UX Lead Analyst (VP)

Citigroup Inc.; Belfast City District; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

27 days annual leave

Discretional annual performance bonus

Private Medical Care & Life Insurance

Employee Assistance Program

Pension Plan

Paid Parental Leave

Employee discounts

Learning and development resources

Job summary

Citi is seeking a sharp, execution-focused VP Product Designer to thrive in a fast-moving environment with a systems-first mindset. You will design scalable design systems and collaborate across engineering, product, and QA to deliver polished, production-ready designs.

You will leverage AI tools to accelerate ideation and prototyping, maintain rigorous handoff processes, and contribute to a robust design system library.

Qualifications

• Significant commercial experience in Product Design, UX, Design Systems, or related fields.
• Proven experience building and scaling enterprise design systems.
• Strong expertise in Figma, including components, variants, variables, tokens, and developer handoff.
• Experience designing AI-powered products, copilots, conversational interfaces, or intelligent workflows.
• Knowledge of accessibility standards (WCAG/ADA) and user-centered design principles.
• Strong collaboration skills across Product, Engineering, Research, and business teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and iterate on product experiences at speed, balancing quality with velocity in a high-output, agile environment.
• Build and maintain scalable design system components from the ground up, including tokens and variables, ensuring consistency across the product surface.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (engineering, product, research) to translate requirements into polished, production-ready designs.
• Own the developer handoff process with clean, well-annotated Figma files and clear specs for engineers.
• Partner with QA during implementation reviews to catch design drift and validate interactions.

Skills

Detail obsessed

Fast and focused

Systems thinker

AI-native

Collaborative by default

Tools

Figma

Style Dictionary

Tokens Studio

HTML/CSS

Job description

Discover your future at Citi

Working at Citi is far more than just a job. A career with us means joining a team of more than 230,000 dedicated people from around the globe. At Citi, you’ll have the opportunity to grow your career, give back to your community and make a real impact.

Job Overview

Engineer the future of global finance. At Citi, our Tech team doesn’t just support finance – we are helping to redefine it. Every day, $5 trillion crosses through our network. We do business in 180+ countries operating at a scale few can match. From deploying advanced AI to helping shape global markets, we build systems that matter. Look to join a team where your work helps influence economies, your ideas can drive innovation and outcomes, and your growth is backed by mentorship, continuous learning and flexibility with potential hybrid work opportunities. Help solve real-world challenges that touch millions and get the opportunity to build the future of finance with Citi Tech.

We're looking for a sharp, execution-focused VP Product Designer who thrives in a fast-moving environment and brings a systems-first mindset to every pixel they push.

A systems thinker who is detail-oriented, and highly collaborative. They balance strategic thinking with hands‑on execution and are passionate about creating scalable design solutions that improve both user experiences and team productivity.

What You'll Do

• Design and iterate on product experiences at speed, balancing quality with velocity in a high‑output, agile environment
• Build and maintain scalable design system components from the ground up — including tokens, variables, and Boolean logic — ensuring consistency across the product surface
• Collaborate closely with cross‑functional teams (engineering, product, research) to translate requirements into polished, production‑ready designs
• Own the developer handoff process — preparing clean, well‑annotated Figma files with clear specs, redlines, and component documentation that engineers can build from without back‑and‑forth
• Partner with QA during implementation reviews to catch design drift early, validate interaction states, and ensure the shipped product matches the intended design with precision
• Contribute to and evolve our component library, establishing clear naming conventions, states, and documentation for handoff
• Leverage AI‑powered design tools and workflows to accelerate ideation, prototyping, and iteration cycles
• Participate in design critiques, giving and receiving structured feedback to continuously raise the bar on craft and usability
• Maintain meticulous attention to detail across spacing, typography, color, interaction states, and accessibility standards

What We're Looking For

Core Skills & Mindset

• Detail obsessed — you catch the 1px misalignment before anyone else does; consistency and precision are non‑negotiable for you
• Fast and focused — you thrive under tight timelines, can context‑switch without losing quality, and know how to prioritize ruthlessly
• Systems thinker — you design from the component up, not the page down; you understand how a single token change ripples across an entire product
• AI‑native — you actively use AI tools (Figma AI, Cursor, Midjourney, ChatGPT, etc.) to move faster and smarter, not as a crutch but as a force multiplier
• Collaborative by default — you treat engineers and QA as partners, not recipients; you show up to implementation reviews, answer spec questions promptly, and close the loop on every build

Design Systems Expertise

Hands‑on experience building or contributing to a design system in Figma (or equivalent), including:

• Component architecture — variants, auto layout, nested components
• Variables & tokens — color, spacing, typography, and semantic token structures
• Boolean properties — toggling states, visibility, and conditional logic within components
• Familiarity with token management tools (e.g., Style Dictionary, Tokens Studio) is a plus
• Understanding of how design tokens translate to code (CSS custom properties, JSON exports)

Technical Fluency

• Proficient in Figma — including advanced prototyping, component logic, and dev mode handoff
• Comfortable reviewing front‑end implementations and flagging design drift
• Basic understanding of HTML/CSS is a plus — enough to have informed conversations with engineers and validate spacing, typography, and layout in the browser

Qualifications

• Significant commercial experience in Product Design, UX, Design Systems, or related fields.
• Proven experience building and scaling enterprise design systems.
• Strong expertise in Figma, including components, variants, variables, tokens, and developer handoff.
• Experience designing AI‑powered products, copilots, conversational interfaces, or intelligent workflows.
• Knowledge of accessibility standards (WCAG/ADA) and user‑centered design principles.
• Strong collaboration skills across Product, Engineering, Research, and business teams.
• Working knowledge of HTML/CSS and design‑to‑code workflows.
• Experience in financial services or other regulated industries preferred.
• Experience with Storybook or similar component documentation tools
• Portfolio demonstrating component‑level design thinking, not just final screens — bonus points if it includes handoff artifacts or QA comparison examples

Nice to Have

• Experience working in a startup or fast‑paced product team
• Exposure to motion design or micro‑interaction principles

What we'll provide you

By joining Citi, you will not only be part of a business casual workplace with a hybrid working model (up to 2 days working at home per week), but also receive a competitive base salary (which is annually reviewed), and enjoy a whole host of additional benefits such as:

• 27 days annual leave (plus bank holidays)
• A discretional annual performance related bonus
• Private Medical Care & Life Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Pension Plan
• Paid Parental Leave
• Special discounts for employees, family, and friends
• Access to an array of learning and development resources

Visit ourGlobal Benefitspage to learn more.

Alongside these benefits Citi is committed to ensuring our workplace is where everyone feels comfortable coming to work as their whole self, every day. We want the best talent around the world to be energized to join us, motivated to stay and empowered to thrive.

#LI-MR7

Job Family Group:

Technology

Job Family:

Digital Design Engineering

Time Type:

Full time

Most Relevant Skills

Please see the requirements listed above.

Other Relevant Skills

For complementary skills, please see above and/or contact the recruiter.

Citi is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified candidates will receive consideration without regard to their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

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