Lead Designer

I’m working on an exciting Lead Designer – Design Systems opportunity within a high-profile digital banking proposition, where you’ll have genuine influence over how the design system evolves and how new customer-facing products are brought to life. They’re looking for someone with strong hands-on design systems experience, excellent Figma skills and a standout portfolio of consumer-facing digital work. It’s a 6–9 month contract, with a two-stage process including a portfolio review.

Title: Lead Designer – Design Systems (VP)
Location: City of London
Contract: 6-9 months
Working pattern: Onsite - 5 days a week
Pay rate: £700/day
Sector: Financial Services / Digital Banking

We’re looking for an experienced Lead Designer – Design Systems to join the Design & Customer Experience team within a leading digital banking organisation.

This newly created role sits within the Design System Team, working closely with Product Design and wider multidisciplinary teams to evolve the design systems supporting a growing consumer-facing digital product.

The role is ideal for a designer who combines strong design craft with hands-on design systems experience, enjoys collaborative problem-solving and can work autonomously. You’ll have the opportunity to influence new product solutions and improve customer experiences.

The Role:

• Drive design system excellence, balancing design quality with customer and business impact.

• Develop and evolve design systems across a consumer-facing digital banking experience.

• Collaborate with Product Designers, Researchers, Engineers, Product Managers and stakeholders.

• Translate customer and business needs into practical design system solutions.

• Identify opportunities to improve and innovate within the design system.

• Champion design system adoption and build buy-in across teams.

• Contribute to new product solutions and customer experiences.

• Use insights, data and feedback to evolve the design system.

• Support consistency across digital touchpoints, including native iOS and Android.

• Work autonomously while bringing teams and stakeholders together.

• Promote accessibility and inclusive design principles.

About You:

We’re looking for someone with a strong background in hands-on product design and design systems, supported by a high-quality portfolio.

You’ll ideally have:

• Proven experience working with design systems at scale.

• Expert knowledge of Figma and modern design/prototyping tools.

• Essential experience designing for a consumer-facing digital product or app.

• A strong portfolio demonstrating design craft, problem-solving and scalable systems.

• Experience collaborating within design system teams and multidisciplinary product teams.

• A strong understanding of how design systems solve customer and business problems.

• Experience across digital products, ideally including native iOS and Android.

• The ability to work autonomously and take ownership.

• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.

• A solution-oriented mindset and appreciation for high-quality design.

• An understanding of accessibility standards such as WCAG 2.2.

We’re particularly interested in the quality of your design work, design systems experience and consumer-facing products you’ve delivered.

Why Join?

Join a high-profile digital banking proposition at an exciting stage of growth, with genuine influence over its design system, products and new product solutions.

Interview Process

1st stage: Interview with the Hiring Manager
2nd stage: Portfolio review

If you’re a hands-on designer with strong design systems experience and a portfolio demonstrating excellent consumer-facing digital work, we’d be keen to hear from you.

Robert Walters Operations Limited is an employment business and employment agency and welcomes applications from all candidates