Senior Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Product Designer

Company: Commonwealth Bank

Location: Eveleigh, NSW, Australia (with potential for Sydney, Melbourne)

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Design / User Experience (UX)

Date Posted: February 24, 2026

Experience Level: 5-10 years (Mid to Senior Level)

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive end-to-end product design processes, from initial discovery and concept development through to successful solution delivery and iteration.

• Contribute to and evolve a comprehensive design system and UI pattern library, ensuring scalability, accessibility, and alignment with broader design strategies.

• Facilitate workshops, user research, and cross-functional alignment sessions to foster shared understanding and drive informed design decisions.

• Manage complex stakeholder relationships, influencing strategic conversations and ensuring cohesive, high-quality user experiences across a critical platform.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a Senior Product Designer within Commonwealth Bank's CommSee 2.0 initiative, a significant platform overhaul for their assisted channel. The description emphasizes a dual focus on deep system-level UI pattern contribution and broad service-level experience shaping, requiring a candidate adept at both detailed execution and strategic facilitation. The "5-10 years" experience level aligns with the senior designation and expectation of leading design efforts.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end product design lifecycle, encompassing discovery, user research, ideation, wireframing, prototyping, UI design, and user testing.

• Own, contribute to, and evolve the CommSee design library, ensuring patterns are scalable, high quality, accessible, and adhere to broader system guidelines.

• Support product and engineering teams by guiding the appropriate use, adaptation, or extension of design patterns, promoting system-led consistency without impeding delivery velocity.

• Create and facilitate key design artifacts, including user journeys, service blueprints, experience flows, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity UI designs.

• Conduct thorough design reviews and provide constructive feedback to other teams to ensure consistency, quality, and effective adoption of the design system across the CommSee platform.

• Manage and cultivate complex stakeholder relationships across product, engineering, operations, and central design teams, influencing decision-making and ensuring strategic alignment.

• Collaborate closely with the central CBA Design System team to identify system improvements, propose new components or patterns, and address gaps identified during product development.

• Plan, facilitate, and synthesize user research using appropriate methodologies to uncover insights, validate design hypotheses, and guide product decisions.

• Champion design craft, experience coherence, and platform thinking across the entire CommSee ecosystem to foster a unified and user-centric approach.

• Facilitate workshops, co-design sessions, and alignment activities to bring diverse teams together, build consensus, and create a shared understanding of design direction.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of individual contribution to design systems and user experience strategy, alongside strong leadership and facilitation skills. The emphasis on "system led, consistent design without slowing delivery" points to a need for pragmatic solutions that balance design integrity with agile development cycles.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, or a related field is typically expected for a Senior Product Designer role. Equivalent practical experience will also be considered.

Experience: A minimum of 5-10 years of progressive experience in product design, UX design, or interaction design, with a significant portion focused on complex digital platforms and enterprise-level applications.

Required Skills:

• Proven experience across the full product design process, from early discovery and research to detailed solution delivery and iteration.

• Demonstrated experience working with established design systems or design libraries, including contributing patterns, evolving components, and conducting design reviews.

• Exceptional facilitation, communication, and collaboration skills, with a proven ability to bring diverse teams together and shape strategic direction.

• A balanced skill set encompassing strategic thinking (workshops, journey mapping) and hands-on execution (detailed UI and pattern creation, design reviews).

• Ability to translate complex requirements into clear, actionable design direction that effectively balances user needs, system constraints, and business objectives.

• Strong influencing and negotiation skills to drive alignment and ensure cohesive, high-quality user experiences across multiple teams.

• Proficiency in core UX disciplines: interaction design, information architecture, prototyping (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD), and user testing methodologies.

• Comfort and proven ability to work autonomously within an evolving, dynamic environment.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience contributing to or evolving a central design system.

• Experience in financial services or a highly regulated industry.

• Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies and working within product squads.

• Experience in leading user research planning, synthesis, and playback sessions.

• Knowledge of front-end development principles to inform design decisions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "What You Will Bring" section directly translates into required skills. The emphasis on "balanced skill set" and "comfort working autonomously in an evolving environment" suggests a need for a proactive, adaptable designer who can navigate ambiguity and drive initiatives forward with minimal oversight.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Demonstrate a clear, end-to-end product design process for at least 2-3 significant projects, showcasing your journey from problem definition to solution and impact.

• Include examples of how you have contributed to, leveraged, or evolved a design system or component library, detailing your specific contributions and the outcomes.

• Showcase your ability to create and facilitate key UX artifacts such as journey maps, service blueprints, wireframes, and interactive prototypes.

• Provide evidence of your user research planning, facilitation, and synthesis skills, highlighting how insights influenced design decisions and led to measurable impact.

