Service systems enable value co-creation. However, value co-creation is a complex phenomenon that is difficult to observe, let alone to purposefully enact. This is a serious challenge for the design of service systems. To address this challenge, we propose a multilevel design framework for service systems, which builds on actor engagement as a microfoundation of value co-creation. Based on this work, we conceptualize a design framework, which emphasizes (1) a multilevel perspective to understand interdependen-cies between the institutional setup on macro level, engagement platforms as facilitators for resource mobilization and integration on meso level and observable actor engagement on micro level as well as (2) a dynamic perspective through two iterative design cycles to continuously refine service systems. We illustrate how this multilevel framework informs and guides service research and practitioner in a systematic design process, thereby contributing to service systems engineering.