Manager, Product Design

Manager, Product & Experience Design

Do you want to create the best work of your life, working on big projects for big clients that, most importantly, make a big impact? We’re growing an incredible Product & Experience Design practice and we’re looking the best-of-the-best: interesting, inspired, talented, deeply experienced, curious, insight-driven and hands-on practitioners to support our clients and lead our brilliant, diverse team here in London and our network across the world. Is that you?

About EY Seren

At EY Seren, the work we do cuts across every sector and reaches deep into the interactions, choices and experiences people encounter every day. We want to help people make better, more effective choices and solve their most pressing problems. We work with organisations to create transformative platforms, products, services and experiences that will make the world an easier, more meaningful and sustainable place to live and work.

We don’t have all the answers, because – just like people – every problem is unique and needs the right care and attention to find the right solution. Clients push us every day to help them solve new and complex challenges in a rapidly changing world. But this is also a privilege - to get access to senior client stakeholders and decisionmakers at the highest levels and have  conversations that excite us and challenge us to do our best work.  We’re a unique but integrated part of an established global business, which brings new thinking, challenges and opportunities every day - and helps us make a difference: our human-centred approach to doing business is helping shift the world around us, simplify complexity and push us to go further as we help reimagine growth - for business, for people and for our communities.

The opportunity

We are seeking a talented and experienced Design Lead (Manager) for our Product & Experience Design practice, to join our London office. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) design, a passion for creating user-centred solutions, and the ability to manage and mentor multi-disciplinary design teams. As Design Lead, you’ll collaborate with cross-functional teams, across multiple client engagements and accounts, to deliver innovative and effective design solutions that meet our clients' needs.

You’ll bring experience of delivering projects which integrate innovative technologies, including AI and machine learning, into the design processes to enhance user experiences and drive efficiency, whilst staying informed about emerging technologies and trends in UX design, and explore how they can be applied to improve project outcomes.

You’ll set high standards, and establish confidence through your experience, then put it all into action by delivering the most amazing products, services and experiences. You will lead, support and enable solutions for complex business, technology and customer challenges. You’ll be hands-on too, and not afraid to get into the detail - but know when to delegate to your team - in pursuit of the best possible outcomes for our clients and their customers.

You’ll also engage in business development activities, playing a key role identifying opportunities for new work, building relationships with potential clients along the way. The ideal candidate will shape proposals and project plans by articulating the value of UX/UI design and how it aligns with client objectives, whilst collaborating with the business development team to prepare compelling presentations and pitches that showcase our design capabilities.

The work we do is big: big in scale, big in ambition, and big in impact – these projects matter and get taken seriously by the clients we work for. We don’t do work that sits in drawers. We shape and create solutions that make a difference in the world: solutions that help people have better, more meaningful experiences and make better, more effective, choices and decisions - for themselves and for the people that matter most in their lives.

You won’t do this on your own. As an essential member of our Product & Experience Design team, you’ll work alongside the best in Service Design, Strategy, Research, Insight and Technology. Our clients will look to you for your expertise and your team will look up to you – for your experience, your support and your commitment to exceptional quality - and we’ll expect you to show it every day.

Your key responsibilities

• You’ll inspire, support, facilitate and lead major engagements, ensuring the delivery of exceptional, high quality and innovative design with a foundation of critical, brilliant thinking.
• Direct cross-functional teams of designers, consulting and client resources in day-to-day engagement delivery, to shape and steer the solution towards desired outcomes.
• Manage project timelines, budgets, and resources to ensure successful project delivery.
• Lead the design of complex digital products, services and experiences - from discovery, to initial ideas and concepting, through to detailed wireframes and UI designs and validated prototypes
• Present, lead and facilitate meetings and workshops with colleagues and clients
• Run research and usability testing to validate and gather feedback on your designs, or the output of your team.
• Work by yourself or with Senior Managers, Directors and Partners to help shape engagements and proposals as well as supporting the development of accounts and new business opportunities
• Collaborate with your peers to deliver blended solutions of Product & Experience Design, Service Design, Research and Strategy
• Assure that all delivery is managed within quality and risk parameters, aligned to EY standards and frameworks
• Work with the Product & Experience Design Practice Director to support, grow and develop the practice and the people in the team - including recruitment, mentoring and line-managing a number of designers from grad and Junior through to Senior level

