Lead Product Designer (Data) (m/f/d)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Product Designer (Data) (m/f/d)

Company: Awin

Location: London, England, United Kingdom; Iași, Iași, Romania; Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / User Experience (UX) with a focus on Data and Analytics

Date Posted: 2026-02-26

Experience Level: 5-10 Years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Spearhead the strategic direction and execution of product design initiatives, particularly within complex, data-intensive, and analytics-led product areas.

• Drive human-centered design principles and elevate UX standards across multiple product domains, ensuring scalable and high-impact solutions.

• Translate intricate data models and technical structures into intuitive, actionable user experiences, dashboards, and visualizations.

• Define and implement best practices for data visualization, filtering, reporting, and insight communication to empower users.

• Provide leadership and mentorship to a team of Product Designers, fostering a culture of critique, continuous improvement, and design maturity.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Lead Product Designer (Data)", the core responsibilities and required skills strongly indicate a role that bridges traditional product design with a deep specialization in data products, analytics platforms, and reporting tools. This implies a need for a candidate who can not only design user interfaces but also understand and effectively represent complex data structures and insights. The role also carries significant leadership and strategic responsibilities within the UX team.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Drive human-centered design methodologies across multiple product areas, with a specialized focus on data-intensive and analytics-led experiences.

• Collaborate with cross-functional leadership (Product, Engineering, Data) to shape product vision and strategy, identifying opportunities for end-to-end user journey improvements.

• Translate complex data models and technical architectures into clear, usable interfaces, dashboards, and impactful data visualizations.

• Establish and champion best practices for data visualization techniques, filtering mechanisms, effective reporting, and clear insight communication.

• Lead strategic discovery and design workshops to align cross-functional teams on problem identification, opportunity assessment, and the definition of measurable outcomes.

• Direct the creation and refinement of high-quality design outputs, including user journeys, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity designs, prioritizing usability and user impact.

• Set and enforce design quality standards, cultivating a culture of constructive critique and continuous improvement within the design team.

• Mentor and coach a team of Product Designers, providing constructive feedback, guidance, and support to enhance their design skills and overall design maturity.

• Partner closely with Engineering and Product Management teams to ensure the consistent, high-quality delivery of designed solutions.

• Drive the adoption, evolution, and adherence to Awin's design system, ensuring design consistency and scalability across all products.

• Clearly articulate and communicate design rationale, decisions, and user insights through compelling storytelling and effective stakeholder engagement.

• Advocate for and promote user research practices and design thinking methodologies throughout the organization to embed user-centricity.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic leadership, hands-on design execution, and team development. The emphasis on "data-intensive" and "analytics-led" products, along with translating "complex data models" and defining "data visualisation, filtering, reporting, and insight communication," strongly suggests that candidates with experience in Business Intelligence (BI) tools, analytics platforms, or financial reporting interfaces will be highly valued.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer Science, or a related field is often preferred for Lead Product Designer roles. Equivalent practical experience will also be considered.

Experience: Significant experience (5-10 years) as a Senior or Lead Product Designer, with a proven track record of strategic and hands-on design work.

Required Skills:

• Demonstrated leadership experience in setting design direction and mentoring other designers.

• Deep understanding of human-centered design principles, UX best practices, and interaction design fundamentals.

• Proven experience designing data-rich products, including dashboards, analytics platforms, or reporting tools, with a focus on UI design for data visualization components.

• Ability to interpret, challenge, and effectively work with complex data models, collaborating closely with data engineers and analysts.

• Strong grasp of data visualization principles and best practices for clear and accurate insight communication.

• Strategic thinking capabilities, with the ability to balance high-level vision with detailed execution.

• Excellent collaboration skills, with experience working effectively alongside product managers, engineers, data specialists, researchers, and content designers.

• Proficiency in facilitating workshops, design critiques, and stakeholder sessions to drive alignment and action.

• Fluency in industry-standard design tools, with a specific mention of Figma.

• Experience working within agile product development environments.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with advanced data analytics tools or platforms.

• Familiarity with affiliate marketing technology or related platforms.

• Experience in defining or managing a design system for complex applications.

• Background in user research methodologies and translating research findings into design solutions.

• Understanding of front-end development principles to facilitate collaboration with engineering.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of "Figma" and "agile product environments" are critical technical and process requirements. The emphasis on "designing data-rich products" and "interpreting complex data models" suggests a need for candidates who can not only design interfaces but also understand the underlying data structures and analytical requirements. Experience with BI tools like Tableau, Power BI, or similar platforms, even if not explicitly mentioned, would be highly beneficial.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A strong portfolio showcasing strategic and hands-on design work, with a significant emphasis on data-rich products, dashboards, and analytics platforms.

