📍 Job Overview
Job Title: Lead UX Designer
Company: Citi
Location: London, United Kingdom
Job Type: Full-time
Category: UX Design
Date Posted: 2025-06-12T00:00:00
Experience Level: 10+ years
Remote Status: On-site
🎨 Role Summary
- Lead and direct a team of design professionals, fostering a collaborative and high-performing creative environment.
- Drive product vision from initial concept through to production, ensuring user-centered design principles are embedded at every stage of the product lifecycle.
- Proactively integrate customer insights and user research findings to inform design decisions and product enhancements.
- Develop cross-organizational and cross-disciplinary design solutions that align with broader business objectives and enhance the overall user experience across platforms.
🖼️ Primary Responsibilities
- Lead and mentor a team of UX/UI Designers, providing guidance on design methodologies, best practices, and career development.
- Oversee the creation of complex wireframes, user flows, prototypes, and high-fidelity mockups that effectively communicate design concepts and user interactions.
- Collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and business stakeholders to define product requirements and translate them into intuitive and effective design solutions.
- Conduct user research, usability testing, and gather customer feedback to validate design decisions and identify areas for improvement.
- Champion a user-centered design approach throughout the organization, advocating for the needs of end-users and the importance of design in achieving business goals.
- Evaluate new product concepts for viability from a design and user experience perspective, presenting findings and recommendations to senior stakeholders.
- Manage relationships with outside vendors and agencies, ensuring the quality and strategic alignment of their design deliverables.
- Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in UX/UI design, incorporating relevant advancements into the team's workflow and design outputs.
- Contribute to the development and maintenance of design systems, ensuring consistency and scalability across various products and platforms.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education: A Bachelor’s degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, or a related field is required. A Master’s degree is preferred, demonstrating advanced knowledge in design theory, research methodologies, or a relevant technical area.
Experience: Significant work experience, including a strong background in UX/UI design, product design, and leading design teams. Proven experience in program management and software development is also required, indicating the need for a designer with a solid understanding of technical constraints and project delivery.
Required Skills:
- Extensive experience in UX/UI design principles, methodologies, and best practices, with a strong portfolio demonstrating successful product design outcomes.
- Proven leadership and team management skills, with the ability to mentor, develop, and inspire a team of design professionals.
- Strong analytical and quantitative skills, with the ability to use data and research to inform design decisions and measure the impact of design solutions.
- Experience in driving and affecting large-scale cultural change within an organization, particularly related to adopting a more user-centered approach.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to effectively present design concepts, research findings, and strategic recommendations to diverse audiences, including senior stakeholders.
- Experience working with and managing external vendors and agencies for design-related work.
- Understanding of software development processes and experience collaborating effectively with engineering teams.
- Proven ability to evaluate new product concepts and translate them into tangible design directions (e.g., wireframes, prototypes).
- Experience in risk assessment and ensuring compliance within a design and product development context.
Preferred Skills:
- Experience in running high-traffic, distributed, cloud-based services, understanding the unique design challenges and performance considerations of such systems.
- Experience leading infrastructure programs, demonstrating an understanding of the underlying technology infrastructure that supports digital products.
- Experience in the financial services industry, understanding the specific regulatory requirements and user needs within this sector.
- Proficiency in specific design tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, InVision, or similar industry-standard software.
- Experience with design systems and pattern libraries.
- Knowledge of agile development methodologies.
🎨 Portfolio & Creative Requirements
Portfolio Essentials:
- Your portfolio should showcase a diverse range of projects, demonstrating your expertise in tackling complex design challenges and delivering impactful user experiences.
- Case studies should clearly articulate your design process, from initial research and problem definition through ideation, iteration, and final implementation.
- Include examples of your leadership in driving product vision and mentoring design teams.
- Highlight projects where you successfully collaborated with cross-functional teams (product, engineering, business) and managed stakeholder expectations.
- Demonstrate your ability to use data and user research to inform design decisions and measure product performance.
Process Documentation:
- For each case study, detail the research and discovery phase, including methodologies used (e.g., user interviews, surveys, competitive analysis) and key insights gained.
- Illustrate your ideation and iteration methods, showcasing sketches, wireframes, prototypes, and the rationale behind design choices.
- Explain your approach to validation and testing, including usability testing methods, A/B testing, and how you incorporated feedback into your designs.
- Document how you measured the success of your design solutions, referencing relevant metrics and business outcomes.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: £80,000 - £120,000 per year. This range is an estimate based on industry data for Lead UX Designer roles with significant experience in London, UK, considering the cost of living and the financial services sector. Actual compensation may vary based on experience, qualifications, and company-specific compensation structures.
Benefits:
- Comprehensive health and wellness programs, including medical, dental, and vision coverage.
- Retirement savings plans (e.g., pension scheme) with company contributions.
- Generous paid time off and holiday allowance.
- Opportunities for professional development and continuous learning, including access to training resources and conferences relevant to design and leadership.
