Guidance

Head of graphic design: skills they need

Updated 3 January 2019

This content is part of the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Capability Framework which describes the DDaT roles in government and the skills needed to do them.

1. What a head of graphic design does

A head of graphic design is an expert practitioner with broad industry experience, who can define and assure best practice whilst influencing, leading and mentoring others.

They influence both design and organisational strategy and priorities, and collaborate with counterpart colleagues across government. They focus on ensuring the right conditions and environment for designers to work effectively.

2. What skills they need

A head of graphic design specific technical skills.

All roles have essential skills, and some have desirable skills.

Each skill has one of 4 skill levels associated with it:

• Expert
• Practitioner
• Working
• Awareness

2.1 Essential skills

Skill	Description of the skill	Skill level	What the skill level means
Communicating information	Able to communicate effectively across organisational, technical and political boundaries, understanding the context. Makes complex and technical information and language simple and accessible for non-technical audiences. Able to advocate and communicate what a team does to create trust and authenticity and can respond to challenge.	Expert	Able to mediate and mend relationships, communicating with stakeholders at all levels. Able to manage stakeholders’ expectations and facilitate discussions across high risk and complexity or under constrained timescales. Able to speak / represent the community to large audiences inside and outside of government.
Digital perspective	Understands how the digital economy is changing user behaviour and the government landscape. Is able to make informed decisions based on user needs, available technology and value for money. Has knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology	Expert	Has knowledge of the wider digital economy and advances in technology, understanding how these impact in a government context. Makes decisions that set the standards for others to follow. Understands working with agility at an organisational level and is able to create the environment for success.
Evidence and context-based design	Visualises, articulates, and solves complex problems and concepts, and makes disciplined decisions based on available information and research evidence. Able to move from analysis to synthesis and/or design intent. Such skills include demonstration of the ability to apply logical thinking, gathering and analysing information and evidencing key performance indicators.	Expert	Designs systems for use across multiple services and can identify the simplest approach out of a variety of approaches (Occam’s Razor).
Leadership and guidance	Interprets vision to lead on decisions. Creates a continually collaborative environment and sustains a good service. Understands and resolves technical disputes across varying levels of complexity and risk. Solves issues and unblocks problems. Drives teams and sets the pace, ensuring teams are delivering. Manages risk including effectively managing and tracking the mitigation of risks. Manages various dependencies across teams, departments and government as a whole.	Expert	Changes organisational structures to fixable and sustainable designs. Leads on the strategy for the whole organisation, marrying business needs with innovative analysis. Able to make and justify decisions characterised by high levels of risk, impact and complexity. Builds consensus between organisations (private or public) or highly independent and diverse stakeholders. Solves and unblocks issues between teams or departments at the highest level. Understands the psychology of the team and has strong mediation skills. Able to coach the organisation on team dynamics and conflict resolution.
Prototyping	Able to apply technical knowledge and experience to create or design workable prototypes, both programmes and physical outputs. Understands parameters, restrictions and synergies.	Expert	Experienced in using a variety of methods of prototyping. Shares best practice and can coach others. Looks at strategic service design end to end.
Prototyping in code	Understands the limitations of internet technology and why code is important. Able to prototype a code, but does not necessarily have to make production-ready code. Can talk to developers and knows when to switch code. Understands security, accessibility and version control. Can use ‘what you see is what you get’ tools.	Practitioner	Can create static HTML and CSS prototypes. Considers different screen sizes. Knows how to version and host a prototype.
Tools and software	Has awareness of industry standard software: Adobe creative suite, presentation software, social media platforms, animation software. Has knowledge of printing techniques and paper stock.	Practitioner	Proficient, fast and fluid in the use of software. Knows shortcuts and tricks as well as what not to do. Is responsible for choosing the technology and outputs, for example, paper size, weight.
Understanding constraints	Able to understand and work within the given constraints (including but not limited to technology, policy, regulatory, financial, legal, social user constraints) and to challenge constraints that can be changed. Capable of ensuring compliance against constraints by adapting products and services where needed.	Expert	Able to influence, challenge and coach. Able to anticipate how constraints might change and knows where to challenge or remove constraints.
User focus	Understands users and can identify who they are and what their needs are based on evidence. Able to translate user stories and propose design approaches or services to meet these needs and engages in meaningful interactions and relationships with users. Puts users first and can manage competing priorities.	Expert	Gives direction on which tools and methods to use. Is experienced in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels. Able to bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure these are met by the business. Applies strategic thinking in how to provide the best service for the end user.

2.2 Desirable skills

Skill	Description of the skill	Skill level	What the skill level means
Agile working	Is aware of and understands agile methodology and how to apply an agile mindset to all aspects of their work. Has the ability to work in a fast paced, evolving environment and utilises an iterative method and flexible approach to enable rapid delivery. Unafraid to take risks, willing to learn from mistakes and appreciates the importance of agile project delivery for digital projects in Government. Able to ensure the team has a situational awareness of what each other is working on and how this relates to practical government objectives and user needs.	Expert	Coaches and leads teams in Agile and Lean practices, determining the right approach for the team to take and evaluating this through the life of a project. Is able to think of new and innovative ways of working to achieve the right outcomes. Is able to act as a recognised expert and advocates for the approaches, continuously reflecting and challenging the team.
Community collaboration	Contributes to the work of the community, building successful teams through understanding team styles and influencing as well as motivating team members. Gives and receives constructive feedback, facilitating the feedback loop. Facilitates conflict resolution within teams, ensures the team is transparent and that the work is understood externally. Able to help teams maintain a focus on delivery while being aware of the importance of professional development.	Expert	Able to solve and unblock issues between teams or departments at the highest level. Understands the psychology of the team and has strong mediation skills. Able to coach the organisation on team dynamics and conflict resolution whilst also building and growing the community.
Strategic thinking	Able to have an overall perspective on business issues, events, activities and an understanding of their wider implications and long-term impact. This could include determining patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements. Can focus on outcomes rather than solutions and activities.	Expert	Leads the design and implementation of strategy, directing the evaluation of strategies and policies to ensure business requirements are being met.

3. Civil Service Success Profiles Framework

The Civil Service uses The Success Profiles Framework to assess candidates during recruitment.

It is a flexible framework, used to assess a range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles.

Find out more about Success Profiles.

4. Other roles in graphic design

There are 5 other role levels in graphic design:

• lead graphic designer
• senior graphic designer
• graphic designer
• junior graphic designer
• associate graphic designer