Product Designer (Midweight)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Designer (Midweight)

Company: AKQA Leap

Location: London, United Kingdom

Job Type: Permanent/Full Time

Category: Product Design / UX/UI Design

Date Posted: 2026-02-19

Experience Level: Midweight (2-5 years)

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive the creation of intuitive and engaging product designs for web and mobile platforms, from initial concept to high-fidelity interactive prototypes.

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers, engineers, and fellow designers, to deliver cohesive and impactful design solutions.

• Champion user-centred design principles, supporting user research activities and translating insights into actionable design improvements that enhance user experience and product usability.

• Contribute to and advocate for design systems, ensuring consistency across products and upholding best practices in design standards, including accessibility (WCAG).

• Articulate design rationale clearly and confidently to project teams and clients, demonstrating how solutions meet business, user, and technical requirements.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a Midweight Product Designer, indicating a requirement for demonstrable experience beyond entry-level. The emphasis on "quality at speed" and working with prominent clients suggests a need for efficiency, strong design execution, and the ability to deliver high-quality work under project timelines. The reporting structure to the Head of Design implies opportunities for mentorship and growth under senior leadership.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Design Delivery & Execution:

  • Craft wireframes, user flows, journey maps, and high-fidelity, interactive prototypes for digital products across web and mobile interfaces.
  • Develop and iterate on design concepts based on user feedback, business objectives, and technical constraints, ensuring optimal usability and accessibility.
  • Translate complex solutions into tangible design artefacts, leveraging common design patterns, established brand guidelines, and service flows.
  • Actively contribute to the development and maintenance of design systems, ensuring consistency and advocating for best practices in design standards.
  • Participate actively in design reviews, providing and receiving constructive feedback to continuously refine and elevate design solutions.
  • Utilize industry-standard design tools such as Figma and Miro for efficient design creation, prototyping, and collaborative workflows.

• Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement:

  • Work seamlessly within cross-functional teams, fostering strong partnerships with product managers, engineers, researchers, and other designers to achieve aligned design outcomes.
  • Facilitate and participate in workshops, sketching sessions, and brainstorming activities to drive innovation and refine product ideas collaboratively.
  • Present design solutions and rationales clearly and persuasively to internal project teams and external clients, effectively communicating how designs address key requirements.
  • Provide constructive feedback to peers and potentially mentor junior designers, contributing to team growth and the overall quality of design deliverables.

• Human-Centered Design & Research:

  • Support and contribute to user research initiatives, including interviews, surveys, and usability testing, to gather critical insights and validate design decisions.
  • Analyse user feedback, behavioural data, and analytics to inform iterative design improvements and ensure designs are deeply aligned with user needs and pain points.
  • Develop and utilize user personas, user flows, and journey maps to guide design decisions and enhance the overall user experience strategy.

• Design Impact & Measurement:

  • Collaborate with product teams to define key success metrics and evaluate the impact of design solutions through data-driven analysis and A/B testing.
  • Ensure designs adhere to accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG), promoting inclusivity and designing for a diverse range of user needs.
  • Integrate interaction design principles and micro-interactions to create seamless, engaging, and delightful user experiences.

• Continuous Learning & Community Contribution:

  • Stay abreast of the latest industry trends, emerging technologies, and advancements in design tools to continuously enhance personal design skills and departmental processes.

  • Actively participate in design critiques, training sessions, and team discussions to foster collective learning and drive innovation within the design practice.

  • Engage in Design Community initiatives and contribute to internal projects, supporting the broader vision and growth of the design function at AKQA Leap.

  • Collaborate with your line manager to define and achieve personal career goals, ensuring alignment with individual aspirations and business objectives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of hands-on design execution and collaborative strategic input. The emphasis on "translating solutions into tangible design artefacts using common design patterns, established brand guidelines, and service flows" points to a need for practical application of existing frameworks rather than purely conceptual work. The mention of "quality at speed" implies a need for efficiency in design processes and tool proficiency.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Fine Arts, or a related field is ideal.

Experience:

• Proven experience as a Product Designer, UX/UI Designer, or in a similar role within an established Design team.

• Minimum of 2-5 years of professional experience, demonstrating progression and a solid foundation in design thinking and execution.

• Experience in creating UX design artefacts, wireframes, user flows, and high-fidelity, interactive prototypes for digital products.

• Demonstrated experience collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams, including product managers and engineers.

