Lead designer - Design Systems

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Designer - Design Systems

Company: PropertyGuru Group

Location: Bengaluru, India

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Design Systems, UI/UX Design, Product Design

Date Posted: 2025-06-13

Experience Level: 5-10 years

Remote Status: Hybrid

🎨 Role Summary

• Lead the strategic development and implementation of the core visual language, including typography, color palettes, iconography, and a comprehensive component library, to establish a consistent and scalable design foundation across all PropertyGuru products and platforms.
• Drive the creation, maintenance, and evolution of design system tools, resources, and detailed documentation, ensuring product designers have the necessary assets and guidelines for efficient and high-quality user interface design.
• Champion the adoption and effective utilization of shared design patterns and components across diverse product teams, business units, and geographical regions, identifying opportunities for system enhancement and expansion based on emerging needs and user feedback.
• Conduct rigorous, end-to-end audits of existing user interfaces to identify inconsistencies and opportunities for improvement, continuously pushing the visual design system forward across multiple channels, including Mobile App, Mobile Web, and Desktop experiences in Southeast Asia.
• Foster a culture of design excellence and collaboration within the team and across the organization, providing mentorship and guidance on design system best practices, accessibility standards, and inclusive design principles.

🖼️ Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the design, definition, and ongoing refinement of the core visual design system, including defining guidelines for typography, color theory, iconography, spacing, and motion, ensuring alignment with brand identity and user experience goals.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive Figma libraries, ensuring all components, styles, and patterns are accurately represented, well-documented, and easily accessible for product design teams, serving as a central source of truth for UI elements.
• Collaborate closely with front-end engineering teams to ensure seamless implementation and adoption of the design system in code, establishing efficient handoff processes and contributing to the development of component libraries that mirror design specifications.
• Conduct regular, in-depth audits of existing product interfaces across various platforms (web, mobile) and markets (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam) to identify deviations from the design system, propose updates, and ensure visual and functional consistency.
• Develop and implement a robust framework for ensuring accessibility (WCAG standards) and inclusivity are integrated into both the design and development workflows, advocating for best practices and providing guidance on creating universally usable interfaces.
• Champion the design system across the organization through presentations, workshops, and documentation, educating product managers, content specialists, QA testers, and other stakeholders on its value, usage, and contribution to product quality and efficiency.
• Provide mentorship and guidance to design team members on design system principles, best practices, and contribution guidelines, identifying opportunities for individuals to take ownership of specific system components or initiatives.
• Continuously research and evaluate emerging trends, tools, and technologies in the design systems space, proposing improvements and innovations to enhance the system's capabilities and align with industry best practices.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: A Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, or a related field is typically preferred. Relevant professional certifications or extensive practical experience in design systems and UI/UX design may be considered in lieu of a formal degree.

Experience: Proven experience managing design teams within medium to large-scale organizations is essential. A minimum of 5-10 years of progressive experience in UI/UX design and significant, demonstrable contribution to or creation of comprehensive design systems, showcased through a strong portfolio and track record.

Required Skills:

• Deep expertise in designing, building, and maintaining scalable design systems, including a strong understanding of design tokens, component architecture, and documentation best practices.
• Exceptional visual design craft with a keen eye for detail, mastery of typography, color theory, layout, and iconography, and the ability to translate brand identity into a cohesive visual language.
• Proficiency in creating and managing design libraries using industry-standard tools, particularly Figma, including a strong understanding of components, variants, auto layout, and shared styles.
• Strong understanding of UI conventions and technical considerations for responsive web design and native mobile platforms (iOS and Android), including performance optimization and adaptability across various devices and screen sizes.
• Proven ability to identify patterns and recurring problems across different projects and business units, and the capability to develop systematic, scalable design solutions to address them.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex design concepts, system principles, and rationale clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences, including technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience leading and mentoring design teams, fostering a collaborative environment, and supporting the growth and development of team members.
• In-depth knowledge of accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) and experience implementing inclusive design practices within a design system.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with front-end development concepts (e.g., HTML, CSS, JavaScript, component frameworks like React or Vue) to effectively collaborate with engineers on design system implementation and maintenance.
• Familiarity with governance models and contribution workflows for design systems in a large organization, including versioning, release management, and change management processes.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, agile environment with cross-functional teams.
• Understanding of localization and internationalization challenges in design systems, particularly for Southeast Asian languages and cultural nuances.

