Design System Lead

Kaluza; West of England, Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

26 days holiday

New parent support (26 weeks)

Private medical insurance

Life assurance

Pension scheme

Flex Fund 5%

Perks at Work discounts

Learning budget

Home office budget

Furthr climate app

Job summary

Kaluza is seeking a Design System Lead in the UK for hybrid work with three days in the office across Bristol and London. You will shape and govern the global design system in partnership with engineering, product and delivery, ensuring accessibility and high UX quality across teams.

You will mentor designers and engineers, drive contribution processes, and prototype components from Figma to production using AI-assisted tools, aligning strategy with engineering leadership.

Qualifications

• Deep experience designing, building and evolving a design system at scale.
• Strong design and UX judgement, starting from the user and challenging engineers and designers.
• Practical knowledge of WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards with empathy for users.
• Confidence working in code, using AI-assisted tools to move from design to production.
• Experience running a contribution process across multiple teams or apps.
• Track record delivering technical and design strategy jointly with engineering.
• Strong communication skills and ability to raise issues across engineering, product and business.
• Experience mentoring and developing other designers.
• Bias to action and ability to build momentum amid uncertainty.

Responsibilities

• Shape the future of the design system and the global Agent Experience product with engineering, product and delivery.
• Define the design strategy for the system in partnership with the engineering lead.
• Uphold design and UX quality across contributions, including accessibility.
• Run the contribution process end to end across teams and apps.
• Design, prototype and ship components, using AI-assisted tools from design to production.
• Coach and develop designers and engineers building with the system.
• Represent the design system to stakeholders and advocate its value.
• Champion good design and accessibility in architecture and technical decisions.

Skills

Design system at scale

UX judgment

WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility

Coding with AI-assisted tools

Cross-team contribution processes

Technical and design strategy with eng

Effective communication

Mentoring designers

Bias to action

Job description

Design System Lead

Location: Bristol/London, UK (hybrid, three days a week in the office)

Team: UX

Contract: Permanent

Reporting To: Head of UX

Please note: This role requires an existing right to work in the UK. We can't offer visa sponsorship, but we review sponsorship role by role, so keep an eye on our careers site for future opportunities

About Kaluza

Kaluza is the Energy Intelligence Platform, turning energy complexity into seamless coordination. We help energy companies overcome today's challenges while accelerating the shift to a clean, electrified future.

Our platform orchestrates millions of real-time decisions across homes, devices, markets and grids. By combining predictive algorithms with human‑centred design, Kaluza makes clean energy dependable, affordable and adaptive to everyday life.

With teams across Europe, Asia and Australia, and a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation in Japan, we power leading companies including OVO, AGL and ENGIE, as well as innovators like Volvo and Volkswagen.

What you'll do

• Shape the future of the design system and the global Agent Experience product as an equal partner to engineering, product, and delivery
• Create and deliver the design strategy for the system in direct partnership with the engineering lead, holding joint accountability for its direction
• Set and uphold the design and UX quality bar across every contribution, including accessibility, comfortable challenging engineers and designers alike, and being challenged in return
• Run the contribution process end to end, so teams beyond our own can propose, design, and ship into the system, from first proposal through to full adoption
• Design, prototype, and ship components yourself, including using AI‑assisted tools to move from Figma to production code, built to WCAG 2.2 AA from the start
• Coach and develop the designers and engineers who build with the system, raising the bar for how people use and contribute to it
• Represent the design system to stakeholders across the business, advocating for its value and shaping how the wider company understands and invests in it
• Champion good design and accessibility thinking in architecture and technical decisions, working alongside senior engineering leaders as a peer

What you'll bring

• Deep experience designing, building, and evolving a design system at scale, tokens, component APIs, documentation, and governance
• Strong design and UX judgement, starting from the user, with genuine comfort challenging and being challenged by engineers and other designers
• Practical knowledge of WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards, with real empathy for designing for users with accessibility needs, not just compliance
• Confidence working in code, using AI‑assisted tools to take a component from design intent through to shipped reality
• Experience running a contribution or change process across multiple teams or apps, from proposal to full migration
• A track record setting and delivering technical and design strategy jointly with engineering, iteratively, through genuine ambiguity, not from a finished plan
• Strong communication skills, able to hold your opinions loosely, and to raise what matters even when it's inconvenient, across engineering, product, and the wider business
• Experience mentoring, coaching, and developing other designers
• A bias to action, comfortable building momentum in the face of real uncertainty

Where you'll work

We offer flexible working, with an expectation of 3 days a week in the office. This gives us the best of both: real time together to collaborate and build relationships, with the flexibility to work in the way that suits you best the rest of the week.

Our Values

• Play to win: Collective pride in decarbonising energy at scale.
• Solve the real problem: Cutting through complexity to focus on real‑world outcomes.
• Build trust every day: Consistency, transparency and doing what we say.
• Own the outcome: Full accountability, wins and setbacks, without ego.
• Go further together: Collaboration, respect and different perspectives.

Our Perks

• Time off and family: 26 days' holiday, plus 26 weeks' full pay for new parents with no qualifying service period
• Health and security: Private medical insurance with virtual GP, life assurance, pension scheme, free mortgage advice and eye tests
• Pay and flexibility: Discretionary bonus, a Flex Fund of 5% [of salary] to spend on the benefits you want most, retail discounts through Perks at Work
• Growth and setup: Personal learning budget, home office budget
• Climate: Furthr, our climate action app

Come as you are

We want to meet people from all walks of life. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be, and we recognise talent on merit and potential. If you're excited about the role but don't tick every box, we'd still love to hear from you.