Required Skills:

• Portfolio: A robust portfolio showcasing your design thinking process, problem-solving skills, and polished design solutions for digital products.

• Design Tools: Proficiency in industry-standard design and prototyping tools, specifically Figma and Miro.

• UX/UI Principles: Solid understanding of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) principles, interaction design, and visual design best practices.

• Design Systems: Experience with and understanding of design systems, brand guidelines, user flows, and wireframing techniques.

• Collaboration & Communication: Confidence in articulating design rationale clearly to team members and stakeholders, and the ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, agile environment.

• User-Centred Design: A strong understanding of user-centred design principles and their application in creating intuitive and engaging experiences.

• Problem-Solving: Ability to generate multiple design solutions and select the most appropriate based on a user-focused rationale.

Preferred Skills:

• Web/Mobile Technologies: Understanding of web and mobile technologies and their implications for design.

• Research Methods: Familiarity with user research methods (e.g., interviews, surveys, usability testing) and the ability to translate findings into actionable design improvements.

• Visual Assets: Examples of creating visual assets such as illustrations, iconography, and pictograms.

• Agile Methodologies: Experience with Agile, Sprints, and Lean UX methodologies.

• Accessibility Standards: Knowledge of accessibility standards, such as WCAG.

• Front-End Technologies: Familiarity with front-end technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) is a plus.

• Motion Design: Experience with animation or motion design tools.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "About You" section emphasizes a detail-oriented approach and the ability to translate concepts into practical design artefacts using established patterns and guidelines. The preference for candidates who are "close but not a perfect match" suggests a focus on potential and cultural fit alongside core skills. The "Qualifications & Skills Required" section reiterates the need for a strong portfolio and tool proficiency, with a clear distinction between required and bonus skills.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Design Thinking & Process: Your portfolio must clearly articulate your design thinking process, demonstrating how you approach problem-solving from initial research and ideation through to final execution. This includes showing your exploration of different solutions.

• UX/UI Artefacts: Showcase a range of UX design artefacts, including wireframes, user flows, journey maps, and high-fidelity mockups that illustrate your ability to translate user needs and business goals into functional and aesthetically pleasing digital interfaces.

• High-Fidelity Designs & Prototypes: Include examples of polished, high-fidelity designs and interactive prototypes for web and mobile platforms, demonstrating your ability to create detailed and engaging user experiences.

• Design System Contribution: Provide examples of how you have worked with, contributed to, or leveraged design systems, illustrating your understanding of consistency, scalability, and best practices in design component management.

• Collaboration Evidence: Where possible, highlight projects where you collaborated with other designers, product managers, or engineers, explaining your role and contribution within a team context.

Process Documentation:

• Problem-Solution Framing: For case studies, clearly frame the problem you were solving, the user needs identified, and the business objectives, followed by your proposed design solution and the rationale behind it.

• Iteration and Feedback: Demonstrate how you incorporated feedback (from users, peers, or stakeholders) and iterated on your designs to improve outcomes. This shows adaptability and a commitment to refinement.

• Metrics and Impact: Where applicable, present how your designs have impacted key metrics (e.g., conversion rates, user engagement, task completion time) and how you measured this impact. Focus on quantifiable results.

• Tool Proficiency Showcase: While not always explicit, your portfolio should implicitly demonstrate proficiency in tools like Figma and Miro through the quality and complexity of your deliverables.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a portfolio is paramount for this role. It should not only showcase visual design skills but also a strong understanding of the design process, user-centred methodologies, and the ability to articulate design decisions. The requirement to demonstrate experience with design systems and collaboration is critical for a midweight role.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: £40,000 - £55,000 per annum

Benefits:

• Time Off: Flexi leave (within reason), plus Birthday Off, and Volunteering Days.

• Family Support: Enhanced Maternity & Paternity Pay, Paid Parental Bereavement Leave.

• Financial Wellness: Flexible benefits package (cash sum per month), Enhanced competitive pension scheme, Income Protection Insurance, Life Assurance, Occupational Sick Pay.

• Professional Development: Annual learning budget to support continuous skill enhancement, A financial contribution towards a tech purchase.

• Health & Wellbeing: Private medical and dental insurance, Mental Health and Wellbeing Support, Employee Assistance Programmes.