🎨 Portfolio & Creative Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Your portfolio must prominently feature comprehensive case studies demonstrating your experience in designing, building, and evolving design systems. Highlight the impact and scale of the systems you have created or significantly contributed to.
• Include examples of how you've defined visual language elements (typography, color, iconography) and translated them into reusable components and guidelines.
• Showcase your process for documenting design system principles, usage guidelines, and contribution models, illustrating how you've enabled other designers and engineers to effectively use the system.
• Provide examples of how you've tackled complex design challenges systematically through the design system, demonstrating your ability to create scalable and consistent solutions across multiple platforms and use cases.

Process Documentation:

• Detail your approach to design system research and discovery, including how you identify user and business needs that the system should address.
• Illustrate your process for ideating, iterating on, and testing design system components and patterns, including how you gather feedback and make data-informed decisions.
• Explain your methods for validating the effectiveness and usability of the design system with product teams and end-users.
• Describe your approach to governance, versioning, and maintaining the health and adoption of the design system over time.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry data for a Lead Designer role with 5-10 years of experience specializing in Design Systems in Bengaluru, India, the estimated annual salary range is typically between ₹18,00,000 and ₹35,00,000 INR. This range can vary significantly based on the candidate's specific experience, the complexity and impact of their previous design systems work, and negotiation. This estimate is based on average market data for comparable roles in major Indian tech hubs and should be considered an approximation.

Benefits:

• Hybrid flexible working model, emphasizing focus on outcomes and providing flexibility in work location and schedule.
• Comprehensive holistic rewards package designed to support financial well-being, physical health, and mental wellness.
• Structured multi-directional career development opportunities across all levels within the organization, encouraging growth both vertically and horizontally.
• Inclusive benefits, such as equal paternity leave, demonstrating a commitment to supporting employees' work-life balance and family needs.
• Specific details regarding health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, and other potential benefits (e.g., professional development budget, wellness programs) would typically be discussed during the interview process or outlined in the formal offer letter.

Working Hours: The role is full-time, and while the company offers a hybrid flexible working model, standard working hours are generally expected to align with business needs and team collaboration requirements. Flexibility is provided to accommodate creative workflows and personal needs, prioritizing outcomes over strict adherence to a rigid schedule.

🎯Team & Company Context

🏢 Company & Design Culture

Industry: PropTech (Property Technology). PropertyGuru Group operates as Southeast Asia's leading PropTech company, leveraging technology to transform the real estate industry. This context means design plays a crucial role in creating intuitive, efficient, and engaging experiences for property seekers, agents, and developers in a dynamic market.

Company Size: 1,001-5,000 employees (based on LinkedIn data). Working in a company of this size suggests a mature organization with established processes, a significant user base, and likely a structured design team. A Lead Designer in this environment would need to navigate organizational complexity and influence design decisions at scale.

Founded: 2007. With over 17 years in the industry, PropertyGuru Group has a history of growth and adaptation. This longevity suggests a stable company with a deep understanding of the Southeast Asian property market, providing a rich context for design challenges and opportunities.

Team Structure:

• The Design Systems team likely operates as a centralized or federated function supporting multiple product teams across different business units (marketplaces, finance, enterprise solutions) and geographies.
• Reporting structure for this Lead Designer role would typically be to a Design Manager, Head of Design, or potentially a Director-level design leader, indicating a clear path for upward reporting and strategic alignment.
• Significant cross-functional collaboration is expected with product management, engineering (especially front-end developers), content specialists, QA, and brand teams to ensure the design system is effectively built, adopted, and maintained.

Methodology:

• Design processes likely incorporate user-centered design approaches, starting with research and discovery to understand the needs of different user segments (property seekers, agents).
• Ideation and design thinking methodologies are probably used to develop solutions, followed by iterative design and prototyping.
• Testing and validation practices, including usability testing and potentially A/B testing, are likely integral to refining design system components and ensuring their effectiveness.

Company Website: https://www.propertygurugroup.com/

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Design Career Level: This is a Lead Designer position focused on Design Systems, indicating a senior-level role with significant responsibility for strategy, execution, and team guidance within a specialized area of design. It requires not only deep technical expertise in design systems but also leadership capabilities.

Reporting Structure: As a Lead Designer, you would typically report to a higher-level design leader (e.g., Design Manager, Head of Design, Director of Product Design). This structure suggests that the role involves contributing to the strategic direction of the design function and influencing design practices across the organization.

Design Impact: Design in this role has a high level of impact. By leading the design systems function, you directly influence the consistency, quality, efficiency, and scalability of design across all of PropertyGuru's products. Your work enables product teams to build better experiences faster and ensures a cohesive brand presence across multiple platforms and markets.