- Potential for performance-based bonuses and equity options.
- Employee assistance programs and mental health support.
- Flexible work arrangements, where applicable, to support work-life balance.
Working Hours: Full-time, typically 40 hours per week. Flexibility may be required based on project deadlines and global team collaboration needs.
🎯Team & Company Context
🏢 Company & Design Culture
Industry: Financial Services. Citi operates within a highly regulated and dynamic industry, presenting unique design challenges related to security, compliance, and complex financial workflows. Design plays a critical role in making these complex systems accessible and intuitive for users.
Company Size: 10,001+ employees (over 200,000 globally). Working at a large organization like Citi means operating within a complex matrix structure, requiring strong collaboration and communication skills to navigate different departments and stakeholders.
Founded: 1812. With over 200 years of history, Citi has a long-standing legacy. The design culture within such an established institution is likely focused on building on existing standards while also driving innovation and modernization of digital experiences.
Team Structure:
- The role is within the Digital Design Engineering family, suggesting a close integration with technology and engineering teams.
- You will lead and direct a team of professionals, indicating a hierarchical structure where you are responsible for the performance and development of your team members.
- Cross-organizational collaboration is explicitly mentioned, highlighting the need to work effectively with teams across different business units and geographies.
Methodology:
- The emphasis on "creative process and design thinking" suggests a structured approach to problem-solving.
- The need to "convert ideas into basic wireframes" implies a process that moves from conceptualization to tangible design artifacts.
- Working closely with product teams suggests an agile or lean methodology where design is integrated throughout the development lifecycle.
Company Website: http://www.citigroup.com
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
Design Career Level: This is a senior leadership role, indicated by the "Lead" title and the responsibility for managing a team. This position is likely a step up for experienced Senior UX Designers looking to move into management and strategic design leadership.
Reporting Structure: As a Group Manager, you will likely report to a higher-level director or head of digital design or technology. You will have full management responsibility for your team, including performance evaluations and hiring.
Design Impact: The role emphasizes driving product vision and evaluating new concepts for viability, indicating a significant impact on the strategic direction of digital products. You will be accountable for the end results of your area, highlighting the importance of design in achieving business objectives.
Growth Opportunities:
- Potential to advance to higher-level design leadership roles within Citi's extensive global organization.
- Opportunities to specialize in specific areas of financial technology design or expand leadership responsibilities across broader digital initiatives.
- Development of strategic thinking and business acumen through collaboration with senior stakeholders and evaluation of new product concepts.
- Enhancement of leadership and team management skills in a large, complex corporate environment.
🌐 Work Environment
Studio Type: On-site at 33 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London. This indicates a traditional office environment within a major financial district. The workspace is likely corporate, designed to facilitate collaboration and provide necessary infrastructure for a large technology and design team.
Office Location(s): The primary location is London. Being based in Canary Wharf suggests a focus on financial services operations and technology within a hub of global finance.
Design Workspace Context:
- The on-site nature of the role implies a collaborative environment where face-to-face interaction with team members and stakeholders is common.
- Access to corporate resources, infrastructure, and potentially dedicated design labs or collaboration spaces.
- Opportunities for spontaneous discussions and whiteboarding sessions with cross-functional teams.
Work Schedule: Full-time, on-site. The standard working hours are expected, with potential for flexibility depending on project needs and global team coordination.
📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process
Design Interview Process:
- Initial screening by HR or a recruiter to assess basic qualifications and experience.
- Technical interview(s) with design leaders or senior designers to evaluate your UX/UI design skills, process, and portfolio. Be prepared to walk through case studies in detail.
- Design challenge or whiteboarding session to assess your problem-solving abilities and design thinking process under pressure.
- Interviews with potential team members and cross-functional partners (product managers, engineers) to assess collaboration style and cultural fit.
- Interview(s) with hiring manager and potentially higher-level leadership to discuss leadership experience, strategic thinking, and alignment with organizational goals.
Portfolio Review Tips:
- Tailor your portfolio presentation to highlight projects relevant to financial services or complex enterprise systems, if possible.
- Clearly articulate your role and responsibilities in each project, especially highlighting your leadership contributions.
- Focus on the impact of your design work, using metrics and data to demonstrate the success of your solutions.
- Be prepared to discuss the trade-offs and challenges you faced during the design process and how you overcame them.
- Showcase your ability to collaborate with technical teams and incorporate technical constraints into your design decisions.
Challenge Preparation:
- Practice articulating your design process clearly and concisely.
- Familiarize yourself with common design patterns and best practices for financial applications.
- Be prepared to ask clarifying questions and think through the problem systematically during a whiteboarding session.
- Consider the business context and potential technical limitations when proposing solutions.
