Company Description

A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact.

As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

What we offer

• Impact - The work you do here matters to millions. 
• Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it? 
• Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs.
• Benefits - We care about your well-being.

Agency Description

The PHL Service Design Studio (SDS) is an office within the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and leads service improvement initiatives at the City of Philadelphia.

We, SDS, believe we’re closer to creating a more just city when residents and colleagues—who have and continue to be marginalized by government actions—can access and deliver government services with ease and agency. To support this belief, we collaborate with community members and staff at all levels of government to design accessible, equitable, and trauma-responsive services that honor the diverse needs of Philadelphians. 

We lead service improvement projects by providing design research and evaluation, strategic service design, participatory and collaborative design, implementation and change management support, strategic planning, and project management.
 
We help our partners and collaborators: 

• Build a shared understanding of service challenges and outcomes. 
• Define strategic approaches for improvements—particularly those that reimagine City services and programs to be more equitable, accessible, and trauma responsive. 
• Define project scopes to drive improvements forward in the short and long term. 
• Create and test prototypes of service concepts to ensure effective delivery. 
• Plan and support the implementation of service improvements at scale. 
• Coach and consult on applying participatory service design approaches and building deeper relationships with communities. 

As a team, we value:

• Lived experience and dignity: We center the needs and voices of the people who stand to be the most impacted by our work.
• Interdependence and solidarity: We center practices and outcomes that are mutually beneficial, use research to understand historical and cultural contexts, and build on existing efforts. 
• Collaboration and accountability: We build and nourish relationships based on care, honesty, and reciprocity, and take responsibility for the intended and unintended consequences of our actions.
• Transformation and impact: We assess root causes of inequity and dysfunction and develop plans, strategies, and tools that help people move through change. 

For more information, 

• Visit our website at phila.gov/service-design-studio and Twitter @DesignStudioPHL.
• Read our yearly reports.

Job Description

Salary: The maximum salary for this role is $95,000.

Position summary:

We are hiring two Service Design Strategists with a focus on community co-design.

Co-design, or collaborative design, is a practice that strives to share power with communities most impacted by design processes and its outcomes. Designing with, not for communities is at the heart of co-design. At SDS, co-design processes build the capacity of those who are most impacted and who bring expertise derived from lived experience to collectively make decisions around issues and service improvements, with a particular focus on communities often marginalized by design.

As a Service Design Strategist with a focus on community co-design, you’ll:

• Lead service improvement projects and initiatives.
  • Manage multiple, concurrent projects and priorities, including delegating and coordinating tasks and responsibilities across team members.
  • Navigate ambiguity and challenges with creative problem-solving, a focus on generating solutions, and grace. 
  • Set and provide a direction and vision for and with a project team. 
  • Provide mentoring, guidance, and support to project team members.
• Contribute to the growth of the Community Co-Design Practice within the PHL Service Design Studio and the broader field of design.
  • Report to and be mentored by the Community Co-Design Practice Lead.
  • Collaborate with colleagues to grow the Community Co-Design Practice Area for long-term sustainability. 
  • Lead skill-share sessions with colleagues to help them apply co-design methods to their work.

In the near-term, you’ll be working with a cross-agency team to deliver projects connected to Executive Order 2-24—ensuring a local government that’s visible, responsive, and effective.
Essential functions:

NOTE: When we say “co-designers,” we’re referring to the people who are our main collaborators within a project. Co-designers could be community members or direct service staff within a City of Philadelphia department.

Condition-setting 

• Build awareness and understanding of co-design and required conditions to practice it. 
• Experience discerning when to pursue co-design and when to recommend a different approach. 
• Steward collaborative scoping processes, needs assessment, opportunity definition for co-design—that strive to challenge dominant cultural, colonial norms, and cultures of domination.
• Experience fostering long-term investment in community collaboration or stewardship (when applicable). 
• Deep understanding around how to facilitate accessible and inclusive co-design processes with diverse stakeholders. 
• Engage in regular personal and collective reflection that leads to new practices. 

Co-learning (or design research)

• Facilitate and/or create the conditions for co-designers to effectively:
  • Identify research goals, data collection methods, and samples. 
  • Develop research protocol and related materials. 
  • Facilitate research activities and related processes. 
  • Lead or support synthesis and analysis processes. 
  • Generate meaningful insights, opportunities, and narratives. 

Co-visioning (or design strategy)

• Facilitate and/or create the conditions for co-designers to collectively: 
  • Generate a broad range of solutions and future visions with diverse audiences. 
  • Design tools like blueprints, process flows, systems maps, etc. to communicate current state and future opportunities.
  • Develop actionable strategies and recommendations for improvement. 
  • Create roadmaps or plans for long- and short-term improvements and initiatives. 
• Identify and facilitate creative activities for collaborative ideation and creation.
• Guide co-designers towards holistic approaches to addressing systemic issues.

Co-creating (or prototyping)

• Facilitate and/or create the conditions for co-designers to:
  • Develop low- and high-fidelity prototypes of service concepts and improvements (or collaborate with technical experts as needed). 
  • Test prototypes for feasibility, usability, accessibility, sustainability, and effectiveness with stakeholders. 
  • Iterate on prototypes with feedback from stakeholders and implementation requirements.
  • Agree on concept to build and implement. 

Implementation

• Support service delivery staff/teams in adapting improvements in response to changing requirements and real time feedback. 
• Facilitate and/or ensure co-designers are involved in building the final concept by creating the conditions for co-design to:
  • Plan and conduct pilot testing (if relevant). 
  • Develop strategies and plans to support the roll out and implementation of new improvements. 
  • Develop governance plans and accountability strategies to maintain and embed improvements within and beyond the organization. 
• Ensure stakeholders have time to reflect, celebrate, and receive credit for their contributions. 