• Examples demonstrating leadership in design, including setting direction and mentoring other designers.

• Case studies that illustrate the translation of complex data models and technical structures into intuitive user interfaces and visualizations.

• Documentation of design quality standards and processes implemented to improve design maturity.

Process Documentation:

• Case studies detailing the end-to-end design process for data-driven products, from discovery to delivery.

• Examples of how user research and design thinking were applied to solve complex data-related user problems.

• Documentation of how design systems were leveraged or contributed to for consistency and scalability in data products.

• Examples of collaboration with data engineers and analysts to interpret and represent data effectively.

• Demonstrations of defining and implementing best practices for data visualization and insight communication.

📝 Enhancement Note: For this role, the portfolio should heavily feature projects involving data visualization, analytics dashboards, reporting tools, or platforms that deal with complex datasets. Candidates should be prepared to discuss their process for understanding data, identifying key insights, and translating these into user-friendly interfaces. Demonstrating leadership through team mentoring or setting design standards within a project will also be a key differentiator.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for Lead Product Designers in London, Iași, and Warsaw, with variations due to cost of living and market demand, the estimated annual salary range for this role is approximately:

• London, UK: £75,000 - £100,000+

• Warsaw, Poland: 150,000 - 220,000 PLN gross

• Iași, Romania: 120,000 - 180,000 RON gross

  Note: These are estimated ranges and actual compensation will depend on experience, skills, and specific location negotiation.

Benefits:

• Dynamic, social, and inclusive company culture.

• Opportunities for global collaboration and virtual social activities.

• Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion, championing uniqueness and authenticity.

• Support for professional and personal development.

• Potential for involvement in shaping the world's leading open partner ecosystem.

• Standard benefits package (details typically provided during the interview process, may include health insurance, retirement contributions, paid time off, etc.).

Working Hours: The role specifies 40 hours per week, typical for a full-time position. Flexibility may be available depending on team needs and location, but on-site presence is expected.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary ranges are estimated based on typical market rates for Lead Product Designers in these respective regions, considering the company's likely positioning as a well-established tech company. The specific benefits are inferred from the company culture description and general tech industry standards.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Marketing Technology (MarTech), specifically Affiliate Marketing. Awin is a leading global affiliate marketing network.

Company Size: Awin is part of the Axel Springer group, indicating a large, multinational organization with significant reach and resources. The company itself likely employs several hundred to a few thousand employees globally.

Founded: 2000. This provides a history of experience and adaptation within the digital marketing landscape.

Team Structure:

• The role is within the UX team, which likely comprises various design specialists (Product Designers, UX Researchers, UI Designers, Content Designers).

• This role involves leadership and mentoring responsibilities for Product Designers.

Methodology:

• Emphasis on human-centered design and user research.

• Operates within agile product development environments, suggesting iterative development cycles.

• Focus on data-driven decision-making and translating complex data into actionable insights.

• Utilization of design systems for consistency and scalability.

• Collaborative approach involving workshops, design critiques, and stakeholder engagement.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: Awin's position in the MarTech sector, particularly affiliate marketing, means the data and analytics products likely focus on campaign performance, customer behavior, sales attribution, and partner network insights. Understanding this context is crucial for a data-focused designer.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Lead Product Designer. This is a senior individual contributor role with significant leadership and strategic influence. It sits above a Senior Product Designer and below a Head of Design or Design Director. The role is responsible for setting direction, elevating quality, and mentoring junior and mid-level designers.

Reporting Structure: Likely reports to a Head of UX, Director of Product Design, or potentially a VP of Product. Will manage or mentor a team of Product Designers.

Operations Impact: This role has a direct impact on the usability and effectiveness of Awin's core data and analytics products. By translating complex data into intuitive experiences, the designer will empower Awin's internal teams and its partners (advertisers and publishers) to make better business decisions, optimize campaigns, and drive revenue growth through more effective insights.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in designing advanced data products, analytics platforms, and BI tools.

• Leadership: Progress into management roles (e.g., Design Manager, Head of UX) or pursue principal/staff design roles focusing on strategic initiatives.

• Cross-functional Influence: Expand influence across different product areas or contribute to broader organizational design strategy.

• Industry Expertise: Become a subject matter expert in data visualization and analytics design within the MarTech space.

