Description
Policy Lab improves the lives of people in the UK by designing policies that respond directly to their needs. We work across government using innovative, participatory approaches that make policies more efficient and effective. Since 2014, we have involved many thousands of people in policymaking. Our mission is to radically improve policymaking through design, innovation and people-centred approaches.
We are looking for two exceptional Higher Executive Officer (HEO) candidates with strong design, research and technological skills. These roles are integral to delivering Policy Lab’s portfolio of policy innovation projects.
Job Description
Project Delivery
- Work as part of a multidisciplinary, design and research-led project team, providing essential support across project operations and delivery and cross-government engagement.
- Work confidently in a fast-paced, agile environment, managing competing priorities and adapting to changing requirements.
- Support research, design and delivery activity, including logistics for user research, workshops, sprints and events (online and in person), ensuring smooth research and design delivery.
- Work closely with policy, technology and research colleagues, as well as external partners and commissioners, to ensure projects are well run, inclusive and effective.
- Support engagement and business development activity, including coordinating meetings with commissioners, contributing to proposals, and maintaining clear, professional communications.
Design and Creative Practice
- Support and deliver day-to-day design processes within Policy Lab projects, ranging from visual design tasks, creating communication materials, workshop design and delivery, and report design.
- Run creative research activities using a range of material and virtual facilitation techniques to capture people’s lived experience and new ideas.
- Manage diary, travel and meeting arrangements where required, ensuring clear information flows.
- Contribute to continuous improvement by contributing to reviews and refinements of design processes.
- Support communications activity of project work to demonstrate how Policy Lab’s work results in better policy outcomes for people in the UK.
Creative Technology
- Work flexibly across multiple coding languages, programming environments and cloud services to iterate existing Policy Lab software prototypes.
- Develop innovative new software applications using emerging technologies including AI and vibecoding within Policy Lab projects, to meet commissioner needs.
- Support the building of capability around the use and creation of creative technology prototypes within Policy Lab and across wider government.
- Help run and analyse user research, prototype testing and show-and-tell sessions to inform the iteration of Policy Lab’s emerging technology practice.
Person Specification
- High-quality project delivery: experience supporting ambitious projects or programmes that achieve impactful outcomes, maintaining a strong attention to detail.
- Cutting-edge design or creative technology skills: experience applying excellent design and/or creative technology skills across multiple projects in a fast-paced, agile environment, resulting in high-quality products and outcomes.
- Working in multidisciplinary teams: experience managing competing priorities and different ways of working; maintaining effective working relationships across a wide range of stakeholders.
- Innovative approaches to policymaking: experience and/or proven interest in applying design and/or creative technology skills to policy design challenges, through methods such as people-centred research, co-design, speculative design or other participatory methods.
Benefits
- Salary: £37,260 - £41,537 per year
- Department for Education contributes £10,794 towards being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
- 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service.
- King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.
- Flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.