Full time, part time, job share and candidates wanting to work on a flexible basis will all be considered.

Now is an exciting time to join Essex County Council (ECC). We have a clear vision - to develop modern services that meet the needs and expectations of our residents in the internet age - and we're looking for talented people to help us achieve it.

We're making things better by building accessible and adaptable services that are simple to use for our residents and employees. Our work is guided by best practice principles of and you can read about our work at . We are also creating a place that's great to do the work in at our new flexible office space in Chelmsford city centre, just a 20-minute train journey from Stratford.

We are looking for an experienced Interaction Designer to help simplify and improve the interactions residents and businesses in Essex have with the council. This is a real chance to make a difference to the lives of people living and working in Essex

About the job

Your job will be to develop new ways for people to interact with council services and design detailed user interfaces, flows and interactions that work across different channels, devices, browsers and platforms. You will work alongside User Researchers to understand the needs of users and apply user insight along with specialist skills to create and prototype interactions that are accessible and intuitive for end users.

This is a newly created role at the council, and you will use your professional experience to help the organisation understand the importance of Interaction Design, working with a range of stakeholders and contributing to the successful delivery of products into live environments.

As an Interaction Designer, you will
* Seek out opportunities for change and improvement, and engage services to work in 'smarter', more focused ways.
* Scope, plan and run collaborative projects to design user-centred interfaces and transaction flows.
* Work with User Researchers to create, iterate and communicate workable prototypes.
* Effectively communicate ideas, explain design decisions and build consensus with stakeholders including senior decision makers.
* Keep up to date with new ways of working and applying best practice approaches to Interaction Design.

About you

We're looking for an experienced Interaction Designer who is committed to using iterative design to deliver a better experience and better outcomes for users of public services. You'll have strong interpersonal skills and want the opportunity to work in a delivery focused, collaborative environment.

You will be able to demonstrate:
* Experience of designing and delivering accessible, secure, responsive user interfaces.
* Experience of effectively managing relationships with senior stakeholders including influencing and challenging decisions that don't meet user need.
* Excellent communication and influencing skills and bringing those who don't have experience of user-centred design along with you.
* Ability to use analytics, feedback and research to improve user journeys and inform decisions.
* Creating sketches and workable prototypes including using front-end web technologies (e.g. CSS/Sass, HTML/Mani, Javascript/Jquery).
* An understanding of Government Service Standards and Government Accessibility regulations.
* An understanding of agile ways of working.

About us
This is an opportunity to be part of a pioneering new team of people who have similar values and are motivated to improve the lives of service users. We are a growing team of fifteen people including Service Designers, Product Managers, User Researchers, Content Designers and Interaction Designers. As a keen collaborator, you will want to help shape how we work to become an exemplar for how teams should 'be' in a modern organisation.

We encourage flexible working and most members of the team work from home or another building at least once a week. You'll find an inclusive culture and a place where your opinion is valued. On top of that, we are a sociable bunch and regularly get together for team lunches and to celebrate our successes.

We offer good training opportunities including the chance to learn from some of the best research and design agencies. We want you to have the best experience when joining ECC and you'll be buddied with an existing team member and complete our Fast Track Programme as part of your induction.

You will find lots of benefits working here such as discounted travel and generous annual leave with the option to buy more, plus reward schemes and savings.

Next steps

If you would like further information, please visit the Working for Essex website or click the applt button to be taken to the appropriate page.

Short listed applicants will be invited to a telephone interview during the week beginning 23rd September 2019. If successful at this stage, you will then be invited to a further interview at County Hall, Chelmsford where you'll have the opportunity to meet some of the team.