Design Systems Specialist

PORTFOLIO LINK

Please submit your portfolio link to your resume when applying as we will be reviewing these as part of applications.

JOB DETAILS

JOB BAND: D

CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent, Full-time

DEPARTMENT: BBC Studios – User experience

LOCATION: London – TVC

PROPOSED SALARY RANGE: £55,000 - £65,000 depending on relevant skills, knowledge and experience. Plus London Weighting Allowance of £5,441. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

We're happy to discuss flexible working. If you'd like to, please indicate your preference in the application – though there's no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

WE ARE BBC STUDIOS

A globally renowned media company borne of the BBC. We make and distribute the world's most sought-after TV, audio and digital content.

Our ambition is to be the home of the most powerful, entertaining, and inspiring stories for people all around the world.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

In this role, you'll be part of a global product design organization, shaping the future of the BBC product suite beyond the UK. You will lead the evolution and governance of our design system, driving consistency, scalability, and efficiency across our digital products. Collaborating closely with designers, engineers, and product managers, you'll own and refine a critical design foundation and maintain a cohesive design language and library.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

Join a team built on collaboration, where exceptional designers, engineers, and product leaders come together to create meaningful work. This is your opportunity to shape scalable, accessible, and beautifully crafted digital experiences that reach millions of users around the world. Within our supportive, creative, and inclusive environment, you'll help define the vision and strategy of the design system for the BBC's global digital presence. If you're passionate about design systems, design advocacy, and want to make a meaningful impact on one of the world's most recognised and trusted brands — we'd love to have you on our team.

Your Key Responsibilities And Impact

• Responsible for the overall vision, development, maintainence, and evolution of a design system that supports multiple platforms and products and aligns with the design organisation's strategic goals.
• Define and document guidelines, principles, and best practices to ensure design consistency across a complex set of files and structures.
• Collaborate closely with design and external teams to build efficient, reusable components and design libraries.
• Develop and improve workflows between design and development to ensure adoption and alignment.
• Ensuring design solutions are translated into effective build solutions.

Essential Criteria

• Proven experience in a design systems role and a strong foundation in product design principals and logical design thinking.
• Ability to interpret and apply brand guidelines, tailoring them into cohesive product guidelines.
• Good understanding of design tokens and how they map to code for consistency across platforms.
• Working knowledge of front-end technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and how design translates into development.
• Expertise in Figma and proficiency in using digital collaboration tools (e.g., Slack, Miro, Zoom, Teams).

Desired But Not Required

• We're particularly interested in candidates from the news and media industry, but we're equally open to those from legacy brands or other sectors.
• Familiarity with how emerging technologies, trends, and tools can evolve the design system.

If you can bring some of these skills and experience, along with transferable strengths, we'd love to hear from you and encourage you to apply.

NEXT STEPS

We appreciate your interest in this position and understand how important this opportunity is to you. Due to the high volume of interest we may need to close the application period earlier than anticipated. This step is necessary to ensure we can provide a high level of attention and service to all applicants. Thank you for your understanding.

Disclaimer

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.

Please note: If you were to be offered this role, the BBC will conduct Employment screening checks which include Reference checks; Eligibility to work checks; and if applicable to the role, Safeguarding and Adverse media/Social media checks. Any offer made is conditional on these checks being satisfactory.

Redeployment

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.