Process Documentation:

• For each project, detail the discovery phase, including problem framing and user research methodologies employed.

• Illustrate your design iteration process, showing how feedback, testing, and system constraints were incorporated.

• Document the final design solutions, including high-fidelity UI, interaction patterns, and any contributions to design system documentation.

• Quantify the impact of your design work where possible, using metrics related to user satisfaction, task completion rates, efficiency gains, or business outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The application specifically requests a portfolio showcasing "end-to-end product design process, craft, outcomes, and measurable impact, including any contributions to design systems or cross team design alignment." This indicates a strong emphasis on demonstrating practical application, results, and systemic thinking rather than just aesthetic output.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for Senior Product Designers in Sydney/Melbourne (Australia) with 5-10 years of experience, the estimated salary range is AUD $140,000 - $190,000 per annum. This includes base salary and potential superannuation contributions as per Australian standards.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive health and well-being programs, including medical, dental, and vision insurance.

• Generous superannuation contributions (Commonwealth Bank typically contributes above the mandatory rate).

• Employee assistance programs for mental health and financial well-being.

• Opportunities for professional development, training, and conference attendance.

• Employee share plans and performance-based bonuses.

• Flexible working arrangements, with a strong emphasis on hybrid models and work-life balance.

• Access to CommBank's extensive employee benefits portal and discounts.

• Paid parental leave and other family-friendly policies.

Working Hours: Standard full-time hours are typically 37.5 to 40 hours per week. While the role is on-site, Commonwealth Bank generally offers flexibility in start and end times, subject to team and project needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary is estimated based on typical Australian financial sector compensation for senior design roles in major cities, considering the company's size and industry. Specific benefits are inferred from Commonwealth Bank's general employee offerings and industry best practices for large financial institutions.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Services (Banking & Financial Technology). Commonwealth Bank is one of Australia's largest financial institutions, operating in a highly regulated and competitive market.

Company Size: Large Enterprise (>10,000 employees). This means established processes, significant resources, and opportunities for impact at scale, but also potential for bureaucracy.

Founded: 1911. With over a century of history, CBA has a deep-rooted presence in the Australian economy and a strong focus on customer trust and innovation.

Team Structure:

• The role is within the "CommSee 2.0" initiative, a dedicated product-focused team (likely a "crew" or squad) comprising Product Managers, Engineers, Designers, and potentially Analysts.

• This team will report into broader product and technology leadership within Commonwealth Bank.

Methodology:

• The team is adopting a "product-focused way of working," suggesting an Agile or Lean approach with an emphasis on iterative development, continuous delivery, and customer-centricity.

• Design practices will likely involve a blend of design thinking, user-centered design, and contribution to a scaled design system.

• Data analysis and metrics will be crucial for informing design decisions and measuring impact on user behavior and business outcomes.

Company Website: https://www.commbank.com.au/

📝 Enhancement Note: The description mentions a "recently formed crew" working in a "product focused way of working." This implies a dynamic environment where design practices are still being shaped, offering opportunities for influence. The company's size and industry suggest a need for robust, scalable, and compliant design solutions.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a Senior Product Designer role, indicating a mid-to-senior level position. It requires a high degree of autonomy, strong leadership capabilities in design, and the ability to influence product strategy and team direction. The role is individual contributor focused but carries significant responsibility for design quality and process.

Reporting Structure: The Senior Product Designer will likely report to a Design Lead, Head of Product Design, or a Product Director within the CommSee 2.0 initiative. They will also work closely with Product Managers and Engineering Leads within their immediate team. Collaboration with the central CBA Design System team is also a key reporting/interaction line.

Operations Impact: The CommSee platform is critical for empowering over 30,000 CBA staff to deliver customer service. A Senior Product Designer on this team will have a direct and substantial impact on the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of customer interactions across the bank. Their work on the design system will also influence the consistency and scalability of design across numerous other products and features.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership: Potential to move into a Lead Product Designer or Design Manager role, overseeing a team or a larger product domain.

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in design systems, UX research, service design, or accessibility.

• Strategic Influence: Transition into a Product Strategy or UX Strategy role, focusing more on long-term vision and roadmap.

• Cross-functional Mobility: Opportunities to move into Product Management or other related roles within the bank.

• Mentorship: Opportunity to mentor junior designers and shape the design culture within the team and the broader organization through design reviews and practice sharing.

📝 Enhancement Note: The senior designation implies a path beyond individual contribution, with opportunities for leadership and strategic impact. The dual focus on system design and product experience suggests a role that builds a broad and deep skillset valuable for future career progression within a large organization.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is explicitly stated as "On-site" with a primary location in Eveleigh, NSW. This suggests a traditional office environment with dedicated workspaces for design and product teams. Commonwealth Bank offices are typically modern, well-equipped facilities.