Working Hours: Full-time position, typically equating to 40 hours per week, with an expectation of on-site presence in London. While "Flexi leave" is mentioned, the core working hours and on-site requirement suggest a structured work environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is clearly defined. The benefits package is extensive and emphasizes employee well-being, professional development, and work-life balance, which is attractive for midweight professionals seeking a supportive employer. The "Flexi leave" alongside the "On-site" requirement suggests a balance between flexibility and in-office collaboration.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Digital Product Specialists within the AKQA Group (WPP). AKQA Leap operates at the intersection of digital product development, design, and technology consulting.

Company Size: Part of the AKQA Group (WPP), which is a very large global entity. AKQA Leap itself is likely a mid-sized studio, focusing on specialized product design and development. This size offers a balance between the resources of a large corporation and the agility of a smaller, focused team.

Founded: AKQA Leap has been designing, developing, and launching digital products for over a decade, indicating established expertise and a track record of successful project delivery.

Team Structure:

• Reporting: The role reports to the Head of Design, indicating a clear leadership structure within the design department.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: The role emphasizes close collaboration with Product Managers, Engineers, and other designers, typical of agile product development environments.

• Studio Environment: AKQA Leap has studios in London and Bristol, suggesting a cohesive studio culture with potential for interaction across locations. The company values "People-focused. Curious. Always growing."

Methodology:

• Quality at Speed: AKQA Leap's core philosophy emphasizes delivering high-quality digital products efficiently. This implies a focus on streamlined processes, robust design systems, and skilled execution.

• User-Centred Approach: The company prioritizes human-centred products, meaning user research, testing, and feedback loops are integral to their design and development process.

• Agile & Lean UX: The "Ideally Also" section mentions experience with Agile, Sprints, and Lean UX methodologies, suggesting these are common frameworks used for project delivery.

Company Website: https://www.akqa.com/leap/

📝 Enhancement Note: AKQA Leap positions itself as a specialist within a larger creative network (WPP), focusing on quality and speed. The culture is described as people-focused, curious, and growth-oriented, with an emphasis on inclusivity. The operational methodology appears to blend agile development with a strong commitment to design quality and user-centricity.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Midweight Product Designer. This level signifies an individual contributor who is expected to work with moderate supervision, take ownership of significant design tasks, and contribute to the team's overall output and quality. They are moving beyond junior-level execution to encompass more strategic thinking, problem-solving, and potentially mentoring.

Reporting Structure: Reports directly to the Head of Design. This provides a clear line of communication for feedback, performance reviews, and career development discussions. It also offers direct mentorship from a senior design leader.

Operations Impact: As a Product Designer, the impact is directly on the quality, usability, and engagement of digital products for clients like Google, HSBC, and Vodafone. This role contributes to client success by delivering outstanding user experiences that align with business goals, ultimately influencing client satisfaction, product adoption, and potentially revenue.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Specialization: Opportunity to deepen expertise in visual design, experience design, interaction design, and potentially user research under senior guidance.

• Design System Mastery: Contribute to and lead aspects of design system development, becoming a subject matter expert.

• Client Presentation & Strategy: Develop skills in presenting design rationales and solutions to clients, gaining exposure to strategic client conversations.

• Mentorship: Potential to mentor junior designers, developing leadership and coaching abilities.

• Career Progression: A clear path exists towards Senior Product Designer roles, Design Lead, or specialized roles within the broader AKQA Group network, depending on performance and interest.

• Continuous Learning: The annual learning budget and company culture encourage staying current with industry trends, tools, and methodologies, fostering ongoing professional development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Midweight" designation implies a solid foundation and the capacity to handle complex tasks independently. The reporting to the Head of Design offers direct mentorship. Growth is framed around skill enhancement, leadership, and strategic contribution, supported by company-provided resources like the learning budget.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: AKQA Leap operates with physical studios in London and Bristol, indicating an office-based work environment designed for collaboration. The company's emphasis on "quality at speed" and cross-functional teamwork suggests a dynamic and focused studio atmosphere.

Office Location(s): London, United Kingdom. This provides access to a major metropolitan hub with excellent transport links and a vibrant professional community.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Hub: The London studio is likely designed to foster collaboration, with spaces for workshops, brainstorming sessions, and team critiques. This environment is crucial for the "quality at speed" philosophy.

• Tools & Technology: Access to industry-standard design tools like Figma and Miro is expected, along with a robust IT infrastructure to support digital product development.

• Team Interaction: The on-site requirement facilitates direct interaction with product managers, engineers, and fellow designers, promoting agile workflows and immediate feedback loops.

