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We are seeking a talented and experienced Design Lead (Manager) for our Product & Experience Design practice, to join our London office. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) design, a passion for creating user-centred solutions, and the ability to manage and mentor multi-disciplinary design teams. As Design Lead, you’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams, across multiple client engagements and accounts, to deliver innovative and effective design solutions that meet our clients' needs.
You’ll bring experience of delivering projects which integrate innovative technologies, including AI and machine learning, into the design processes to enhance user experiences and drive efficiency, whilst staying informed about emerging technologies and trends in UX design, and explore how they can be applied to improve project outcomes.
You’ll set high standards, and establish confidence through your experience, then put it all into action by delivering the most amazing products, services and experiences. You will lead, support and enable solutions for complex business, technology and customer challenges. You’ll be hands-on too, and not afraid to get into the detail - but know when to delegate to your team - in pursuit of the best possible outcomes for our clients and their customers.
You’ll also engage in business development activities, playing a key role identifying opportunities for new work, building relationships with potential clients along the way. The ideal candidate will shape proposals and project plans by articulating the value of UX/UI design and how it aligns with client objectives, whilst collaborating with the business development team to prepare compelling presentations and pitches that showcase our design capabilities.
The work we do is big: big in scale, big in ambition, and big in impact – these projects matter and get taken seriously by the clients we work for. We don’t do work that sits in drawers. We shape and create solutions that make a difference in the world: solutions that help people have better, more meaningful experiences and make better, more effective, choices and decisions - for themselves and for the people that matter most in their lives.
You won’t do this on your own. As an essential member of our Product & Experience Design team, you’ll work alongside the best in Service Design, Strategy, Research, Insight and Technology. Our clients will look to you for your expertise and your team will look up to you – for your experience, your support and your commitment to exceptional quality - and we’ll expect you to show it every day.
Your key responsibilities
- You’ll inspire, support, facilitate and lead major engagements, ensuring the delivery of exceptional, high quality and innovative design with a foundation of critical, brilliant thinking.
- Direct cross-functional teams of designers, consulting and client resources in day-to-day engagement delivery, to shape and steer the solution towards desired outcomes.
- Manage project timelines, budgets, and resources to ensure successful project delivery.
- Lead the design of complex digital products, services and experiences - from discovery, to initial ideas and concepting, through to detailed wireframes and UI designs and validated prototypes
- Present, lead and facilitate meetings and workshops with colleagues and clients
- Run research and usability testing to validate and gather feedback on your designs, or the output of your team.
- Work by yourself or with Senior Managers, Directors and Partners to help shape engagements and proposals as well as supporting the development of accounts and new business opportunities
- Collaborate with your peers to deliver blended solutions of Product & Experience Design, Service Design, Research and Strategy
- Assure that all delivery is managed within quality and risk parameters, aligned to EY standards and frameworks
- Work with the Product & Experience Design Practice Director to support, grow and develop the practice and the people in the team - including recruitment, mentoring and line-managing a number of designers from grad and Junior through to Senior level
Skills and attributes for success
- A maker at heart, you love a great problem and the process of finding the solution
- A highly experienced Design practitioner, encompassing the full-service digital design and delivery lifecycle, including all aspects of UX and UI design, such as Research, Information Architecture and prototyping – as well as some experience of brand and content development
- An ability to build empathy with clients by understanding their challenges, business and technology issues - along with competitor and comparator trends in their marketplace
- Smart, energetic, curious and flexible, you’re able to operate in high-pressure situations to an exceptional standard and adapt your style to accommodate different stakeholders and colleagues - while ensuring the best outcomes from your team
- Personal resilience and resourcefulness to advocate for and deliver creative solutions and innovative change in the face of organisational resistance
- You’re not just the best at what you do, you know how to get the best out of the people around you and it shows in everything you do
To qualify for the role you must have
- Experience of leading teams, projects and new business proposals
- Experience of delivering data-driven or data-enabled products, services and experiences from the initial idea, right into the hands of the customer, designed with acute alignment to emerging behaviours
- You’ve worked with developers and product managers as well as clients and stakeholders in Agile environments - and, somehow, still created amazing products and experiences that made an impact on clients, colleagues and customers alike
- Significant experience building positive relationships with clients with integrity and authenticity; understanding client's perspective and organisational culture
- Experience working with the latest and greatest software; from Adobe Creative Suite to Figma, Sketch, Invision and Axure. You’ll also know how to put together an engaging presentation in PowerPoint and even tackle the occasional spreadsheet in a tight spot (yes, we hate it too)
- Experience delivering projects integrating innovative technologies, including AI and machine learning, into the design processes to enhance user experiences and drive efficiency.
- Experience and track record in the line management of designers
- An amazing work-history that you can demonstrate through case studies, presentations and thought leadership - a strong, credible portfolio of work is a must
- Strong communication skills and ability to produce high-quality written deliverables in fluent English
- A willingness to travel and work in client sites, both in the UK and overseas as and when required
Ideally you’ll also have
- Strong point of view and vision for the future of chosen industries and sectors
- A keen interest in emerging technologies and trends in UX design, such as Agent Experience (AX), and how they can be applied to improve project outcomes.
- Experience in agile software delivery environments
- An ability to design personalised experiences with awareness of regulatory constraints.
- Bachelors and / or Masters degree in design or related subject areas or equivalent demonstrable experience
What we look for
- A healthy obsession with research, understanding human-beings and how they tick