Design Lead (Madrid only, contract)

Selecto; Madrid; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Selecto seeks a senior design leader to anchor a high-profile project in Madrid, owning the multi-platform design system across web, mobile and TV. You will guide the craft, governance, and client relationship while collaborating with product and development teams.

This role requires hands-on leadership, balancing real-time data experiences with editorial content. English fluency is required; Spanish is a plus, with weekly on-site in Madrid preferred.

Qualifications

• Senior design leader with 10+ years in large organisations.
• Experience in events, sports, broadcast or streaming preferred.
• Proven track record governing enterprise-grade design systems.
• Fluent English; Spanish a plus; confident presenting to senior stakeholders.
• Based in Madrid, weekly on-site presence preferred.
• Comfortable with code, tokens and AI-assisted workflows.

Responsibilities

• Own the design vision across web, mobile and TV platforms.
• Lead client relationships and on-site reviews in Madrid.
• Define and govern the design system, tokens and components.
• Work with AI for prototyping and asset generation while maintaining craft.
• Support research, testing and validation with analytics and benchmarks.

Skills

Figma expert

AI-assisted design

Coded prototyping

Design tokens tooling

CTV/OTT design constraints

WCAG 2.1 AA

Real-time data design

Project tracking

Tools

Figma

AI-assisted design tools

Coded prototyping

Design tokens tooling

CTV/OTT design constraints

Job description

This position is only for a particular project, not a full time inhouse position.

In this case, the social package (sick leaves, days off, vacation, necessary equipment provision, etc) is not covered by Selecto.

PROJECT

Domain: Sport Broadcasting

Description: We are designing a flexible, scalable multi-platform digital experience across responsive web, mobile apps, and connected TV, delivered through a comprehensive design system. The goal is to ensure a consistent and high-quality user experience across all digital touchpoints, compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards, and capable of smoothly shifting between lower-intensity “Flame to Flame” periods and peak-demand “Games Time” moments. The experience must serve a global, multilingual audience and perform reliably during major traffic spikes.

Team:Design Lead, Multidisciplinary designers (UX, UI, motion, accessibility specialist), Project Manager, Design Directors, Content and Development teams.

Timeline: full time, 6 months with the possibility of prolongation

Location: Madrid, Spain only. There is a possibility of working from the client’s office once a week.

Languages: Fluent English, Fluent Spanish is a plus.

This role is the strategic and creative anchor of project, and the face of the client in Madrid. You own the vision and quality of a multi-platform design system spanning responsive web, native mobile (iOS and Android) and, potentially, connected TV (Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku), across two fundamentally different operating modes: the high-intensity, real-time data environment and the editorial, content-discovery focus.

You look at the product as a whole, not ticket by ticket. You set the design direction, govern the design system, guide the team's craft and hold the day-to-day relationship with the client, in person in Madrid, ideally once a week.

You bridge strategic intent and hands-on delivery, so the team works to one vision and the client feels the difference.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategy & Client Partnership

• Hold the strategic view of the product and turn its objectives, priorities and brand evolution into a clear design direction and a deliverable plan.

• Anticipate needs and frame decisions proactively; work with the Project Director on scope, estimates and growth opportunities.

• Act as the trusted creative partner to the client: lead day-to-day communication, build relationships with Product Managers, manage expectations, take feedback with composure, and present to senior stakeholders in a multi-vendor environment.

• Be on site in Madrid, ideally weekly, for reviews, workshops and working sessions.

Design Quality & Team Leadership

• Set and hold the quality bar: run critiques, review all significant output before it reaches the client, and give direct feedback.

• Manage and coach the remote delivery team (Senior Product Designers and Product Designers across European time zones); grow seniors into leads.

• Set briefs, manage sprint workloads, protect focus, and coordinate with vendors and engineering partners.

• Define quality gates, review workflows and design operations frameworks that scale across engagements.

• Stay hands-on for explorations, key screens and defining moments.

Design System

• Architect and govern an atomic design system (tokens, components, patterns) across responsive web, native mobile and connected TV.

• Design for high-density real-time data (live results, schedules, medals), editorial storytelling and content discovery, plus TV-specific interaction (remote navigation, 10-foot UI, lean-back viewing).

• Build in accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA), multilingual support and RTL from the start.

• Define contribution models, handoff protocols, documentation and versioning so client teams and vendors can extend the system safely.

Design Engineering & AI

• Work where design meets code: tokens, coded prototypes and the component library as living sources of truth.

• Use AI for prototyping, asset generation, automated QA and routine production; champion adoption with the team and client, with judgement on where craft stays human.

Research & Validation

• Shape and support user testing with the client and research partners, turning findings into design decisions.

• Build the evidence base for recommendations: testing, analytics and benchmarks.

PROFILE

• Senior design leader (typically 10+ years) experienced in complex, large organisations with many stakeholders, vendors and governance.

• Background in major events, sports, broadcast or streaming preferred; live, real-time data experience is an advantage.

• Proven track record building and governing enterprise-scale, multi-platform design systems (web, native mobile, and TV).

• Fluent English (Spanish a plus), confident presenting to senior stakeholders.

• Based in Madrid, able to be on site ideally weekly (travel costs partially covered).

• Strategic, tasteful, calm under pressure and decisive; comfortable as the most senior design voice in the room.

• At ease with code, design tokens and AI-assisted workflows.

REQUIRED SKILLS & TOOLS

• Figma (expert) and design token tooling

• Coded prototyping and AI-assisted design tools

• CTV/OTT design constraints

• WCAG 2.1 AA (hard requirement)

• Real-time data and live event design

• Standard project tracking, documentation and communication tools