UI/UX Team Lead

Liquid Thought; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

World-class training opportunities

Bursary programme for education

Job summary

Liquid Thought in Cape Town seeks an experienced UX/UI Team Lead to guide a talented design group at the intersection of art, psychology and engineering. You will shape end-to-end UX/UI strategy and hands-on design while driving a culture that prioritises output and user-centricity.

You will lead a team, run user testing, and push for data-driven decisions, with a focus on scalable design systems and cross-functional collaboration in our Cape Town office.

Qualifications

• Minimum 7+ years in UX/UI design with 2+ years in leadership or mentoring.
• Portfolio showing early sketches, iterations and testing data.
• Expert proficiency in Figma (variables, auto-layout, prototyping).
• Experience with Adobe Creative Suite and Maze.
• Ability to discuss HTML/CSS/JS constraints with developers.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end UX/UI strategy for products and translate goals into design solutions.
• Create and manage a user testing programme and panels for brands.
• Utilise data, usability research and A/B testing to justify design decisions.
• Oversee evolution of Design System ensuring consistency across platforms.
• Run design critiques to remove blockers and drive rapid innovation.
• Collaborate with design, engineering and product teams to understand needs.
• Ensure designs are technically feasible without compromising user experience.
• Present work to executives with clarity and storytelling.
• Experiment with AI tools to keep products current with user needs.

Skills

UX/UI design

Team leadership

Prototyping

User research

Figma

Adobe Creative Suite

Maze

HTML/CSS/JS basics

Education

BA Hons in Visual Communication / Interaction Design

BA Hons Information Design

BCom Hons in Information Systems

BSc Hons in Computer Science

BSocSc Hons in Sociology/Anthropology

UX/UI-focused qualification

Tools

Figma

Maze

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

As the UX/UI team lead youll sit at the intersection of art, psychology, and engineering. Youll lead a talented team of designers while getting your hands dirty on complex strategic challenges. If youre obsessed with frictionless flows, love dissecting audience behaviour and want to build a design culture that values output over ego, this position, in our Cape Town office, is for you.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Drive the end-to-end UX/UI strategy for our products. Translate high-level business goals into tangible, intuitive design solutions and build prototypes to ensure alignment across various partners.
• Create a user testing programme and manage a user testing panel for our various brands.
• Move beyond making it pretty. Use data and A/B testing, user research and behavioural psychology to justify design decisions to stakeholders.
• Oversee the evolution of our Design System. Ensure consistency across all platforms while allowing room for creativity and innovation.
• Run design critiques that inspire. Remove roadblocks for your team and foster an environment where safe failure leads to rapid innovation.
• Deeply understand the needs and different motivations of design, engineering and product management teams.
• Ensure technical feasibility without compromising the user experience.
• Be the voice of the user in the boardroom. Present work to executives with clarity, confidence and storytelling.
• Push boundaries to ensure our products are world-class, incorporating modern UX/UI principles in every part of our work.
• Experiment with AI tools and services to ensure our products keep up with changing user needs.

THE MUST-HAVES

• A relevant tertiary degree such as BA Hons in Visual Communication / Interaction Design, BA Hons Information Design, BCom Hons in Information Systems, BSc Hons in Computer Science, BSocSc Hons, BA Hons in Psychology, Sociology or Anthropology plus a UX/UI-focused qualification.
• 7+ years in UX/UI design with at least 2+ years leading or mentoring a team.
• A portfolio that doesnt show only final screens but walks us through the messy middle – the sketches, the failed iterations, the user testing data and the triumph. Please attach your portfolio or a link to your portfolio to your application.
• Expert proficiency in Figma (variables, auto-layout, advanced prototyping). Expertise/experience in using Adobe Creative Suite and tools like Maze.
• You dont need to code but you must understand HTML/CSS/JS constraints well enough to have productive discussions with developers.
• Experience in planning and conducting user research (interviews, usability testing, A/B testing) and synthesising that data into actionable insights.

WHATS IN IT FOR YOU?

• Youll be working on some of the largest digital media brands in South Africa – we play a huge role in society so this role carries tremendous purpose and responsibility.
• Were driven to create incredible digital experiences, experimenting with AI tools to better serve our audiences, clients and teams.
• Our network extends across the Naspers and Prosus group, giving employees access to world-class training opportunities.
• Media24 has a successful bursary programme for all employees who want to further their education.

We work in the most exciting industry in the world and you can experience all the exhilarating rides as part of the tech team.