Lead Designer — Strategy, Design Systems & Team Leadership

Project Freelance; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Project Freelance in London seeks an experienced Lead Designer to provide strategic leadership across a multidisciplinary team, driving user-centred digital products and services. You will shape design strategy, mentor designers, and champion human-centred design principles throughout the product lifecycle.

You will collaborate with stakeholders, product teams, and technical colleagues to deliver high-quality, accessible user experiences and establish design governance and standards across

Qualifications

• Senior design leader with experience guiding cross-disciplinary teams.
• Proven ability to define design strategy and governance.
• Strong advocate of human-centered design throughout product lifecycles.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage multidisciplinary design teams, fostering a collaborative and high-performing culture.
• Mentor, coach, and support designers to develop their skills and advance their professional growth.
• Define and implement design governance frameworks to ensure consistency, quality, and adherence to standards.
• Establish and maintain design standards, best practices, and design system principles across projects.
• Develop and communicate a clear design vision and strategy aligned with organisational objectives.
• Create and manage design roadmaps, ensuring priorities are aligned with business and user needs.
• Champion human-centred design methodologies throughout the end-to-end product development lifecycle.
• Plan and conduct user research activities to gather insights and validate design decisions.
• Facilitate user interviews, stakeholder workshops, and discovery sessions to understand requirements and opportunities.
• Lead usability testing initiatives, analysing findings and translating insights into actionable improvements.
• Collaborate with product managers, developers, researchers, and senior stakeholders to deliver impactful user experiences.
• Promote evidence-based design decision-making through research, data, and user feedback.

Skills

Multidisciplinary design leadership

UX / Service Design

Design governance & standards

Human-centered design

User research

Roadmaps & governance

Stakeholder management

Mentoring designers

Job description

Project Freelance in London seeks an experienced Lead Designer to provide strategic leadership across a multidisciplinary team, driving user-centred digital products and services. You will shape design strategy, mentor designers, and champion human-centred design principles throughout the product lifecycle.

You will collaborate with stakeholders, product teams, and technical colleagues to deliver high-quality, accessible user experiences and establish design governance and standards across