Work Schedule: The role is full-time, with an implied standard working week (likely 40 hours). While "Flexi leave" is offered, the "On-site" requirement suggests a structured schedule with core working hours necessary for team collaboration and project delivery.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "On-site" work arrangement and studio locations point to a traditional office environment that prioritizes in-person collaboration, essential for the company's "quality at speed" ethos and cross-functional team dynamics.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your application, focusing on your CV and portfolio to assess foundational skills, experience, and alignment with the role's requirements.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: You will likely be asked to present your portfolio, walking through selected case studies. This will involve discussing your design process, problem-solving approach, rationale behind key decisions, and the impact of your work. Expect questions on how you handle challenges, collaborate, and use design systems.

• Skills Assessment/Design Challenge: A practical exercise may be given, either as a take-home assignment or a live workshop. This could involve critiquing an existing design, sketching solutions to a problem, or refining a concept. The focus will be on your design thinking, problem-solving skills, and ability to articulate your approach.

• Cross-functional Team Interview: You may meet with a Product Manager and/or an Engineer to assess your collaboration skills, ability to understand technical constraints, and how you communicate design intent within a broader project team.

• Final Interview: Potentially with the Head of Design or a senior leader, focusing on cultural fit, career aspirations, and your overall understanding of AKQA Leap's values and "quality at speed" philosophy.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-5 of your strongest projects that best showcase your midweight capabilities, design thinking, and impact. Ensure variety in project types if possible (web, mobile, different industries).

• Tell a Story: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed (research, ideation, iteration, testing), your specific contributions, the challenges you overcame, and the final outcome/impact. Use visuals effectively.

• Highlight Design Systems: Explicitly show how you've used or contributed to design systems, demonstrating your understanding of consistency and scalability.

• Showcase Collaboration: If possible, describe your interactions with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders, explaining how you incorporated their input.

• Be Ready to Defend Decisions: Articulate the why behind your design choices, linking them back to user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility.

• Demonstrate Tool Proficiency: Ensure your deliverables reflect a high level of skill in Figma, Miro, or similar tools.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Brief: If given a challenge, thoroughly understand the problem statement, objectives, and constraints.

• Time Management: Allocate your time wisely across ideation, execution, and presentation.

• Focus on Process: Even if the output is a single screen, demonstrate your thought process and how you arrived there.

• Articulate Rationale: Be prepared to explain your design decisions clearly and concisely, especially if presenting live.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is structured to evaluate a range of skills, from core design execution and thinking to collaboration and cultural fit. The emphasis on portfolio presentation and potential design challenges highlights the practical nature of the role.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Expected to be the primary tool for wireframing, UI design, prototyping, and collaboration. Proficiency in its advanced features, including components, auto layout, and collaborative editing, is crucial.

• Miro: Utilized for collaborative whiteboarding, brainstorming, user journey mapping, wireframing, and workshop facilitation.

• Prototyping Tools: While Figma has robust prototyping capabilities, familiarity with other dedicated prototyping tools might be beneficial.

Analytics & Reporting:

• User Research Platforms: Familiarity with tools used for usability testing and user feedback collection (e.g., UserTesting.com, Maze, Hotjar).

• Analytics Platforms: Basic understanding of how to interpret data from web/mobile analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Mixpanel) to inform design decisions.

CRM & Automation:

• Project Management Tools: Experience with tools like Jira, Asana, or Trello for managing design tasks within agile sprints.

• Collaboration Suites: Proficiency with tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Workspace for communication and documentation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of Figma and Miro as key tools indicates a modern, collaborative design workflow. Understanding how design integrates with analytics and project management tools is also important for a midweight designer in a cross-functional team.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Quality First: A deep commitment to delivering high-quality, polished, and user-centred digital products, reflecting the "quality at speed" ethos.

• User-Centricity: Placing the user at the heart of all design decisions, informed by research, data, and empathy.

• Collaboration & Teamwork: Fostering an open, committed, and inclusive studio environment where cross-functional teams work together effectively.

• Curiosity & Growth: Encouraging continuous learning, exploration of new ideas, and personal/professional development.

• Attention to Detail: Ensuring that design outputs are precise, consistent, and executed to a high standard, down to the pixel.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Designers work closely and iteratively with product managers and engineers, ensuring alignment on goals and feasibility throughout the product development lifecycle.

• Constructive Feedback Culture: Actively participating in design critiques, providing and receiving feedback constructively to elevate the quality of work.

