Position Description

Senior Service Designer

Role Specifics

Direct reports | 0

Reports to | Chief of Staff

FTE | 1.0 (Full-Time)

Location | Flexible - PLACE functions as a remote/hybrid workforce

PLACE Level | 3

Salary Range | $110,000 - $130,000 + superannuation

Role Summary

The Senior Service Designer will play a key role in PLACE’s efforts to create user-centred, effective, and scalable services that address the needs of communities, stakeholders, and place-based practitioners. This role is central to PLACE’s innovation agenda, ensuring that solutions are designed collaboratively, tested rigorously, and refined to deliver maximum impact.

Reporting to the Chief of Staff, the Service Design Lead will work closely with internal teams and external partners to develop, implement, and iterate PLACE’s services, including shared service models, frameworks for shared decision-making, and resources that support systemic change.

Who We Are

Partnerships for Local Action and Community Empowerment (PLACE) is a not-for-profit organisation, committed to collaborative, community-driven approaches to create impactful and lasting change.

It is our vision to enable communities and governments to jointly decide on matters that are most important to our lives. We lead national initiatives to develop workforce strategies, enhance place-based practices and improve data monitoring and evaluation.

At PLACE, we are dedicated to creating lasting change through understanding, action and empowered governance.

Areas of Responsibility

1. Service Design Leadership

  • Lead the design and development of PLACE’s service offerings, ensuring they are user-centred, effective, and aligned with organisational priorities.

  • Collaborate with stakeholders, including communities, funders, and government partners, to co-design services that meet their needs and priorities.

  • Facilitate workshops, user research, and prototyping sessions to ensure PLACE’s services are grounded in real-world insights and experiences.

  • Develop and implement tools, frameworks, and methodologies to guide the service design process across PLACE.

2. Shared Service Model Development

  • Design and implement shared service models that provide operational efficiencies for place-based backbones, such as administrative support, data management, and grant reporting.

  • Work with local initiatives to customise shared service offerings to their unique contexts and requirements.

  • Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of shared service models, using feedback to refine and improve their impact.

3. Innovation and Iteration

  • Test and iterate PLACE’s services through pilot programs, ensuring they are adaptable and scalable for broader implementation.

  • Identify and address challenges and opportunities for improvement throughout the design and delivery process.

  • Document lessons learned and share insights to build PLACE’s internal knowledge base and influence broader sector practices.

4. Collaboration Across Teams

  • Work closely with the Learn and Share and Strengthen Data teams to integrate evidence and data insights into service design processes.

  • Collaborate with the Enable team to ensure services align with workforce and capability-building objectives.

  • Support the Collaborative Solutions team in identifying systemic barriers and opportunities for innovation.