Lead Product Designer (Maternity Cover)

Lead Product Designer (Maternity Cover) Join us! If you’re ready to start the next chapter in your career journey, you’ve come to the right place. We’re always happy to hear from people who are eager to learn and grow, and share our values. Apply About the role This is a rare opportunity to step into a senior design leadership role at a consultancy that genuinely cares about how it works, not just what it delivers. As Lead Product Designer, you'll own the design vision across a product vertical, balancing hands-on craft with team leadership, and making sure every sprint-by-sprint decision adds up to something coherent and valuable for the end user. We're a team of collaborators who encourage each other to get out of our comfort zone, experiment, reflect and learn together: human first, built on mutual respect, transparency, and a lean flat structure where self-starters thrive. While we operate as a remote-first company, this specific role requires flexibility to work in a hybrid capacity , spending 1–2 days per week in our London office to support specific account needs. It's an 8-month maternity cover, but the work is real, the accounts are live, and the impact is immediate. If you're a senior designer who thrives with autonomy, values good process, and wants to lead a small team through meaningful work, this could be a great fit. Skills & requirements We'd love to hear from you if you have: Product & Delivery Experience: Proven track record in mature product environments, managing incremental delivery, complex design system management, and owning the holistic view of a product's user experience. Core UX/UI & Responsive Web Skills : Strong foundational background as a UX/UI designer within a product design capacity, with essential expertise in delivering high-quality responsive web experiences. Compelling Communicator: Strong storytelling skills with the ability to defend design decisions, articulate business value, and push back constructively against client or technical constraints. Technical Proficiency: Extensive experience creating scalable, reusable design assets, robust documentation, and comprehensive prototypes. AI Integration: Practical experience and a forward-thinking approach to championing how AI tools can support day-to-day team workflows and enhance operational efficiency. Leadership & Mentorship: Experience in guiding small teams, managing day-to-day design activities, and fostering a collaborative, high-performance culture within specific product verticals. Adaptability and Curiosity: Comfortable in dynamic environments with a passion for learning and growth, particularly regarding practical applications of new AI design workflows. Commercial Awareness: A strong understanding of business goals and product KPIs, with the ability to spot opportunities for account growth and strategic impact. In this role, you will be responsible for: End-to-End Design: You will be responsible for creating high-quality, user-centred designs, with a specific focus and deep expertise in responsive web experiences. Product Vision: As a Design Lead, you will work closely with Product Managers to own the holistic view of the product, ensuring all incremental updates align with the overarching user experience and strategic vision. You will manage the sprint-by-sprint design workflow, lead design critiques, and help to facilitate agile ceremonies. Client & Stakeholder Management: You will confidently navigate complex client relationships, manage stakeholder expectations, and act as a trusted advisor, presenting work clearly and compellingly to secure buy-in. Hands-On Design & Leadership: Balance hands-on design execution with team management. Lead a squad of designers dedicated to specific product verticals (mentoring 1-3 direct reports), providing day-to-day mentorship and helping them deliver their best work. Lead DesignOps: Bring a strong grounding in DesignOps. Oversee DesignOps within your product vertical and actively drive the management, maintenance, and scaling of robust design systems. Show our clients what good looks like when it comes to how we work together and create impact. Cross-functional Collaboration: Work seamlessly across departments to align business, technical, and user experience perspectives, collaborating with and reporting directly to a Design Leader. User-Centred Design: Drive, define, and own primary and secondary research strategies to capture the actionable insights that underpin our thinking and product strategy. Next steps: who you'll meet and for what We aim to make the process clear, human, and respectful of your time: Recruiter screen (30m) - with someone from our Talent Team Skills & Competency interview (60m) - with two members of our design and delivery team Ways of working & values interview (45m) - with a cross-functional duo What Futurice offers you We use a transparent salary model based on your skills, responsibilities, and impact. The salary band for this role is £75,000–£90,000 depending on experience. We also believe in care, trust, transparency, and continuous improvement. Here's what that looks like in practice: A supportive, values-driven team culture where individuality is celebrated A personal learning budget (£1,200/year), mentoring, and knowledge-sharing sessions Flexible, remote-first working with colleagues across the UK and EU Private health insurance (WPA), pension contributions (6%+), and wellbeing support (£50/month via Juno) 25 days holiday + bank holidays + your birthday off — increasing by 1 day per year after 3 years' service (capped at 30) A tiered parental leave policy (16 weeks maternity full pay, 4 weeks partner full pay, depending on tenure) EV salary sacrifice scheme (depending on tenure) Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Futurice At Futurice, we celebrate individuality and believe our differences make us stronger. We're committed to creating a workplace where everyone can thrive, regardless of background, identity, or lived experience. We warmly encourage everyone to apply, even if you don't tick every box. What's it like to work here Ever since Futurice was founded, we've focused on creating a workplace people genuinely enjoy, Mondays included. We've built a welcoming culture where trust, kindness, and well-being matter as much as great work. Our atmosphere is open and warm, whether you're in the office or working remotely. You'll quickly feel part of the community where coffee chats, virtual fikas, or after-work hangouts happen naturally. Because our culture is shaped by all of us, every day, you'll have an opportunity to influence how we work, connect, and evolve as a community. Across countries, teams, and time zones, everyone brings their own character, helping shape how we work, connect, and evolve together. At Futurice, new joiners aren't expected to fit into a mould. Come as you are, whatever your background. We believe in the power of different perspectives, and diversity is a key part of our success at delivering customer value when they trust us with some of their most challenging and inspiring challenges. 📌 Please note: Unfortunately we won't be able to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Department Delivery & Product Locations Futurice UK Remote status Hybrid Yearly salary £75,000 - £90,000 Employment type Contract About Futurice We help organizations unlock new value by combining data, AI, design, and strategy. Our promise is simple: faster, smarter delivery; AI-powered decisions; and exceptional, data-driven experiences. We deliver clarity, and clarity delivers results. Our vision is to redefine organizations with data and AI. Large enterprises work with us to build smarter services, accelerate decision-making, and strengthen their competitive edge. Founded in 2000, Futurice has grown into an 800+ person community across Europe. Our culture is built on trust, transparency, care, and continuous improvement. We offer a collaborative, international environment where ambitious people learn, grow, and make a real impact.