Growth Opportunities:

• Progression to a Design Manager or Director role, leading a larger design team or overseeing broader design initiatives within the organization.
• Opportunity to become a Principal Designer, focusing on deep technical expertise and thought leadership within the design systems domain or a related area like UI engineering or front-end design.
• Potential to specialize further within design systems, focusing on areas like accessibility, performance, or advanced component architecture, becoming a recognized expert in the field.
• Opportunities to mentor junior designers and contribute to the overall growth and development of the design team.

🌐 Work Environment

Studio Type: The role is listed as Hybrid, suggesting a blend of in-office presence and remote work. This indicates that while flexibility is offered, there is likely an expectation for some physical presence in the Bengaluru office for team collaboration, meetings, and fostering in-person connections.

Office Location(s): The primary location for this role is Bengaluru, India. PropertyGuru Group also has offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, reflecting its focus on the Southeast Asian market. The Bengaluru office is a key technology hub for the company.

Design Workspace Context:

• The hybrid model implies a need for both effective virtual collaboration tools and a well-equipped physical workspace in the Bengaluru office.
• The office environment likely facilitates in-person design critiques, workshops, and cross-functional brainstorming sessions, which are crucial for design system development and adoption.
• Opportunities for informal interaction and knowledge sharing with design team members, engineering partners, and product stakeholders would be available during office days.

Work Schedule: The hybrid flexible working arrangement suggests a degree of autonomy in managing your schedule, balancing required in-office days with remote work. While core hours for team collaboration may exist, the focus is on achieving outcomes, allowing for some flexibility in daily scheduling to accommodate creative work and personal needs.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Design Interview Process:

• Initial screening call with a recruiter to discuss your background, experience, and interest in the role. Be prepared to articulate your experience with design systems and leadership.
• Portfolio review and interview with members of the design team. This is where you will walk through your most relevant design system case studies, explaining your process, challenges, and impact. Focus on showcasing your strategic thinking and technical understanding of design systems.
• Design challenge or take-home assignment related to design systems. You may be asked to evaluate an existing system, propose improvements, or design a new component or pattern. Be prepared to present your solution and rationale.
• Interviews with cross-functional partners (e.g., Engineering Lead, Product Manager) and potentially a higher-level design leader or hiring manager. These conversations will likely focus on your collaboration skills, leadership style, and ability to influence product strategy through the design system.
• Final interview(s) with senior leadership, potentially focusing on your strategic vision for design systems and your fit with the company culture.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate your portfolio to prominently feature projects where you led or significantly contributed to the creation and evolution of design systems.
• For each case study, clearly articulate the problem you were solving, your role, your design process, the challenges you faced, and the impact of your work on design efficiency, consistency, and product quality.
• Include documentation and guidelines from your design systems to demonstrate your ability to create clear and comprehensive resources for others.
• Be prepared to discuss the technical implementation aspects of your design systems and how you collaborated with engineering teams for handoff and maintenance.
• Tailor your presentation to highlight the aspects of your experience most relevant to PropertyGuru's business and the specific requirements of this Design Systems Lead role.

Challenge Preparation:

• If given a design challenge, clearly understand the scope and objectives. Focus on demonstrating your systematic thinking and ability to apply design system principles to solve the problem.
• Document your process and rationale thoroughly. Explain your design decisions and how your proposed solution fits within the constraints of a scalable design system.
• Be prepared to present your solution effectively, articulating your design choices and responding to questions about trade-offs and potential challenges in implementation.

ATS Keywords: Design Systems, UI Design, UX Design, Product Design, Visual Language, Component Library, Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, Design Tokens, Atomic Design, Governance, Documentation, Accessibility, WCAG, Inclusive Design, Responsive Design, Mobile Design, Web Design, Front-end Development, Collaboration, Leadership, Mentorship, Pattern Recognition, Problem Solving, Design Strategy, Scalability, Consistency, User Interface, User Experience, PropTech, Real Estate Technology, Southeast Asia, Agile, Cross-functional Teams.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Design Tools:

• Figma: Essential for creating and managing design libraries, components, and prototypes. Strong proficiency in advanced Figma features (variants, auto layout, shared styles, team libraries) is expected for building and maintaining a scalable design system.
• Given the industry standard and the explicit mention of Figma, other design tools like Sketch or Adobe XD may be less central but familiarity with design principles applicable across tools is beneficial.

Collaboration & Handoff:

• Tools for design handoff to engineering (e.g., Zeplin, Abstract, or integrated Figma features) are likely used to ensure smooth collaboration and accurate implementation of design system components.
• Collaboration platforms (e.g., Slack, Microsoft Teams) are used for communication and coordination with cross-functional teams.
• Documentation platforms (e.g., Confluence, Zeroheight, Storybook) are crucial for housing design system guidelines, principles, and component documentation.