• Workshop Facilitation: Engaging in and potentially leading collaborative sessions to generate ideas and solve complex design problems together.

• Knowledge Sharing: Contributing to a culture where best practices, learnings, and insights are shared openly within the design team and across disciplines.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is built around delivering high-quality products efficiently through collaborative, user-focused, and growth-oriented practices. The emphasis on detail and constructive feedback is critical for maintaining their "quality at speed" standard.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Speed and Quality: Consistently delivering high-quality design solutions within fast-paced project timelines. This requires efficient workflows, strong design system utilization, and effective time management.

• Navigating Client Requirements: Translating diverse client needs and business objectives into user-centred design solutions that meet technical constraints and brand guidelines.

• Cross-functional Alignment: Ensuring seamless communication and alignment with product managers and engineers, especially when design decisions impact development timelines or technical scope.

• Staying Current: Keeping pace with rapidly evolving design tools, technologies, and user behaviour trends in the digital product space.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deepen Design Craft: Enhance skills in visual design, interaction design, prototyping, and accessibility through hands-on project work and internal knowledge sharing.

• Design System Expertise: Gain deeper experience in contributing to, maintaining, and advocating for design systems, potentially leading to specialization.

• Client Interaction Skills: Develop confidence and skill in presenting design rationale, participating in client workshops, and influencing project direction.

• Mentorship and Leadership: Opportunities to learn from senior designers and potentially mentor junior team members, building leadership capabilities.

• Industry Exposure: Leverage the annual learning budget for courses, conferences, or workshops to stay at the forefront of design innovation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are typical for a fast-paced agency environment focused on product delivery. The growth opportunities are well-aligned with the midweight role, offering paths for specialization, leadership, and continuous professional development within the design discipline.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• Design Process & Thinking: "Walk me through a project in your portfolio where you faced a significant design challenge. How did you approach it, what was your process, and what was the outcome?" Focus on demonstrating your problem-solving methodology, user-centricity, and ability to iterate.

• Design System Application: "Describe your experience working with design systems. How have you leveraged existing components, and how would you contribute to or evolve a system?" Be ready to discuss practical application and consistency.

• Collaboration & Communication: "How do you ensure alignment with engineers and product managers during the design process? Describe a time you had to negotiate design decisions with stakeholders." Highlight your ability to communicate effectively and manage expectations.

Company & Culture Questions:

• AKQA Leap's Values: "What resonates with you about AKQA Leap's 'quality at speed' philosophy or our people-focused culture?" Research the company's values and website thoroughly and connect them to your own work style and aspirations.

• Growth Aspirations: "Where do you see your career in product design progressing in the next 2-3 years, and how can AKQA Leap support that growth?" Align your goals with the opportunities presented in the role and company.

• Design Impact Measurement: "How do you measure the success of your designs? Can you provide an example of how your design work impacted a key business or user metric?" Be prepared to discuss data-informed design and A/B testing.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly define the problem, your role, the solution, the process, and the impact. Use a consistent structure.

• Highlight Your Process: Don't just show final screens; explain how you got there. Show sketches, wireframes, user flows, and iterations.

• Articulate Your Rationale: Be ready to explain why you made specific design choices. Connect them to user needs, business goals, and technical constraints.

• Showcase Figma/Miro Skills: Ensure your deliverables are polished and demonstrate proficiency in your chosen tools. Be prepared to discuss your workflow within these tools.

• Engage Your Audience: Make it a conversation, not a monologue. Be enthusiastic and open to questions.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparation should focus on demonstrating a strong design process, clear communication skills, and a good understanding of how design contributes to business objectives, all within the context of AKQA Leap's specific culture and operational approach.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided Greenhouse link.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight projects that best demonstrate your midweight capabilities, design thinking, and experience relevant to digital product design for web and mobile. Focus on case studies that showcase your process, problem-solving, and collaboration skills.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly outlines your years of experience, proficiency in Figma and Miro, experience with design systems, and any exposure to Agile/Lean UX methodologies. Use keywords from the job description.

• Prepare Your Narrative: Rehearse your portfolio walkthrough, focusing on articulating your design rationale, process, and the impact of your work for each selected project. Be ready to discuss your contributions in collaborative environments.

• Company Research: Familiarize yourself with AKQA Leap's work, their "quality at speed" philosophy, and their client portfolio. Understand their values and how your skills and aspirations align with their culture.

⚠️ 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.