Office Location(s):

• Primary: Eveleigh, NSW (1 Locomotive Street) - This is a key innovation hub for CBA.

Workspace Context:

• The environment is described as "highly collaborative," implying open-plan layouts, shared meeting spaces, and opportunities for spontaneous interaction.

• Access to standard office technology, design software, and collaboration tools will be provided.

• Expect regular interaction with Product Managers, Engineers, Researchers, and other Designers, fostering a team-oriented atmosphere.

• The "product focused way of working" and "recently formed crew" suggests a dynamic, potentially fast-paced environment focused on iterative delivery.

Work Schedule: The standard working hours are 37.5-40 hours per week. While on-site, the company promotes work-life balance, and there may be some flexibility in daily start/end times, subject to team needs and project deadlines. Collaboration with distributed teams (if any) might require occasional adjustments.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "On-site" requirement is clear. The mention of "Eveleigh, NSW - 1 Locomotive Street" points to a specific innovation or technology hub within CBA, often designed to foster collaboration and agile methodologies. The emphasis on collaboration suggests an environment that values face-to-face interaction and teamwork.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: HR or Recruiter review of application and resume, potentially a brief phone screening.

• Portfolio Presentation: A dedicated session where the candidate presents their portfolio, focusing on key projects that demonstrate end-to-end design process, design system contributions, and measurable impact. This is a critical stage.

• Hiring Manager Interview: Discussion with the hiring manager to assess experience, fit with the team culture, and understanding of the role's strategic objectives.

• Team/Cross-functional Interviews: Interviews with potential peers (other designers, product managers, engineers) to assess collaboration style, technical skills, and problem-solving approach.

• Final Interview/Offer: Potentially a final discussion with a senior leader, followed by an offer.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 2-3 projects that best highlight your end-to-end process, design system contributions, and impact. Tailor your selection to the role's requirements.

• Structure Your Narrative: For each project, clearly define the problem, your role, the process you followed, the solutions you designed, and the outcomes (quantified where possible). Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals – sketches, wireframes, prototypes, user flows, UI mockups. Explain your design decisions and the rationale behind them.

• Highlight Design System Work: Explicitly call out any contributions to design systems, pattern libraries, or UX consistency efforts. Explain the challenges and how you addressed them.

• Focus on Impact: Quantify results whenever possible (e.g., "increased task completion by X%", "reduced error rates by Y%", "improved user satisfaction scores by Z points").

• Prepare for Questions: Be ready to discuss your design choices, how you handled feedback, navigated trade-offs, and collaborated with stakeholders.

Challenge Preparation:

• Design Exercise: Be prepared for a take-home or in-person design challenge. This might involve analyzing a problem, proposing solutions, or critiquing an existing experience. Focus on demonstrating your process, not just the final output.

• System Thinking: Given the emphasis on the design system, expect questions or exercises related to applying, extending, or even contributing to design system patterns.

• Facilitation Skills: Practice articulating your thoughts clearly and concisely. Be ready to discuss how you would approach a workshop or stakeholder alignment session.

• Company Research: Understand Commonwealth Bank's business, its customer segments, and its position in the market. Research their current digital offerings and any recent news or initiatives related to customer experience.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit request for a portfolio and the emphasis on "end-to-end design process, craft, outcomes, and measurable impact" means the portfolio is paramount. Candidates should treat it as a primary presentation tool during the interview process.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (highly likely given industry trends and collaborative nature), Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop).

• Collaboration & Documentation: Confluence, Jira, Miro, Mural.

• User Research Tools: UserTesting.com, Optimal Workshop, Lookback, or similar platforms.

Analytics & Reporting:

CRM & Automation:

• While not a direct focus for this role, an understanding of how CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) and marketing automation tools interact with customer-facing products can be beneficial.

📝 Enhancement Note: Figma is the industry standard for collaborative design systems and prototyping, making it a near certainty for this role. The mention of "workshops" and "co-design sessions" also points towards digital whiteboarding tools like Miro or Mural.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer First: A strong commitment to understanding and meeting customer needs in all design decisions.

• Collaboration & Teamwork: Valuing open communication, mutual respect, and shared ownership within the team and across departments.

• Excellence & Craftsmanship: A dedication to high-quality design, attention to detail, and continuous improvement of design practices.

• Innovation & Agility: Embracing new ideas, adapting to change, and operating efficiently within iterative development cycles.

• Inclusivity & Accessibility: Ensuring designs are usable and accessible to all customers, reflecting the bank's commitment to diversity.

