Interim Deputy Head of User Experience

East Kilbride (Hybrid) | £750 per day | Inside IR35 | 6-12 Month Contract

We’re seeking an experienced leader to provide strategic and operational leadership across service management, user experience and customer-facing functions within a complex, secure technology environment.

Reporting to the Head of User Experience, you’ll lead critical live service operations while ensuring that user needs, research insights and service performance data directly influence service improvements and future service design.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Service Operations, Business Relationship Management, Business Development, Data Analytics and User Research teams.
• Own service performance, KPIs, executive reporting and major incident governance.
• Drive continual improvement across live services, ensuring user outcomes remain at the heart of decision making.
• Strengthen the User Research capability, embedding evidence-based insights into operational improvements and future service design.
• Champion a user-centred approach aligned to Government Digital Service (GDS) principles and best practice.
• Develop demand management, forecasting and stakeholder engagement capabilities.
• Establish strong data and analytics practices to support service decisions and strategic planning.
• Coach and develop multidisciplinary leadership teams through organisational change.
• Represent the organisation at senior leadership and stakeholder forums.

Essential Experience

• Senior leadership experience within User Experience, Service Management, IT Operations, Service Delivery, Managed Services or Live Service environments.
• Proven track record leading large-scale operational services and multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience overseeing User Research, Service Improvement, Customer Experience or UX functions alongside service operations.
• Strong understanding of user-centred design principles, user research methodologies and evidence-based decision making.
• Experience working within or alongside GDS service standards, digital delivery frameworks or service assessment environments.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with senior business and technical leaders.
• Experience balancing operational delivery with transformation programmes.
• Excellent knowledge of modern ITSM and ITIL practices.

Desirable Experience

• Government, Defence, National Security or other highly regulated environments.
• Experience supporting digital transformation programmes using GDS-aligned approaches.
• SIAM or multi-supplier service environments.
• DV Clearance.

Contract Details

• Rate: £750 per day
• IR35: Inside IR35
• Location: East Kilbride (Hybrid)
• Duration: 6-12 months initially
• Clearance: SC required, DV preferred

Please note: This role is aimed at senior operational leaders who can combine service excellence with strong user-centred leadership, ensuring operational decisions, user research and service design work together to improve outcomes for users and stakeholders.