Lead Designer

1 month ago

Birmingham UK, West Midlands, United Kingdom IRIS #foundbyiris Full time

We are looking for an outstanding Design Lead for this award winning agency based in Birmingham. The individual is looking to make the step up or already has experience operating as a "Head of'. They will be responsible for strategic design and product execution across all of their client output, as well as being a key part of the management team.


This pivotal role requires a high degree of creativity, leadership and strategic thinking. You will be responsible for overseeing the creation and maintenance of their design process and approach, managing their team of talented designers and fostering a culture of innovation and excellence, while considering the vision for design within the business and departmental growth.


The Lead Designer is responsible for defining the departmental processes, budget and operational frameworks while ensuring that the rest of the team is supported and has the guidance and career growth they need. They also assist in the planning and scoping of projects and resource requirements and in the dissemination, direction and production of project work with the rest of the team and alongside key client stakeholders.


You will have the confidence and authority to lead, grow and develop their biggest clients, collaborating with our product, engineering and strategy teams and assisting commercial with winning new work and defining the scope of our projects.


You'll be able to adapt to both product and service design methodologies, be as happy in front of a wall of post it notes as you are in crafting high fidelity, beautiful prototypes in Figma. Using agile working practices, you will be responsible for ensuring that experience design processes are successfully created and followed, acting as the advocate of the user and our standards in all areas of project work but always keeping a strong commercial awareness of the project goals and a capable product mindset.


Key Responsibilities:


  • Leading the overall design strategy, ensuring alignment with business objectives and product goals
  • Working alongside the Experience Director on the vision and roadmap for the department
  • Managing, mentoring and growing a team of designers, fostering a collaborative and innovative design culture
  • Overseeing the design process from concept to final execution, ensuring the highest quality and consistency in all deliverables
  • Collaborating closely with our cross-functional teams, including project management, engineering, strategy and marketing
  • Working hand in hand with marketing to own and evolve the company brand and brand standards
  • Creating and maintaining a comprehensive library of design activities and approaches, ensuring consistency and scalability across all components
  • Presenting design concepts and progress to senior leadership and other stakeholders
  • Collaborating with the commercial team on new business pitches and consultative presentations
  • Staying updated with the latest design trends, tools, and technologies, integrating them into the design process where appropriate
  • Championing human centred design, its principles and best practices within the organisation
  • Representing the organisation and our capabilities externally, as part of content creation, events and public appearances
  • Playing a active role in the design and product community, raising your profile as a design leader and helping the company gain attention for our standards and approach


Required Skills and Experience:


  • 10+ years of experience in digital product design, with at least 4 years in a senior or leadership role
  • Deep understanding of visual design principles, including typography, colour theory, layout, and human centred design
  • Expertise in design tools such as Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, whiteboarding and prototyping tools
  • A portfolio that illustrates your strengths in not just UX & UI, but also your strategic and product-development approach to client challenges.
  • A clear balance between digital and brand design, clearly providing evidence of design thinking and human centred design.
  • Clear experience with qualitative user research and usability testing.
  • A strong working knowledge of industry standard design and prototyping tools (Figma, Framer, Sketch, InVision, Webflow etc.).
  • Ability to manage and translate stakeholder goals, user research, and complex user flows into Human Centred solutions, with an understanding of behavioural design and cognitive principles.
  • Experience with mobile, responsive design and an appreciation for ergonomics.
  • Strong analytical, problem solving, and critical thinking skills.
  • Strong collaboration and communication skills.
  • Be experienced with leading on design direction and working with client stakeholders, external design teams and our own designers alike.
  • Ability to simplify the complex.
  • Working experience of relevant methodologies including Design Thinking, Sprints, Laws of UX, Jobs To Be Done, Value Proposition Design etc.
  • Experience in creating and managing design systems
  • Strong leadership and team management skills
  • Excellent communication and presentation skills
  • Experience in conducting user research and usability testing


Preferred Qualifications:


  • Experience in the tech or digital product industry
  • Knowledge of strategic practices
  • Experience with agile methodologies
  • Familiarity with data-driven design decisions


This role offers an exciting opportunity to shape the design direction of the agency's services and make a significant impact on our clients' experiences. If you are passionate about design, have a proven track record of leadership and thrive in a collaborative environment, we want to hear from you.

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