Collaboration Style:

• Product Squad Model: Working within a cross-functional team, fostering close collaboration between design, product management, and engineering.

• Design System Integration: Regular interaction with the central Design System team for alignment, feedback, and contribution.

• Stakeholder Engagement: Proactive communication and relationship-building with various business stakeholders to gather requirements, present designs, and gain buy-in.

• Workshop Facilitation: Actively leading and participating in collaborative sessions to drive alignment and co-create solutions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The description emphasizes "working with people as much as with pixels" and being "energised by communication, collaboration, and orchestrating alignment." This points to a culture that highly values interpersonal skills and the ability to build consensus.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing System vs. Product Needs: Ensuring consistency through the design system while allowing for product-specific innovation and flexibility.

• Navigating Ambiguity: Working within a "recently formed crew" and an "evolving environment" requires comfort with uncertainty and the ability to define clarity.

• Stakeholder Management: Influencing a diverse range of stakeholders with potentially competing priorities within a large, established organization.

• Scaling Design Practices: Helping to shape and scale design practices within a product-focused team and across the CommSee ecosystem.

• Large-Scale Impact: Designing for a platform used by tens of thousands of staff, requiring robust, reliable, and highly usable solutions.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Design System Expertise: Deepen knowledge and contribution to a large-scale enterprise design system.

• Service Design Skills: Develop and apply service blueprinting and journey mapping to create holistic customer experiences.

• Leadership and Mentorship: Opportunities to lead design initiatives, mentor junior designers, and shape team processes.

• Industry Trends: Exposure to cutting-edge design practices and technologies within the financial services sector.

• Cross-functional Exposure: Gain broader understanding of product management, engineering, and business operations within a major bank.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are directly derived from the role description's emphasis on balancing detail and strategy, working in an evolving team, and managing stakeholders in a large organization. Growth opportunities are inferred from the senior nature of the role and the context of working within a major enterprise.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to balance contributions to a design system with the specific needs of a product feature. How did you manage this tension?" (Focus on trade-offs, communication, and system governance).

• "Walk us through your process for leading a cross-functional workshop to define a complex user journey or service blueprint." (Highlight facilitation techniques, stakeholder engagement, and output generation).

• "How do you approach ensuring design consistency and quality across multiple teams or product squads when working with a shared design system?" (Discuss design reviews, pattern documentation, and collaboration strategies).

• "Tell us about a project where you had to influence stakeholders who had different priorities or perspectives. What was your approach, and what was the outcome?" (Emphasize influencing skills, data-driven arguments, and negotiation).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about Commonwealth Bank and the CommSee 2.0 initiative specifically?" (Research CBA's mission, values, and recent digital strategies).

• "How do you see your role contributing to our 'product-focused way of working'?" (Demonstrate understanding of Agile/Lean principles and your fit within a squad).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Storytelling: Weave a compelling narrative around each project, highlighting the problem, your unique contribution, the challenges faced, and the impact achieved.

• Process Visualization: Use diagrams, flowcharts, and sketches to visually represent your design process and decision-making.

• System Contribution Clarity: Clearly articulate your specific role in any design system work – e.g., did you create new components, update guidelines, conduct reviews, or facilitate adoption? Quantify the impact of this work if possible.

• Outcome-Oriented: Focus on the results and impact of your design work. Use metrics and data to support your claims.

• Conciseness: Be mindful of time. Practice your presentation to ensure it fits within the allocated slot, covering key points without unnecessary detail.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the role's senior nature and the explicit mention of collaboration and design systems, interview preparation should focus on demonstrating strategic thinking, leadership in design, and a deep understanding of how to apply and evolve design systems at scale.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the Commonwealth Bank Careers portal.

• Curate and Refine Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 impactful projects that clearly showcase your end-to-end product design process, your contributions to design systems or pattern libraries, and the measurable outcomes of your work. Ensure it highlights your facilitation and stakeholder management skills.

• Tailor Your Resume: Update your resume to emphasize experience relevant to enterprise-level product design, design systems, user research, and cross-functional collaboration. Use keywords from the job description such as "end-to-end product design," "design system," "user research," "stakeholder management," and "facilitation."

• Prepare Your Portfolio Presentation: Practice presenting your portfolio, focusing on clear storytelling, visual aids, and quantifying impact. Be ready to articulate your design rationale and the value of your contributions.

• Research Commonwealth Bank: Familiarize yourself with CBA's mission, values, recent digital initiatives, and the banking industry landscape. Understand the importance of the CommSee platform and its role in customer service.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with Commonwealth Bank's hiring team before making application decisions. The application portal and specific interview stages may vary.