You?Three people at Helix Health, and one empty chair.
Probate Service Designer · Helix Health · Leeds or remote UK · £50–60k · 60 people
- Health · end-of-life care
- Probate administration × Service design
- Closes 15 Jan
Meet the crew. There's a seat for you.
- You?This seatProbate Service Designer
Owen Price · Head of service, your manager
“I've been executor for both my parents and filled in every form twice. I opened this role so nobody else has to.”
On a bad day: prints the form and covers it in red pen.
A Tuesday at Helix
During a mapping sprint
- 09:00Listen in on care navigator calls
- 10:30Map one probate step with Gemma
- 12:30Lunch walk, no screens
- 14:00Draft a plain-English letter with Harper
- 15:30Call with a bank's bereavement team
- 17:00Log off. No evening calls.
Why this seat matters
“I phoned the same bank four times and got four different answers. Mum had been gone a week.”
Martin Chen, son and executor, Bradford
Families shouldn't need a solicitor to understand what happens after a death.
After a death, a family in England deals with the register office, the bank, the pension provider, the council and often probate. Helix families told us the paperwork took 46 hours on average across the first three months.
The Probate Service Designer maps every step of that paperwork and rebuilds Helix's service around it: what we do for families, what we fill in for them, and what we explain in plain English before they have to ask.
Where this role takes you
Helix Health's 2030 goal, and where the work is today
9of 31 paperwork steps Helix handles
29% of the way to the goal31of 31 steps handled by 2028
Week 1
You follow the paperwork.
Sit with three families and their care navigators as they work through the forms after a death. Write down every call, letter and login, and how long each one took.
With
31separate steps mapped
What life is like
- Every month
- Clinical supervision with Dr Ruth Lowe, paid and on work time.
- Grief leave
- No fixed limit, for your own losses.
- Fridays
- Show-and-tell of what families told us that week.
- Twice a year
- The whole team meets in Leeds for two days.
What you'll do
- Map every step of the paperwork after a death
- Redesign Helix's service around those steps
- Agree shared forms with banks, councils and registrars
- Write plain-English guidance families can read on a bad day
What you bring
- 3+ years in service design, or in probate and estate administration
- A working knowledge of probate in England and Wales
- Patience with institutions, and persistence with them
- Plain, kind writing
- No law degree. You need to understand probate, not practise it.
Your part in it
- MAP
- all 31 paperwork steps, who owns each one, and how long it takes.
- LISTEN
- to care navigator calls with Gemma's team.
- REBUILD
- Helix's service around the steps families can hand to us.
- AGREE
- one shared bereavement form with banks and councils in Yorkshire.
- WRITE
- plain-English letters and guidance with Harper.
What success looks like
- DAY 30
- you've followed three families' paperwork and logged every call, letter and login.
- DAY 60
- Owen and Gemma's navigators have reviewed your draft map of all 31 steps.
- DAY 90
- the paperwork map is published, with 12 steps Helix can fill in.
What you’ll need
- 3+ years in service design, or in probate and estate administration
- A working knowledge of probate in England and Wales
- Plain, kind writing
Nice to have, not required
- Experience with a bank's or council's bereavement team.
Where you’ll work
- OFFICE
- Leeds, as often as you like. Mapping sessions with Gemma work well in person.
- REMOTE
- Anywhere in the UK.
- HOURS
- UK time. Bank and council calls in office hours, and no evening calls.
- MEETUP
- The whole team meets in Leeds for two days, twice a year.
Languages
| Language | Need | Why |
|---|---|---|
| English | Required | Every form, letter and guide you write. |
| Punjabi | Nice to have | Spoken at home by some Bradford families. We book interpreters otherwise. |
The essentials
Probate Service Designer · Helix Health
- Salary
- £50–60k
- Where
- Leeds or remote UK
- Leave
- 30 days + grief leave
- Support
- Monthly supervision
How you'll interview · about 3 weeks
- 1 · Chat with Owen
- 2 · Map one bereavement process (paid)
- 3 · Meet the crew
- 4 · Sit in on navigator calls
Your first stop
Three families' paperwork, step by step
Not ready to apply? Talk to Gemma for 15 minutes.
No CV needed. Ask about the work, the people, or what a hard week looks like.