Research & Testing:

• Familiarity with tools used for user research (e.g., Dovetail, UserTesting.com) and usability testing is beneficial for gathering insights to inform design system decisions.
• Analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Amplitude) may be used to measure the impact of design system changes on user behavior and product performance.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Design Values:

• A deep care for visual design craft and a commitment to helping others improve their visual and interaction design execution are explicitly mentioned, indicating a value placed on design quality and mentorship.
• The ability to identify systematic problems and create scalable solutions suggests a value for efficiency, consistency, and strategic thinking in design.
• A deep understanding of creating usable, accessible, and modular designs points to a strong emphasis on user-centeredness, inclusivity, and building robust, future-proof design solutions.
• The focus on collaborating closely with front-end engineers highlights a value for strong partnerships and bridging the gap between design and development.

Collaboration Style:

• Collaboration is a key aspect of this role, requiring close work with product designers, front-end engineers, product managers, content specialists, QA, and brand teams.
• A collaborative and high-performance environment is nurtured, suggesting a culture of shared ownership, mutual support, and striving for excellence together.
• The role involves presenting the design system to various groups, indicating a need for strong communication and influencing skills to drive adoption and understanding across the organization.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Design Challenges:

• Scaling and evolving a design system across multiple products, platforms (Mobile App, Mobile Web, Desktop), geographies (Southeast Asia), and business units within a large organization presents a significant challenge, requiring strategic planning and robust governance.
• Ensuring consistent adoption and effective utilization of the design system by diverse product teams with varying needs and priorities requires strong communication, education, and change management skills.
• Balancing the need for consistency and standardization with the flexibility required for product teams to innovate and address unique user needs within their specific contexts can be a continuous challenge.
• Integrating accessibility and inclusivity into the design system and ensuring its implementation across all products requires deep knowledge and advocacy.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Opportunity to deepen expertise in design systems architecture, governance models, and scaling strategies within a complex, multi-product environment.
• Enhance leadership and team management skills by guiding and mentoring a team focused on a specialized design discipline.
• Develop stronger collaboration and influencing skills by working closely with engineering, product management, and other stakeholders to drive design system adoption and impact.
• Gain exposure to the unique challenges and nuances of designing for diverse markets and cultural contexts across Southeast Asia.
• Potential for professional development through conferences, workshops, and access to learning resources focused on design systems, UI engineering, and inclusive design.

💡 Interview Preparation

Design Process Questions:

• Be prepared to walk through your end-to-end process for designing and building a design system. Articulate your approach to research, defining principles, creating components, documenting usage, and establishing governance. Use specific examples from your portfolio case studies.
• Discuss how you approach collaboration with engineering teams on design system implementation and maintenance. Provide examples of successful handoff processes and how you've addressed technical constraints or challenges.
• Explain your methodology for identifying patterns and problems across different product interfaces and how you translate those into systematic solutions within the design system.
• Describe your experience with integrating accessibility (WCAG) and inclusive design principles into a design system and how you ensure these standards are applied across products.

Company Culture Questions:

• Research PropertyGuru Group's values, mission, and recent product developments. Be prepared to discuss how your approach to design systems aligns with their goals and culture.
• Ask insightful questions about the current state of their design system, the design team structure, the relationship between design and engineering, and the challenges they are currently facing.
• Demonstrate your leadership style and how you would mentor and grow a team, fostering a collaborative and high-performance environment.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure your portfolio presentation around 2-3 comprehensive design system case studies that best showcase your experience and the impact of your work.
• For each case study, use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to clearly articulate the context, your responsibilities, the steps you took, and the measurable outcomes of your design system efforts (e.g., increased design efficiency, improved consistency, reduced technical debt).
• Dedicate time to showcasing your documentation and guidelines, explaining how they empower other teams.
• Be prepared to discuss the challenges you encountered and how you overcame them, highlighting your problem-solving skills and resilience.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this design position:

• Submit your application through this link on the PropertyGuru Group careers portal.
• Refine your design portfolio to prominently feature case studies demonstrating your experience with designing, building, and scaling design systems. Ensure your case studies clearly articulate your process, impact, and technical understanding.
• Update your resume to highlight your experience with design systems, leadership, relevant design tools (especially Figma), and collaboration with engineering teams. Incorporate relevant ATS keywords from the list provided above.
• Prepare for the interview process by practicing walking through your design system case studies and preparing responses to common design process and behavioral questions, specifically focusing on leadership, collaboration, and problem-solving in a design systems context.
• Conduct thorough research on PropertyGuru Group, their products, target markets (Southeast Asia), and their existing design system (if publicly available) to demonstrate your understanding and tailor your application and interview responses.