Skills and attributes for success

• A maker at heart, you love a great problem and the process of finding the solution
• A highly experienced Design practitioner, encompassing the full-service digital design and delivery lifecycle, including all aspects of UX and UI design, such as Research, Information Architecture and prototyping – as well as some experience of brand and content development
• An ability to build empathy with clients by understanding their challenges, business and technology issues - along with competitor and comparator trends in their marketplace
• Smart, energetic, curious and flexible, you’re able to operate in high-pressure situations to an exceptional standard and adapt your style to accommodate different stakeholders and colleagues - while ensuring the best outcomes from your team
• Personal resilience and resourcefulness to advocate for and deliver creative solutions and innovative change in the face of organisational resistance
• You’re not just the best at what you do, you know how to get the best out of the people around you and it shows in everything you do

To qualify for the role you must have

• Experience of leading teams, projects and new business proposals
• Experience of delivering data-driven or data-enabled products, services and experiences from the initial idea, right into the hands of the customer, designed with acute alignment to emerging behaviours
• You’ve worked with developers and product managers as well as clients and stakeholders in Agile environments - and, somehow, still created amazing products and experiences that made an impact on clients, colleagues and customers alike
• Significant experience building positive relationships with clients with integrity and authenticity; understanding client's perspective and organisational culture
• Experience working with the latest and greatest software; from Adobe Creative Suite to Figma, Sketch, Invision and Axure. You’ll also know how to put together an engaging presentation in PowerPoint and even tackle the occasional spreadsheet in a tight spot (yes, we hate it too)
• Experience delivering projects integrating innovative technologies, including AI and machine learning, into the design processes to enhance user experiences and drive efficiency.
• Experience and track record in the line management of designers
• An amazing work-history that you can demonstrate through case studies, presentations and thought leadership - a strong, credible portfolio of work is a must
• Strong communication skills and ability to produce high-quality written deliverables in fluent English
• A willingness to travel and work in client sites, both in the UK and overseas as and when required

Ideally you’ll also have

• Strong point of view and vision for the future of chosen industries and sectors
• A keen interest in emerging technologies and trends in UX design, such as Agent Experience (AX), and how they can be applied to improve project outcomes.
• Experience in agile software delivery environments
• An ability to design personalised experiences with awareness of regulatory constraints.
• Bachelors and / or Masters degree in design or related subject areas or equivalent demonstrable experience

What we look for

• A healthy obsession with research, understanding human-beings and how they tick
• A demonstrable track record in Product & Experience Design
• A portfolio that clearly demonstrates your thinking, design process, successful outcomes and how you overcame different kinds of challenges
• Experience working and leading projects in prominent consultative design agencies, business consulting, or large in-house design teams

What working at EY offers

We offer a competitive remuneration package where you’ll be rewarded for your individual and team performance. Our comprehensive Total Rewards package includes support for flexible working and career development, and with FlexEY you can select benefits that suit your needs, covering holidays, health and well-being, insurance, savings and a wide range of discounts offers and promotions. Plus, we offer:

• Support, coaching and feedback from some of the most engaging colleagues around
• Opportunities to develop new skills and progress your career
• The freedom and flexibility to handle your role in a way that’s right for you

About EY

As a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services, we’re using the finance products, expertise and systems we’ve developed to build a better working world. That starts with a culture that believes in giving you the training, opportunities and creative freedom to make things better. Whenever you join, however long you stay, the exceptional EY experience lasts a lifetime. And with a commitment to hiring and developing the most passionate people, we’ll make our ambition to be the best employer by 2020 a reality.

If you can confidently demonstrate that you meet the criteria above, please contact us as soon as possible.

Make your mark.

Apply now.

Please note: Prior to finalizing your application, you will be asked to provide personal information across several dimensions of diversity and inclusiveness. The information you provide is kept entirely confidential and will not be used to evaluate your candidacy. We collect this data to help us analyse our recruitment process holistically and implement actions that promote diversity and inclusiveness. While optional, we encourage you to provide this information to hold us accountable towards our goal of building a better working world. We ask because it matters!  

Who we are

EY is committed to being an inclusive employer and we are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. We strive to achieve the right balance for our people, enabling us to deliver excellent client service whilst allowing you to build your career without sacrificing your personal priorities. While our client-facing professionals can be required to travel regularly, and at times be based at client sites, our flexible working arrangements can help you to achieve a lifestyle balance.