Project management

• Create a project scope of work. 
• Develop and maintain project plans and timelines. 
• Ability to manage multiple, concurrent projects and priorities, including by delegating and coordinating tasks and responsibilities across team members.
• Lead project partners, project team, and work streams effectively. 
• Proactively and clearly communicate the status of project work to stakeholders. 
• Navigate ambiguity and challenges with creative problem-solving, a focus on generating solutions, and grace. 

 Leadership

• Set and provide a direction and vision for and with a project team. 
• Provide mentoring, guidance and support to project team members.
• Contribute thought leadership within the City and to the larger design community. 
• Understand and negotiate City structures to advocate for people-centered service design. 

Standards development

• Contribute to the development and maintenance of SDS’s co-design standards, tools, and other resources. 
• Support other SDS colleagues in applying co-design practice area standards to their projects. 

Competencies, knowledge, skills, and abilities:

• Values-based practice: Demonstrate commitment to equitable process and outcomes, prioritize the voices most impacted by change and service challenges, and practice emotional intelligence and cultural humility.
• Systems thinking: Understand and work across the complexity and interconnectedness of systems, issues, organizational structures, and ways of working.
• Inclusive facilitation: Facilitate meetings, workshops, and conversations that encourage active participation, rebalance power asymmetries, practice cultural humility, and help groups build consensus or make decisions collectively. 
• Communication: Practice clear, accessible, and honest articulation of complex ideas and approaches through spoken, written, and visual formats.
• Collaboration: Manage conflicts with sensitivity, give and request thoughtful feedback, and practice emergence towards shared goals and agreements.
• Relationship building: Build a culture of mutual care, deep listening, reflection, and celebration.
• Continuous learning: Engage in ongoing reflection and learning as well as be aware of and adapt to current trends and practices in design, government, and analogous fields of practice.

Qualifications

A successful candidate will have:

• A design-related degree or relevant industry experience. 
• Four to five years of professional experience practicing service design and managing projects and project relationships with colleagues, clients, and other stakeholders. 
• Demonstrated experience in applying service design methodologies and tools to analyze, design, and improve service experiences.
• Strong background in service design methodologies and tools, with a focus on participatory approaches that involve community members in the design process.
• Experience in facilitating co-design workshops, focus groups, and participatory design sessions with diverse stakeholders.
• Proficiency in service design techniques such as co-creation, ethnographic research, participatory mapping, and storytelling.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and engage with diverse communities to understand their needs, values, and priorities.
• Experience in applying community organizing principles and participatory techniques to empower community members to actively participate in the design and delivery of services.
• Sensitivity to cultural differences, power dynamics, and barriers to participation, with a commitment to fostering inclusive and equitable processes.
• Experience with qualitative research.
• Strong data visualization and visual design skills.
• Project, time, and relationship management skills.

HOW TO APPLY 

Complete applications are due on Sunday, June 9, 2024, by midnight ET.

NOTE: To ensure our hiring process is unbiased, we will not be facilitating one-on-one informational sessions with professional peers while we’re actively hiring.

You should submit the following through Smart Recruiters:

• A cover letter highlighting the values that underpin your work and your experience with co-design. (No more than 300 words.)
• Your resume or curriculum vitae.
• At least three work samples that demonstrate your expertise in service design and co-design. Samples could include research protocol and workshop plans, findings and recommendations reports, and other design outputs.

Our hiring process is as follows:

• A hiring committee will review complete applications.
• Top candidates will participate in a 1.5-hour virtual interview and portfolio review with the PHL Service Design Studio (SDS) team.
• Final candidates will participate in a 30-minute virtual conversation with SDS leadership.
• We'd like the new employee to start in August or early September 2024.

Additional Information

Start date
We'd like the new employee to start in August or early September 2024.

Work schedule
The team works 37.5 hours a week. Currently, we’re on a hybrid schedule, but soon we’ll transition back into the office full time. However, a lot of flexibilities will remain with your schedule.

Residency
A successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire.

Discover the Perks of Being a City of Philadelphia Employee:

• Transportation: City employees get unlimited FREE public transportation all year long through SEPTA’s Key Advantage program. Employees can ride on SEPTA buses, subways, trolleys, and regional rail for their daily commute and more.
• Parental Benefits: The City offers its employees 6 weeks of paid parental leave.
• We offer Comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents.
• Our wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan
• Employees receive paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays
• Generous retirement savings options are available
• Pay off your student loans faster - As a qualifying employer, City of Philadelphia employees are eligible to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Join the ranks of hundreds of employees who have already benefited from this program and achieved student loan forgiveness.
• Unlock Tuition Discounts and Scholarships - The City of Philadelphia has forged partnerships with over a dozen esteemed colleges and universities in the area, ensuring that our employees have access to a wide range of tuition discounts and scholarships. Experience savings of 10% to 40% on your educational expenses, extending not only to City employees but in some cases, spouse and dependents too!

Join the City of Philadelphia team today and seize these incredible benefits designed to enhance your financial well-being and personal growth!

*The successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

Effective May 22, 2023, vaccinations are no longer required for new employees that work in non-medical, non-emergency or patient facing positions with the City of Philadelphia. As a result, only employees in positions providing services that are patient-facing medical care (ex: Nurses, doctors, emergency medical personnel), must be fully vaccinated.

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to [email protected].

For more information, go to: Human Relations Website: http://www.phila.gov/humanrelations/Pages/default.aspx