User Experience Strategist

Photon; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Photon is seeking an Enterprise Experience Architect to partner with Business, Product, Design, and Engineering teams to define strategy and end-to-end experience from concept through delivery.

The role blends strategy, research, and hands-on contribution, requiring independence, entrepreneurial mindset, and the ability to shape opportunities that customers and colleagues love. London-based, senior-level opportunity.

Qualifications

• 7-10 years in experience strategy, design strategy, consulting, product strategy, or related senior roles.
• Proven ability to lead strategic work independently, including framing problems, driving alignment, and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Strong experience across qualitative and quantitative research, with sound judgment on when not to research.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and shaping new work, not just executing pre-defined briefs.
• Proven ability to influence product, design, and business leaders through clarity, judgment, and executive presence.
• Experience working in cross-functional, embedded team models (pods, squads, or similar).
• Hands-on experience with design tools is a plus (e.g., Figma) - ability to engage directly in early experience articulation is important
• Experience using AI-assisted tools for concepting, synthesis, or strategic exploration is a strong plus (e.g., Figma Make or similar)
• Strong understanding of customer, cultural, and competitive dynamics in complex, regulated environments
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (Business, Design, Psychology, Economics, etc.)

Responsibilities

• Operate as a senior, autonomous experience strategist, capable of owning ambiguous problem spaces end-to-end without the need for program management support.
• Identify opportunity areas proactively - treating work as an internal consultancy, shaping what we should work on, not just how
• Recognize when user research will be impactful, right-size the approach, execute the research, and translate findings into clear strategic direction and business recommendations
• Drive experience strategy upstream, shaping problem framing, success metrics, and North Star design concepts before delivery begins
• Build strong relationships with your Product and Engineering pod-based team, sharing accountability for outcomes that ship
• Support creative and product teams with clear strategic direction, experience principles, and decision frameworks, not just insights
• Leverage AI and emerging tools to accelerate early concepting and strategic exploration (e.g., rapid concept generation, scenario modeling, early experience articulation)
• Keep track of product roadmaps and business priorities to identify intersections with user needs and surface strategic tradeoffs early. Shape the pod's prioritization approach to determine which work gets done.
• Package and present insights, designs, and recommendations in persuasive, executive-ready narratives - strong presence and storytelling skills are essential
• Insert user insight into designs and product decisions, challenging assumptions and influencing prioritization, feasibility tradeoffs, and roadmap direction
• Contribute hands-on where valuable - including early experience models, journey maps, concepts, or lightweight design artifacts
• Inspire and lead with an entrepreneurial mindset, pushing work forward, creating momentum, and raising the strategic bar by becoming trusted partners to our stakeholders

Skills

Experience strategy

Design strategy

Stakeholder management

UX research

Ambiguity navigation

Executive presence

Cross-functional collaboration

Figma

AI-assisted ideation

Product strategy

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Design/Psychology/Economics

Tools

Figma

AI tooling

Job description

The Enterprise Experience Architect (XA) will collaborate with cross-functional teams (Business, Product, Design, Development) to define business goals, assess market landscapes, identify customer needs, and shape end-to-end experience strategy and design from early concept through delivery.

The XA partners closely with UX/UI designers, Product, and Engineering to set strategic ambition, identify opportunity areas, and co-create solutions, operating as a senior individual contributor embedded with teams.

This role blends strategy, research, and design- with a strong expectation of independent leadership, business development mindset, and hands-on contribution where needed - delivering experiences our customers and colleagues love.

Key Responsibilities

• Operate as a senior, autonomous experience strategist, capable of owning ambiguous problem spaces end-to-end without the need for program management support
• Identify opportunity areas proactively - treating work as an internal consultancy, shaping what we should work on, not just how
• Recognize when user research will be impactful, right-size the approach, execute the research, and translate findings into clear strategic direction and business recommendations
• Drive experience strategy upstream, shaping problem framing, success metrics, and North Star design concepts before delivery begins
• Build strong relationships with your Product and Engineering pod-based team, sharing accountability for outcomes that ship
• Support creative and product teams with clear strategic direction, experience principles, and decision frameworks, not just insights
• Leverage AI and emerging tools to accelerate early concepting and strategic exploration (e.g., rapid concept generation, scenario modeling, early experience articulation)
• Keep track of product roadmaps and business priorities to identify intersections with user needs and surface strategic tradeoffs early. Shape the pod's prioritization approach to determine which work gets done.
• Package and present insights, designs, and recommendations in persuasive, executive-ready narratives - strong presence and storytelling skills are essential
• Insert user insight into designs and product decisions, challenging assumptions and influencing prioritization, feasibility tradeoffs, and roadmap direction
• Contribute hands-on where valuable - including early experience models, journey maps, concepts, or lightweight design artifacts
• Inspire and lead with an entrepreneurial mindset, pushing work forward, creating momentum, and raising the strategic bar by becoming trusted partners to our stakeholders

Qualifications

• 7-10 years in experience strategy, design strategy, consulting, product strategy, or adjacent roles operating at senior levels
• Demonstrated ability to lead strategic work independently, including framing problems, driving alignment, and influencing senior stakeholders
• Strong experience across qualitative and quantitative research, with sound judgment on when not to research
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and shaping new work, not just executing pre-defined briefs
• Proven ability to influence product, design, and business leaders through clarity, judgment, and executive presence
• Experience working in cross-functional, embedded team models (pods, squads, or similar)
• Hands-on experience with design tools is a plus (e.g., Figma) - ability to engage directly in early experience articulation is important
• Experience using AI-assisted tools for concepting, synthesis, or strategic exploration is a strong plus (e.g., Figma Make or similar)
• Strong understanding of customer, cultural, and competitive dynamics in complex, regulated environments
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (Business, Design, Psychology, Economics, etc.)