Lead Service Designer

The Recording & Transcription Program is a Court-led transformation initiative modernising recording, transcription, ordering, access, monitoring and assurance services across the Courts through improved technology, service delivery, operating arrangements and governance. This is a 6-month contract based in Melbourne. Reporting to the Senior Program Manager, the Service Designer will lead human-centred discovery and service design across complex, interconnected workstreams, including the Transcript Ordering and Payment Solution, recording controls and monitoring, and charging-related user journeys. The role will research the needs of internal and external users; map current and target-state journeys, service ecosystems, workflows and controls; develop service blueprints and accessible prototypes; and translate evidence into service principles, requirements, business rules, acceptance criteria and implementation priorities. Working across policy, operations, digital, technology, security, privacy, information management, finance, procurement and change functions, the Service Designer will ensure proposed services are desirable, accessible, operationally viable, technically feasible and aligned with Court priorities. The role requires strong systems thinking, facilitation, synthesis and visual communication skills, and the ability to deliver practical, decision-ready artefacts within the 6-month engagement - such as validated journeys, service blueprints, prototypes, prioritised requirements and a controlled design repository - that establish design coherence and support subsequent procurement, build, testing and transition phases. Key duties and responsibilities Duties Plan and lead the service-design workstream, defining research, design and validation activities, deliverables, dependencies and decision points in alignment with program plans and delivery gates. Conduct qualitative and quantitative research with representative internal and external users, including interviews, contextual enquiry, observation, surveys, workshops and analysis of operational evidence. Synthesise research into clear findings, needs, pain points, opportunities, design hypotheses and evidence-based recommendations, identifying gaps and assumptions requiring further validation. Map current-state services and design target-state service models across users, channels, processes, people, policy, technology, data, controls and provider hand-offs by developing service concepts, personas or user groups, scenarios, journey maps, service blueprints, ecosystem maps, process models, service principles and standards that communicate how future services will operate end to end. Design and facilitate co-design workshops and decision sessions with court users, frontline staff, operational subject-matter experts, governance bodies and multidisciplinary delivery teams. Prototype and test priority journeys, including request, ordering, status, access, monitoring, escalation, pricing and payment scenarios; define assurance evidence and success measures for usability, accessibility, adoption, operational performance and control effectiveness; and iterate designs in response to evidence, usability testing and user acceptance testing. Embed inclusive design and accessibility throughout research, design and evaluation, including the needs of users requiring accessible or assisted service channels. Work with Business Analysts, product owners and operational leads to translate user evidence into prioritised requirements, business rules, use cases, acceptance criteria, service measures and a traceable minimum viable product scope. Collaborate with solution and integration architects, digital delivery teams and assurance specialists so designs account for identity, access, privacy, security, records, data, audit, restricted matters, integration, resilience and support requirements. Analyse service options against desirability, feasibility, viability, accessibility, policy alignment, operational risk, value for money and strategic fit, and present clear recommendations to decision-makers. Maintain a controlled design repository, including research evidence, artefacts, assumptions, design decisions, requirements links and changes, to preserve continuity through procurement, supplier mobilisation, build and transition. Champion the user voice, coach colleagues in service-design methods, lead or support design work packages, and represent the service-design workstream in governance and delivery forums as required. Capabilities Service and systems design: Demonstrated experience leading at least one end-to-end service-design initiative in a complex organisation. Evidence must include current-state and target-state service designs covering users, processes, policy, technology, data and governance, together with an example of a decision or measurable service improvement enabled by the work. User research and synthesis: Demonstrated ability to plan and conduct research with multiple internal and external user groups using at least two appropriate methods. Evidence must show how findings were synthesised into documented user needs, pain points, risks and prioritised opportunities, and how the research changed a design or delivery decision. Journey mapping and service blueprinting: Demonstrated ability to develop and validate current-state and target-state journey maps, service blueprints, ecosystem maps or process models for a complex service. Evidence must show how the artefacts identified dependencies, hand-offs, controls or failure points and informed an agreed future-state design or implementation priority. Co-design and facilitation: Demonstrated experience designing and facilitating structured workshops or decision sessions with diverse users, executives, operational staff and technical specialists. Evidence must include an example where facilitation resolved competing views or uncertainty and produced documented decisions, agreed actions or an endorsed design direction. Prototyping, testing and accessibility: Demonstrated ability to create and test service concepts or prototypes with representative users and apply inclusive-design and accessibility requirements. Evidence must describe the testing approach, findings, design changes and a measurable outcome, such as improved task completion, reduced errors, increased user confidence or formal acceptance. Translation into delivery: Demonstrated ability to convert validated user and service evidence into prioritised requirements, business rules, acceptance criteria, service measures and minimum viable product recommendations. Evidence must demonstrate traceability from at least one user need through to an approved requirement and a tested, implemented or accepted outcome. Service-design leadership and communication: Demonstrated ability to manage service-design activities, dependencies, assumptions, decisions and quality within agreed timeframes, and to communicate complex evidence through clear visual artefacts, written advice and presentations. Evidence must include a decision-ready recommendation that compared options, made trade-offs explicit and supported an executive, governance or delivery decision. Experience Experience designing Australian Government, justice, legal, regulatory or other high-trust services involving sensitive information, complex authority or multiple user cohorts. Experience with digital service design for portals, workflow, identity and access, notifications, payments, case management, restricted information or provider integration. Experience designing operational assurance, monitoring, incident, escalation, support or service-transition processes. Working knowledge of the Australian Government Digital Experience Policy, accessibility requirements and digital assurance processes. Experience working in Agile or multidisciplinary teams and maintaining design continuity through procurement, supplier mobilisation, build and user acceptance testing. Proficiency with contemporary research, collaboration, prototyping and service-mapping tools, and familiarity with Business Process Model and Notation. Formal training, qualifications or certifications in human-centred design, service design, systems thinking, design research, interaction design or a related discipline. Criteria The buyer has specified that each candidate must provide a one page pitch to address all criteria specified. This is equal to 5000 characters. Essential criteria 1. EXPERIENCE • Extensive experience in service design for large scale transformation projects/programs with minimum # years in Federal (preferred) or State Government entities delivering similar projects of complexity / scale / security requirements. 2. EXPERTISE • Demonstrated experience and understanding of human-centered design and the Australian Government's Digital Experience Policy. • Effective stakeholder consultation and consensus-building skills. • Ability to translate insights and research into clear recommendations that influence decision-making. • Experience developing journey maps, blueprints, process flows or prototypes. • Strong communications skills to present complex concepts to all levels of users, executive leadership and the judiciary. 3. COMPLIANCE • Candidates must be Australian Citizens, located in Australia and with minimum baseline security clearance. • Candidates/Service Provider must declare any business relationships/partnerships with any registered seller/s on BuyICT with respect to any potential or perceived conflict of interest. • Declare percentage and/or which aspects of the response was written by AI. Desirable criteria 1. Experience within the courts and judicial sector and designing court transcription ordering portals. Opportunity summary Sellers can submit Up to 3 candidates Number of sellers invited More than 10 Number of candidates submitted Fewer than 10 RFQ closing time 02 Weeks 02 Days 00 Hours Send us feedback About Accessibility Privacy Terms of use Disclaimer and copyright An initiative of the Digital Transformation Agency The Australian Government acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and acknowledges their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the Elders past and present. © Commonwealth of Australia