• Mentorship Development: Refine coaching and leadership skills through ongoing team development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Data" aspect of the title is critical. Growth opportunities will likely lean towards deepening expertise in data product design and analytics, rather than purely visual or interaction design. The ability to influence product strategy through data insights will be a key differentiator for career advancement.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The job is listed as "On-site" with multiple location options (London, Iași, Warsaw). This suggests a preference for in-office collaboration, though hybrid models might be possible depending on specific team policies. Awin emphasizes a "dynamic, social and inclusive culture."

Office Location(s):

• London, England, United Kingdom: A major global business hub.

• Iași, Romania: A significant city with a growing tech presence.

• Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland: The capital and largest city, a key economic center.

Workspace Context:

• Expect a collaborative environment where designers work closely with Product Managers, Engineers, and Data Specialists.

• The office space likely supports team collaboration through meeting rooms, design studios, and open-plan areas.

• Access to necessary design tools (Figma) and technology infrastructure will be provided.

• Opportunities for interaction with a global team, potentially through virtual channels, given Awin's international presence.

Work Schedule: Standard full-time working hours (40 hours/week) are expected. While core hours will apply, there may be some flexibility, especially given the distributed nature of the company locations. The focus will be on delivering high-quality design outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement suggests that in-person collaboration and team cohesion are highly valued by Awin for this role. Candidates should be prepared to work from one of the specified office locations.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your CV and portfolio by a recruiter or hiring manager to assess basic qualifications and experience.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: A dedicated session where you present key projects from your portfolio, focusing on your strategic thinking, design process, leadership contributions, and specific experience with data-rich products. Expect in-depth questions about your decision-making.

• Skills-Based Interviews: Interviews with peers (e.g., other designers, product managers, engineers) focusing on your technical skills, collaboration style, and problem-solving abilities. This may include theoretical scenarios or case studies.

• Leadership & Strategy Interview: A conversation with senior leadership (e.g., Head of UX, Director of Product) to assess strategic vision, leadership potential, mentoring approach, and cultural fit.

• Final Round/Offer: Typically involves a final discussion and potentially an offer.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-4 projects that best showcase your experience in data-rich product design, analytics, and leadership. Prioritize projects where you had significant impact and can articulate your strategic contribution.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly outline the problem statement, your role and responsibilities, the process you followed (discovery, research, ideation, design, testing), key decisions made, and the measurable outcomes or impact.

• Highlight Data Expertise: Explicitly detail how you interpreted complex data, designed data visualizations, and translated insights into user-friendly interfaces. Use screenshots, wireframes, prototypes, and any relevant metrics.

• Showcase Leadership: Include examples of how you've mentored designers, set design standards, or influenced product strategy.

• Prepare for Questions: Be ready to discuss the trade-offs you made, challenges faced, and how you collaborated with data engineers, analysts, and product managers.

Challenge Preparation:

• Data Visualization Exercise: You might be given a dataset or a problem requiring data visualization and asked to sketch out potential solutions, or discuss how you would approach designing a dashboard.

• Design Strategy Challenge: A prompt to outline your approach to a specific product area or problem, focusing on user needs, data insights, and strategic design solutions.

• Collaboration Scenario: Questions about how you would handle disagreements with engineering or product, or how you would integrate user feedback into an iterative design process.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "data-rich products" and "complex data models" means interviewers will be scrutinizing the candidate's ability to translate technical data concepts into user-centric designs. Portfolio presentations should heavily feature these aspects, with clear articulation of the design process and impact.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (explicitly mentioned as required). Proficiency in creating wireframes, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity designs.

• Collaboration: Tools for team communication and project management (e.g., Slack, Jira, Confluence).

• Design System Management: Tools or processes for contributing to and utilizing design systems.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Data Visualization Tools: Familiarity with tools like Tableau, Power BI, Looker, or similar platforms would be highly advantageous, even if not directly used for design creation. Understanding their capabilities is key.

• Analytics Platforms: Experience with web analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) or product analytics platforms to understand user behavior data.

• Reporting Tools: Experience designing interfaces for custom reporting solutions.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly mentioned, understanding how data products integrate with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) or marketing automation platforms could be beneficial for context.

📝 Enhancement Note: Figma is a mandatory requirement. Beyond that, demonstrating familiarity with the ecosystem of data visualization and analytics tools is crucial. The candidate needs to show they can design for these environments, even if they aren't the primary tool user.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Human-Centered Design: A core value, emphasizing understanding and solving user needs above all else.

• Collaboration: Strong emphasis on working cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, and Data teams to achieve shared goals.

• Data-Driven Approach: Utilizing data to inform design decisions, measure impact, and drive business outcomes.

