Design Lead

As the Digital Design Lead, you will be contributing to the design vision and strategy of Rentokil-Initial's +150 websites and digital products and services offered to existing customers. You will ensure our design of digital touchpoints supports our business objectives and enhances our customers' experience.

You'll contribute to creating and maintaining user-centered designs, including elements of visual design and aesthetics, to deliver intuitive and consistent user experiences. This position includes responsibility for user research and usability testing to gather insights and inform design decisions. You'll work collaboratively with various teams, including product, engineering, and marketing, to support the overall product development process. 

Additionally, you'll lead in developing and upholding our design system, helping to maintain consistency. Ultimately, your contributions will help enhance our digital experiences, supporting Rentokil Initial's ongoing success.

The immediate challenge is to build a new centralised high-calibre team that consistently delivers a superior, innovative, and cohesive digital experience for our customers across the pest, hygiene, and wellbeing categories. This team will work closely with product and optimisations squads across the organisation, and ultimately will be embedded into these squads.

This is a new role and we are looking for a Design Lead willing to lead by example (e.g., prototyping complex flows, creating key UI components, and providing detailed design specifications) and maintain a deep understanding of user needs.

The roles and responsibilities of a Design Lead

Leadership and Team Management:

• Form a new, high-calibre UX/UI design team to consistently deliver superior, innovative, and cohesive digital experiences.
• Mentor, coach, and develop existing and new team members, establishing a culture of design excellence, continuous feedback, and high performance.

Collaboration and Communication:

• Act as the primary bridge between the Digital Design team and Product and Optimisation Squads, ensuring design resources effectively support and drive digital innovation.
• Ensure the design strategy, process, and output are integrated into Agile ways of working at scale, fostering cross-functional alignment and efficiency.

Design Strategy and Vision:

• Develop and champion a customer-centric design vision and strategy that unifies the digital experience across the pest, hygiene, and wellbeing categories.
• Based on evolving user needs and business opportunities drive the strategy for improving existing digital products and services or creating new ones.

User Experience Design:

• Ensure that designs are user-centered, intuitive, and aligned with user needs and behaviors.
• Oversee the creation of user personas, journey maps, and wireframes.

User Interface Design:

• Develop and maintain the visual design and aesthetics of user interfaces.
• Ensure consistency in design elements across all products and platforms.

User Research and Testing:

• Conduct user research to understand user needs, behaviors, and pain points.
• Plan and execute usability testing to validate design decisions and gather feedback.

Design System and Standards:

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive design system and component library.
• Ensure adherence to design standards and guidelines across all projects.

Prototyping and Interaction Design:

• Create interactive prototypes to demonstrate design concepts and workflows.
• Ensure that interactive elements are intuitive and enhance the user experience.

• The candidate must have operated at the level of the role (or very close to it) and led new teams or initiatives.
• They should have experience in centralised teams, and ideally have experience of then embedding digital designers into product teams.
• They should have experience embedding customer centricity and working in successful digital transformations.
• The role requires experience in optimising and creating new digital touchpoints or products.
• Candidates should be experienced in Agile ways of working at scale.
• Experience in different sectors, ideally consumer or business services, is also required.

The following skills and competencies are crucial for a Design Lead:

Design Expertise:

• Deep understanding of UX and UI design principles, practices, and methodologies.
• Knowledge of user-centered design, usability, and accessibility standards.

Leadership and Management:

• Strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire and lead a high-performing design team.
• Experience in managing cross-functional teams and working collaboratively with other senior executives.

Strategic Thinking:

• Ability to develop and execute long-term design strategies aligned with business objectives.
• Experience in identifying design opportunities and developing strategies to capitalize on them.

Analytical and Problem-Solving Skills:

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret user research and usability testing data.
• Excellent problem-solving skills with a proactive approach to addressing design challenges.

• Competitive salary and bonus scheme
• Hybrid working
• Rentokil Initial Reward Scheme
• 23 days holiday, plus 8 bank holidays
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Death in service benefit
• Healthcare
• Free parking

At Rentokil Initial, our customers and colleagues represent diverse backgrounds and experiences. We take pride in being an equal opportunity employer, actively encouraging applications from individuals from all walks of life. Our belief is that everyone irrespective of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, or beliefs, has the potential to thrive and contribute.

We embrace the differences that make each of our colleagues unique, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone can be their authentic selves and feel a sense of belonging. To ensure that your journey with us is accessible if you have any individual requirements we invite you to communicate any specific needs or preferences you may have during any stage of the recruitment process. Our team is available to support you; feel free to reach out to ) if you need anything

Be Yourself in Your Application At Rentokil Initial, we value innovation, but we want to see the real you While AI can help with structure and grammar, make sure your application shows your true passion and understanding of the role. A personal touch will help you stand out.