The Assistant Director Design Specialist roles in Services Australia (the agency) contribute to the design and improvement of services and experiences for customers, users, and stakeholders through the application of human-centred design, service design, research, and innovation practices.

Strategic design, service design, interaction design and user research activities help identify user needs, generate insights and support practical, evidence-based improvements. The roles work collaboratively with stakeholders to shape solutions, evaluate ideas and translate findings into explicit recommendations.

Working with a high level of autonomy, the Assistant Director manages complex work, exercises sound judgement, and delivers quality outcomes within agreed timeframes, while supporting continuous improvement and building capability in human centred and inclusive practices.

The key duties of the position include:

- Lead and contribute to the design of end-to-end service experiences, ensuring user needs, policy intent, operational considerations, and business objectives are considered.
- Apply service design and human-centred design principles to understand, map, and improve complex user journeys, identifying pain points, opportunities for improvement, and systemic issues across services.
- Collaborate with stakeholders and engage with internal and external professionals, associations, networks and communities to understand business and operating models, systems, constraints and capabilities, while facilitating workshops, presenting evidence and guiding senior colleagues on design approaches, options and trade-offs.
- Develop and communicate concepts and design options, translating ideas into clear written, verbal, and visual formats or practical outputs that support delivery.
- Contribute to design strategy and direction, ensuring interaction design work aligns with organisational objectives, standards and broader service outcomes.
- Provide specialist design advice and contribute to design quality and assurance by applying agreed standards, patterns and governance across products or services.
- Where required, lead and develop staff by coaching APS employees, delegating work, managing performance,



supporting health and wellbeing, and contributing to capability uplift within the design function.
- Contribute to a positive risk management culture and exercise delegations in accordance with legislation and guidelines.

Eligibility

Essential Requirements:

Security Clearance level required: Baseline (or ability to obtain and maintain)

Desirable skills or experience for these roles:

Please include your experience and skills in your resume / CV.

- 5 or more years of experience in service design, interaction design, human-centred design, design strategy, user research, digital transformation or related disciplines.
- Experience in Agile or digital transformation is highly regarded.
- Experience contributing to or leading design capability in large-scale government or enterprise transformation environments, or other complex service environments.
- Experience producing practical design artefacts such as journey maps, service blueprints, prototypes, insights reports, visual models or recommendations.
- Experience mentoring or guiding junior designers to uplift design capability and consistency.

Skills in the following:

Skills for the Information Age (SFIA) that may be required:

- User research URCH – Level 5
- User experience analysis UNAN – Level 5
- User experience evaluation USEV - Level 5
- Stakeholder relationship management RLMT – Level 5
- Specialist advice TECH – Level 5
- Business situation analysis BUSA - Level 4
- Systems design DESN - Level 5
- Strategic planning ITSP - Level 5
- Customer experience CEXP – Level 4
- Requirements definition and management REQM – Level 4
- Accessibility and inclusion: Level 4

In accordance with section 22(6) of the Public Service Act 1999,



Services Australia requires applicants to be Australian citizens to be eligible for employment with Services Australia.

An applicant’s suitability for employment with the agency will be assessed through a pre-employment screening process. This process includes but is not limited to a national police history check, referee checks, code of conduct check and an employment history integrity check.

Some positions within Services Australia may be required to work in settings where mandatory vaccinations are required. Staff in such positions will need to demonstrate that they meet the vaccination requirements or have a relevant exemption.

Notes

Services Australia’s workforce operates using an agile approach, and all staff should be prepared to redeploy to critical frontline functions as required. Should you need to redeploy as part of the agency’s surge workforce, all learning and development and technical/pastoral support will be provided to you to enable you to undertake that work.

Getting to know the Services Australia

We are one of Australia’s largest public sector employers. We are located in every capital city and over 400 local, regional, and remote locations across Australia. Job opportunities in Services Australia can be right where you are or might be right where you want to be. We are looking for people who want to work with us to deliver a simple, helpful, respectful, and transparent experience for our customers. We offer diverse employment opportunities so you can plan to take your career anywhere you want to. We celebrate people with different cultural backgrounds and disabilities. We are also a leading employer of First Nations Australians and a Platinum tier LGBTQIA+ inclusive employer. When you work with us, you will be doing something that matters and be respected for the unique views and skills that you bring. What our people say about working with us: 'It’s rare you find a job that provides such a direct link to the community’ 'You can work for the same agency for your whole career but have the opportunity to work in many different roles' 'Highly supportive team and flexible working conditions where you can be at your best'

📌 Assistant Director Design Specialist (Canberra)
🏢 Services Australia
📍 Canberra