Head of Design

Job Title: Head of Design

Reports to: Chief Strategy Officer

Direct Reports: Design team (~10 direct reports), including Product Designers, UX Researchers, and Consumer Insights Lead

Purpose of the Role

The Head of Design is the most senior design leader within the organisation, responsible for setting and executing the design vision, strategy, and standards across all consumer-facing digital products and experiences. This is a strategic leadership role that extends well beyond traditional design management - the role holder operates as a key member of the senior leadership team, working directly with the CEO, Chief Strategy Officer, and other C-suite executives to shape company direction, product strategy, and growth initiatives.

The Head of Design is accountable for building and leading a high-performing design organisation, driving innovation through AI-augmented design practices, and ensuring that design functions as a strategic capability that de-risks business decisions through rapid prototyping, consumer research, and evidence-based experimentation.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Executive Partnership

• Define and own the design vision and strategy for the organisation, ensuring design is embedded at the centre of product development, content strategy, and commercial decision-making.

• Partner directly with the CEO, Chief Strategy Officer, and senior leadership team on company-direction initiatives, contributing design perspective to business strategy, market positioning, and growth planning.

• Lead the transformation of the design function from a production-oriented service into a Research & Development capability, where every strategic bet is validated through design-led prototyping and consumer evidence before full investment.

• Represent Design at executive forums, board presentations, and cross-functional leadership meetings, advocating for user-centred decision-making and design-led innovation.

Design Organisation & Team Leadership

• Build, lead, and develop a multidisciplinary design team of approximately 10 professionals spanning product design, UX research, and consumer insights.

• Establish and maintain design hiring standards, career progression frameworks, and professional development programmes to attract and retain top design talent.

• Foster a culture of design excellence, creative rigour, and continuous learning within the team and across the broader organisation.

• Drive AI adoption and AI-augmented design workflows across the team, achieving high levels of productivity through modern tooling and automated processes.

Product & Experience Design

• Oversee the end-to-end design of the organisation's digital product portfolio, including financial comparison tools, recommendation engines, editorial content experiences, and emerging AI-powered advisory products.

• Own the design system architecture and component library, ensuring consistency, accessibility, scalability, and brand coherence across all platforms and touchpoints.

• Lead the design strategy for new product initiatives, including AI chat assistants, personalised financial wellness tools, and machine-learning-optimised content experiences.

• Ensure all design output meets the highest standards of usability, accessibility (WCAG compliance), performance, and visual quality.

Innovation & AI Integration

• Pioneer the integration of AI and machine learning into the design workflow, including AI-first design systems that connect design components directly to AI coding tools to eliminate inconsistencies and accelerate development.

• Lead the development of LLM-optimised content templates and information architectures that ensure content is structured for both human consumption and machine-readable citation by large language models.

• Drive design innovation through rapid prototyping, consumer testing, and iterative experimentation, enabling the organisation to validate ideas at low cost before committing engineering resources.

• Identify and evaluate emerging design technologies, tools, and methodologies that can provide competitive advantage.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Influence

• Partner with Product, Engineering, Editorial, Growth, SEO, and Data Science teams to ensure design thinking is integrated across all workstreams and business decisions.

• Collaborate with commercial and partnerships teams to design consumer experiences that drive revenue growth, lead generation, and partner engagement.

• Establish and lead cross-functional design review processes, ensuring alignment between design direction and business objectives.

• Act as the primary advocate for consumer needs within the organisation, embedding consumer insights and user research evidence into strategic planning and prioritisation.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Proven track record of building and leading high-performing design teams within technology, media, or financial services organisations.

• Demonstrated ability to operate at a strategic level, influencing business direction and product strategy alongside C-suite executives.

• Deep expertise in design systems, component architectures, and scalable design practices for multi-product digital platforms.

• Strong understanding of AI/ML technologies and their application to design workflows, content strategy, and product innovation.

• Expert proficiency in Figma and modern design tooling, with working knowledge of front-end technologies (HTML, CSS, React/TypeScript) and data-informed design practices.

• Exceptional communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate design thinking into commercial value.

• Experience with consumer financial services, comparison platforms, or content-led digital products is highly desirable.