ATS Keywords: UX Design, UI Design, Product Design, User Experience, User Interface, Design Thinking, Human-Centered Design, User Research, Usability Testing, Wireframing, Prototyping, Interaction Design, Visual Design, Design Systems, Information Architecture, Agile, Scrum, Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, InVision, Zeplin, Jira, Confluence, Leadership, Team Management, Stakeholder Management, Cross-functional Collaboration, Product Management, Software Development, Financial Services, Digital Banking, Enterprise Software, Data Analysis, Quantitative Skills, Problem Solving, Communication, Presentation Skills, Creativity, Innovation, Portfolio, Case Study, Design Strategy, Technical Proficiency, Cloud Services, Infrastructure Programs, Risk Management, Compliance.
🛠 Tools & Technology Stack
Primary Design Tools:
- Proficiency in industry-standard design and prototyping tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or similar is expected for creating wireframes, mockups, and interactive prototypes.
- Experience with tools for creating user flows and sitemaps (e.g., Miro, FigJam, Omnigraffle).
Collaboration & Handoff:
- Experience with collaboration platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or similar for team communication and project coordination.
- Proficiency in handoff tools like Zeplin or Avocode for providing detailed design specifications to engineering teams.
- Experience with project management tools like Jira or Asana for tracking design tasks and integrating with development workflows.
- Familiarity with documentation tools like Confluence for creating and maintaining design documentation and guidelines.
Research & Testing:
- Experience with user research tools for conducting interviews, surveys, and usability testing (e.g., UserTesting.com, SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics).
- Familiarity with analytics platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) for understanding user behavior and measuring design performance.
- Experience with A/B testing tools for validating design hypotheses.
👥 Team Culture & Values
Design Values:
- A strong emphasis on user-centered design, ensuring that user needs and feedback are at the forefront of the design process.
- A culture of collaboration and open communication, fostering a supportive environment for design critique and knowledge sharing.
- A focus on innovation and continuous improvement, encouraging designers to explore new ideas and push the boundaries of what's possible within the financial services context.
- A commitment to quality and attention to detail, ensuring that design solutions are not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing and meet high standards of polish.
Collaboration Style:
- Cross-functional collaboration is key, working closely with product managers, engineers, business analysts, and other stakeholders throughout the product development lifecycle.
- Regular design critiques and feedback sessions to refine design solutions and ensure alignment with strategic goals.
- Emphasis on clear communication and documentation to facilitate seamless handoffs between design and development teams.
⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities
Design Challenges:
- Navigating the complexities of a large, established financial institution with legacy systems and processes while driving innovation in digital experiences.
- Balancing user needs with strict regulatory requirements and security considerations inherent in the financial services industry.
- Leading and motivating a design team in a fast-paced, demanding environment with potentially tight deadlines.
- Championing the value of design and user experience within a large, potentially technology- or business-driven organization.
Learning & Development Opportunities:
- Opportunities to deepen expertise in financial technology and the specific design challenges of this sector.
- Development of leadership and management skills through direct team supervision and strategic project involvement.
- Exposure to a wide range of projects and business areas within a global financial institution.
- Potential for training and development in areas such as advanced design methodologies, leadership, and industry-specific knowledge.
💡 Interview Preparation
Design Process Questions:
- Be prepared to discuss your end-to-end design process for a complex project. Walk through your approach to research, ideation, prototyping, testing, and implementation. Use specific examples from your portfolio.
- Explain how you prioritize design tasks and manage your team's workload, especially when faced with competing demands.
- Describe a time you had to advocate for user needs or a design decision with stakeholders who had different priorities. How did you approach the conversation and what was the outcome?
Company Culture Questions:
- Research Citi's values and recent digital initiatives. Be prepared to discuss how your design philosophy aligns with their approach.
- Ask questions about the design team structure, how design is integrated into the product development process, and the level of influence design has within the organization.
- Inquire about the team's approach to collaboration, feedback, and continuous learning.
Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
- Select 2-3 key case studies that best showcase your leadership experience, ability to handle complex design challenges, and impact on product outcomes.
- For each case study, clearly articulate the problem you were trying to solve, your role and responsibilities, your design process, the key decisions you made, and the results of your work (quantifiable metrics are highly valuable).
- Practice presenting your case studies concisely and engagingly, focusing on the story behind the design and your strategic thinking.
📌 Application Steps
To apply for this design position:
- Submit your application through this link
- Carefully review your portfolio, ensuring that your case studies effectively demonstrate your leadership experience, strategic thinking, and ability to deliver impactful design solutions for complex problems. Tailor your portfolio presentation, if possible, to highlight relevant experience in financial services or enterprise software.
- Optimize your resume to include relevant keywords from the ATS list provided, focusing on your leadership experience, design expertise, and experience in areas like program management and software development.
- Prepare for the interview process by practicing articulating your design process, preparing detailed explanations of your portfolio projects, and anticipating questions about leadership, stakeholder management, and working in a large organization.
- Research Citi's digital initiatives, design culture, and recent news to demonstrate your interest and understanding of the company during the interview process.