Product Design Lead

Join us as a Product Design Lead at Barclays, where you’ll drive end-to-end product design from discovery through to delivery. You’ll conduct user research and facilitate cross-functional workshops to shape user-centered solutions while providing design leadership in a 3-in-a-box model partnering closely with Product and Engineering. In this role, you’ll support and drive high-priority strategic initiatives for PBWM to ensure we deliver exceptional value for our clients and colleagues.

To be successful as a Product Design Lead, you should have:

• End-to-End Product Design Delivery: Experience leading design from discovery through to delivery.

• User Research & Insight Generation: Skilled in conducting research to inform strategies and validate design solutions.

• Design Leadership & Collaboration (3-in-a-box): Ample partnership with Product and Engineering to drive aligned, high-quality outcomes.

Some other highly valued skills may include:

• Prototyping & Interaction Design: Ability to create high-fidelity prototypes to test and communicate ideas

• Experience with Agentic / Generative AI: Leveraging AI tools to enhance design workflows and product experiences.

• Line Management & Team Development: Experience managing and mentoring designers to support growth and performance.

You may be assessed on the key critical skills relevant for success in role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills.

This role will be based in our London office.

Purpose of the role

To create user-centred and visually appealing designs for digital banking products by conducting user research, design of user interfaces and experiences, collaboration with stakeholders, and continuous improvement. 

Accountabilities

• Execution of user research and usability tests to understand customer needs, pain points, and integrate feedback and preferences to banking products and services, through collaboration with various stakeholders, including product managers and developers.
• Creation of intuitive and user-friendly interfaces for digital banking platforms and applications for a seamless and engaging user experience.
• Design and maintenance of visually appealing and consistent user interfaces that align with the bank's brand identity and design guidelines across digital products.
• Creation of wireframes and interactive prototypes for visualisation and testing of product concepts and features before development.
• Accessibility considerations to ensure that designs comply with accessibility standards and guidelines to provide an inclusive experience for all users.
• Monitoring of industry trends, design best practices, and emerging technologies to continuously improve the design quality and innovation of banking products.

Vice President Expectations

• To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/ processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures..
• If managing a team, they define jobs and responsibilities, planning for the department’s future needs and operations, counselling employees on performance and contributing to employee pay decisions/changes. They may also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, in alignment with strategic as well as tactical priorities, while balancing short and long term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements..
• If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others..
• OR for an individual contributor, they will be a subject matter expert within own discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi-year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
• Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does.
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies.
• Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
• Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes.
• Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.