Lead Experience Designer

McCANN New Zealand; Auckland; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

McCann New Zealand seeks a Lead Experience Designer to own the experience from discovery through to final craft. You’ll work across brands and campaigns, translating challenges into meaningful, engaging experiences while collaborating with creative, strategy and technical teams.

You’ll lead a team of designers, championing experience thinking and elevating design culture within the agency. This role combines strategy, interaction and execution to deliver standout work.

Qualifications

• 5+ years' experience across UX, UI, digital or experience design.
• Strong understanding of UX principles and how to apply them to real-world experiences.
• Sophisticated eye for UI and digital craft.
• Experience defining user journeys, interaction models and information architecture.
• Proficiency with Figma and Adobe Creative Cloud tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead experience design across websites, digital products, platforms and campaigns.
• Translate business, brand and audience challenges into clear experience opportunities.
• Shape user journeys, interaction models and information architecture from concept to execution.
• Create wireframes, prototypes, high-fidelity designs and design systems.
• Mentor and develop other designers and establish design processes across the agency.

Skills

Experience design

UX principles

UI craft

Figma

Adobe CC

Tools

Figma

Adobe Creative Cloud

Job description

We're looking for a Lead Experience Designer to join McCann and help us create the kinds of experiences people don't just use, they remember.

This is a role for someone who sees design as bigger than screens. Someone who can move between human behaviour, brand, technology and interaction to create experiences that are useful, intuitive, distinctive and genuinely engaging.

You'll work across brands, campaigns, products and digital experiences, partnering with Creative, Strategy, Production, Technology and Account teams to turn ambitious ideas into things people can actually experience.

You'll champion the experience design discipline across our work, while helping us build a stronger design culture around it. That means thinking early, challenging briefs, asking better questions and knowing when the best answer isn't another screen, it's a better idea.

The role

As a Lead Experience Designer, you'll own the experience from the inside out.

You'll bring a deep understanding of people and behaviour to the creative process, helping teams understand not only what we should make, but why and how people will experience it.

You'll work across the full design journey, from discovery through to information architecture, interaction, prototyping, UI and final craft.

You'll collaborate closely with internal and external stakeholders to make sure brand and experience aren't treated as separate things. You'll help turn creative ideas and research into intuitive, beautifully considered experiences, while finding opportunities to push the work further through technology, new behaviours and emerging platforms.

You'll lead a team of designers, sharing knowledge of their craft, and mentoring juniors.

Most importantly, you'll help make experience design part of how McCann thinks, not simply something we add when a project needs a website.

Key responsibilities

• Lead experience design across websites, digital products, platforms, campaigns and emerging experiences.
• Translate business, brand and audience challenges into clear experience opportunities.
• Shape user journeys, interaction models, information architecture and digital experiences from first thought through to final execution.
• Create wireframes, prototypes, high-fidelity designs and design systems that bring ideas to life.
• Work alongside Creative and Strategy teams to connect brand thinking with experience thinking.
• Challenge briefs and contribute experience thinking from the earliest stages of a project.
• Present, explain and defend design thinking to clients and internal teams.
• Balance user needs with brand, business, technical and creative requirements.
• Help establish and evolve UX, UI and experience design processes across the agency.
• Develop digital style guides and design systems that make work more coherent, scalable and useful.
• Identify opportunities to use new technology, tools and behaviours to create better experiences.
• Mentor and develop other designers, helping them grow their skills and confidence.
• Work across agency disciplines and projects as required.
• Keep the work moving, delivering to agreed timelines, budgets and a high creative standard.

What will you bring?

We're looking for someone who is as interested in why people do things as they are in how things look.

You'll ideally have:

• 5+ years' experience across UX, UI, digital or experience design, ideally within an agency, studio.
• A strong understanding of UX principles and how to apply them to real-world experiences.
• A sophisticated eye for UI and digital craft.
• Experience defining user journeys, interaction models, information architecture and design systems.
• The ability to move comfortably between strategy, concept, interaction and execution.A strong understanding of the opportunities and limitations of digital platforms, including web, mobile, apps, social and emerging technologies.Strong Figma skills and experience with Adobe Creative Cloud, particularly Photoshop and Illustrator.
• Experience presenting and communicating design thinking to clients and multidisciplinary teams.
• The ability to turn complex problems into simple, intuitive experiences.
• Curiosity about new technology, tools, platforms and ways of working.
• Experience with prototyping, motion, website design or product design would be a bonus.

But we're not looking for a checklist.

We're looking for someone who is curious, collaborative and ambitious about the work. Someone who can see the bigger picture, care about the details and know when each matters

McCann NZ - Who we are….

2026 marks a defining moment in our industry. Three of Aotearoa’s most iconic agencies, FCB, Clemenger and DDB, are coming together as McCann NZ, uniting decades of award-winning creativity, cultural influence, and globally recognized work.

More than that, it's coming together of exceptional people, the talent, and the heart behind some of New Zealand’s most celebrated brands.

This is a rare opportunity to be part of what comes next, building on a strong legacy and setting a new standard for creativity in New Zealand.

You'll collaborate with some of the best minds in the business, with real opportunity to accelerate your career and produce standout work, while enjoying a supportive, high-energy environment. Our Grey Lynn office is home to a talented, down-to-earth team, backed by a range of perks and the support you need to succeed.

We're a diverse, electric bunch with no typical employee, just people valued for what they bring.