• Continuous Improvement: Fostering a culture of learning, critique, and iterative refinement in design and processes.

• Inclusivity & Authenticity: Awin champions diversity and encourages employees to be their authentic selves.

• Impact & Scalability: Focus on delivering high-impact solutions that are scalable across products.

Collaboration Style:

• Highly collaborative, with designers embedded in cross-functional product teams.

• Open to constructive critique and feedback as a means of improving design quality.

• Proactive communication and engagement with stakeholders to ensure alignment and buy-in.

• Cross-pollination of ideas and best practices within the design team and across departments.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "data-driven experiences" and "translating complex data models" suggests that the team values designers who can not only create beautiful interfaces but also deeply understand and leverage the data behind them to create meaningful user outcomes. The inclusive culture is a key aspect for team cohesion.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Translating Complexity: The primary challenge will be simplifying highly complex data sets and analytical concepts into intuitive and actionable user interfaces for diverse user groups.

• Balancing Stakeholder Needs: Aligning the needs of various stakeholders (e.g., Product Managers, Engineers, Sales, Marketing, Partners) with user-centered design principles.

• Driving Design Maturity: Continuing to elevate design standards and influence design thinking across a growing organization.

• Data Visualization Best Practices: Ensuring data is presented accurately, clearly, and ethically, avoiding misinterpretation.

• Cross-Location Collaboration: Effectively leading and collaborating with designers and teams spread across different geographical locations.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Data Design: Deepen expertise in advanced data visualization techniques, dashboard design patterns, and analytical UX.

• Leadership Skills: Hone mentoring, coaching, and strategic leadership capabilities.

• MarTech Industry Knowledge: Gain deeper insights into the affiliate marketing landscape and its data-driven aspects.

• Cross-functional Influence: Develop skills in influencing product strategy and roadmap decisions through design advocacy.

• Design System Evolution: Contribute to the growth and governance of a sophisticated design system.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the "Data" focus, challenges will be less about generic UI/UX and more about the specific complexities of data interpretation, visualization, and the strategic application of insights within the MarTech domain. Growth will stem from mastering these specific challenges.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you translated a complex data model into a user-friendly interface. What was your process, what challenges did you face, and what was the outcome?"

• "How do you approach setting design quality standards for a team, especially in a data-intensive product area?"

• "Walk us through your process for leading a design discovery workshop with cross-functional stakeholders. How do you ensure alignment and actionable outcomes?"

• "How would you mentor a junior designer who is struggling with understanding complex data requirements for their project?"

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Awin and our position in the affiliate marketing industry?"

• "How do you foster an inclusive and high-performing design culture, especially within a global team?"

• "What are your thoughts on the balance between on-site collaboration and the benefits of remote work in a design context?"

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure: For each case study, clearly state the role, the problem, your approach, your specific contributions (focusing on data aspects), the solution, and the impact (quantifiable metrics where possible).

• Data Focus: Emphasize how you understood the data, chose appropriate visualizations, designed for clarity and insight, and collaborated with data specialists.

• Leadership Angle: Highlight instances where you led initiatives, mentored others, or influenced strategic decisions.

• Conciseness: Be mindful of time; focus on the most impactful aspects of your work.

Challenge Preparation:

• Be prepared to discuss your approach to designing a dashboard for performance tracking, or visualizing key metrics for an affiliate marketing campaign.

• Practice articulating your design decisions with clear rationale, linking them back to user needs and business objectives.

• Think about how you would approach a hypothetical scenario: "Awin wants to provide advertisers with better insights into publisher performance. How would you approach designing this feature?"

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should heavily emphasize the candidate's ability to discuss data products, design thinking for complex data, and leadership/mentorship. Be ready to defend design choices with data-driven rationale and user insights.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead Product Designer (Data) position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Greenhouse.

• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your portfolio prominently features projects related to data visualization, analytics dashboards, reporting tools, or complex data interpretation. Tailor your case studies to highlight your leadership and strategic contributions.

• Resume Optimization: Update your resume to emphasize keywords such as "Product Design," "Data Visualization," "Analytics," "UX Leadership," "Human-Centered Design," "Figma," "Agile," and "Stakeholder Management." Quantify achievements wherever possible.

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design process for data-centric products, prepare examples of your leadership and mentorship, and be ready to discuss Awin's business context. Rehearse your portfolio presentation.

• Company Research: Familiarize yourself with Awin's services, its role in the affiliate marketing industry, and its company culture as described. Understand the types of data they manage and present.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.