Communicating and Influencing (I, P)




• Managing a Quality Service (I, P) 

Experience Criteria:

• Create and iterate prototypes to test and communicate ideas using a variety of methods (I)




• Developing designs and user flows for interactive tools for example to support transactional services (A, I, P)




• Understand user needs, user journeys and processes and how to design products and services that meet them (A, I, P)




• User research methods and practice, with proven experience of using metrics and user feedback to inform designs (A, I)




• Work with designers, user researchers and front-end developers to turn concepts into user-centred design and explain design decisions and how they were impacted by user research (I, P)




• Contribute to growing the community of designers in the agency (I)




• Leading workshops and discussions to facilitate the development of interactive designs through collaboration with other professions (I)

Technical Criteria:

• Degree level or significant equivalent experience in interaction design (A, I)




• Previous experience working with prototyping tools and wireframe development (A, I)




• Working within an agile delivery framework (A, I)




• Developing, delivering and improving digital products and services ideally in the public sector (A, I)

If you would like to find out more about this fantastic opportunity, please read our Job Description and Person Specification!

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The selection process: 

We use the Civil Service Success Profiles to assess our candidates, find out more here. 

• Online application form, including a statement of suitability, of no more than 750 words demonstrating how you meet the