Lead Designer

RM is the leading supplier of technology and resources to the education sector, supporting schools, teachers and learners, enabling the improvement of educational outcomes worldwide. We work across the industry from pre-school to higher education and professional qualification, our customers include schools, examination boards, central governments and other professional institutions. We have a clear purpose to enrich the lives of learners worldwide.

Our mission as an assessment business is to enrich the lives of learners worldwide through the innovative use of technology.

We have an award-winning portfolio of products and services that deliver digital assessment solutions for organisations globally in the general qualification, professional qualification, and higher education sectors.

We are looking for an experienced product designer who is looking to move up the management track and take on a player / coach role. You will lead the design strategy across our digital assessment portfolio, as well as doing hands-on design for one or more products or innovation projects.

You will also lead our global team of product designers, ensuring they have alignment and autonomy to create the best designs for their products, as well as setting the direction and standards for a consistent user experience across the portfolio.

You will report directly to the Head of Product and work closely with them on the design strategy. You will be part of the product and innovation team, who work in cross-functional teams to design and deliver our products.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone looking to take the next step in their career and be part of an ambitious, purpose led company looking to transform learning and assessment.

**Responsibilities**

The lead product designer is player/coach role that manages the design team, as well as owning the overall design direction for the portfolio.

As a designer your main responsibilities are to:

- Lead the design and prototyping of ideas and solutions, always focusing on user needs
- Plan and conduct user research, turning raw research data into insights
- Work directly with customers and users to understand their needs and translate them into tangible solutions
- Work with development and product teams to turn prototypes into working products
- Facilitate and lead workshops
- Produce appropriate design assets such as user journeys, workflows and personas
- Engage with stakeholders to inform your design and to advocate for the value of great user experience

As the design lead, you also need to:

- Build and lead a high performing team of designers
- Demonstrate design best practice to help your team and the wider product community to understand and follow a user-centric approach
- Set and own the design system for the portfolio, supporting your designers to strive for consistency in the user experience across our products
- Be part of the innovation leadership, supporting RM in its aim to grow an innovation culture and create new products through innovation
- Lead the design community, encouraging designers across RM’s three divisions to share best practices and tools within the team and with wider business

**Experience**

Product design excellence
- You have proven experience working as a designer within cross-functional teams, taking a user centric approach to develop and deliver high quality software products

Design strategy
- You have experience of creating and embedding design systems
- You are a confident and experienced facilitator and know how to get the best out of people in meetings and workshops

Leadership
- You can effectively manage and grow high performing teams - ideally with direct experience of managing designers
- You have coached junior designers and helped them grow their skills

Creativity & innovation
- You inspire others with your creativity and approach to design and innovation
- You understand and use recognised design processes in your work, such as the Design Council double diamond, and can lead on all stages.

Customer focussed
- You thrive when working directly with customers and users, and actively seek opportunities to do so

Domain experience
- You are passionate about education and may have some prior experience in the industry

**What’s in it for you?**

As well as a competitive salary, you could earn a performance related bonus and you would receive our core benefits package which includes private medical healthcare, life assurance and a Group Personal Pension Plan with higher contribution levels available.

There are lots of voluntary benefits too. You could buy additional annual leave, join our dental plan, sign for a health assessment or take part in our cycle to work scheme. You could even earn yourself an extra bonus for successfully recommending a friend or family member for a position within RM.

At RM we are committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the customers and communities we serve, and to cr