Lead Designer, UX Research and Prototyping

QIMA
Full-timeMadrid, Spain

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Designer, UX Research and Prototyping

Company: QIMA

Location: Madrid, Spain (Hybrid)

Job Type: Full-time

Category: UX Design / Product Design Operations

Date Posted: 2026-08-05T06:47:56.863

Experience Level: 7+ Years (Mid-to-Senior Level)

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

  • Lead the end-to-end user experience (UX) design process, from discovery and research to the creation of functional, code-backed prototypes.

  • Drive a client-centric digital experience that addresses diverse user needs across QIMA's global client base, focusing on usability and efficiency.

  • Foster strong internal partnerships with Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Finance to ensure design decisions align with business objectives and growth strategies.

  • Champion a culture of iterative development, rapid prototyping, and data-driven decision-making to accelerate delivery and enhance product quality.

  • Integrate AI-augmented design practices to enhance efficiency, amplify impact, and explore innovative client solutions.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role sits at the intersection of UX design and operational efficiency, with a strong emphasis on delivering tangible, functional prototypes that directly inform engineering. The "operations" aspect comes from the need to understand and optimize the client journey, integrate with business units, and measure the impact of design on business outcomes.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

  • Design and lead rigorous user discovery and research initiatives to deeply understand client needs, pain points, and actual usage patterns across QIMA's diverse client segments.

  • Develop and deliver functional, clickable, and where applicable, code-backed prototypes that engineering teams can directly build from, significantly reducing ambiguity and accelerating development cycles.

  • Establish and maintain a high standard of UX craft, comparable to leading consumer and enterprise products, by focusing on obsessive attention to detail, friction removal, and iterative refinement.

  • Build fluency in QIMA's business context, understanding divisional operations, revenue streams, and growth constraints to ground design decisions in business impact.

  • Collaborate closely with stakeholders across Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Finance to build consensus and secure buy-in for design solutions, using evidence from prototypes and research.

  • Design client experiences that accommodate fragmented user workflows, shifting priorities, and global time zones, balancing simplification for occasional users with speed and control for power users.

  • Ensure client digital experiences are designed with modularity and scalability in mind to support QIMA's technology vision across multiple divisions and services.

  • Champion an agile and iterative approach to delivery, breaking down complex problems into actionable roadmap increments and clearing blockers for design and engineering teams.

  • Define, track, and report on key metrics for the client digital experience, such as portal adoption, task completion rates, and time-to-insight, to demonstrate business outcomes and inform future investment.

  • Proactively embed AI tools and methodologies into the design workflow to accelerate prototyping, enhance research insights, and elevate the overall design team's capabilities.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic design leadership and hands-on execution. The emphasis on "code-backed prototypes" and "engineering can build from" suggests a need for strong technical understanding or collaboration with front-end developers, positioning this role as bridging the gap between design and development for faster, more accurate implementation. The mention of "operations" and "finance" in stakeholder collaborations points to a need for business acumen and ROI-focused design.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong educational foundation in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Design, Computer Science, Psychology, or a related field is highly beneficial, supported by a robust portfolio.

Experience:

  • Minimum of 7 years of progressive experience in UX research, product design, or a closely related role, with a proven track record of owning complex, multi-stakeholder design problems from initial discovery through to functional prototype delivery.

  • Experience operating within high-growth or scale-up environments, demonstrating both startup agility and the ability to design for large-scale platforms. Required Skills:

  • UX Research & Discovery: Expertise in designing and conducting user interviews, surveys, usability testing, and other research methodologies to uncover deep user insights and validate design hypotheses.

  • Prototyping Expertise: Advanced proficiency in creating functional, interactive prototypes beyond static mockups, utilizing tools like Figma's interactive features, no-code/low-code prototyping platforms, or basic front-end code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) to ensure minimal translation loss for engineering.

  • Product Design Craft: Demonstrated commitment to high-quality UX/UI design principles, with an obsessive attention to detail, a focus on user flows, information architecture, and intuitive interface design.

  • Data-Driven Decision Making: Strong analytical skills to leverage quantitative and qualitative data (e.g., portal adoption, task completion, A/B test results) to inform design decisions, build business cases, and measure impact.

  • Stakeholder Management & Collaboration: Proven ability to build strong relationships and collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance, and Engineering, to drive alignment and consensus.

  • Agile & Iterative Development: Experience working within agile frameworks, championing iterative design processes, and delivering value incrementally through rapid prototyping and feedback loops.

  • AI-Augmented Design: Demonstrated daily use and exploration of AI tools to enhance design workflows, accelerate prototyping, and push the boundaries of design capabilities.

  • Full Professional English Proficiency: Excellent written and verbal communication skills for clear articulation of design concepts, research findings, and business impact.

Preferred Skills:

  • Experience with specific no-code or low-code prototyping tools relevant to rapid iteration.

  • Familiarity with front-end development principles and how they translate to interactive prototypes.

  • Understanding of supply chain, quality control, or compliance industries.

  • Experience designing for both occasional and power users with differing needs for simplicity vs. density/speed.

  • Familiarity with design systems and their application in scalable platforms.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "code-backed prototypes" and "minimal translation loss for engineering" is a critical differentiator. Candidates should be prepared to showcase how their prototypes have directly informed development, potentially even containing reusable code snippets or structured for easy integration. The "AI-Augmented Design" requirement is forward-looking and suggests the company values innovation and efficiency gains through emerging technologies.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

  • Functional Prototypes: A significant portion of the portfolio must showcase working prototypes, not just static mockups. These should demonstrate complex user flows and problem-solving capabilities.

  • Prototype-to-Engineering Hand-off: Include examples where a prototype you built directly influenced an engineering decision or unblocked a development task. Clearly articulate the impact and how the prototype facilitated this.

  • User Research Integration: Demonstrate how user research and discovery findings directly informed the design and functionality of your prototypes. Show the link between insights and tangible outputs.

  • Business Context Alignment: Showcase projects where design decisions were grounded in business needs, user pain points, and potential for growth or efficiency improvement, ideally with quantifiable results.

  • Iterative Design Process: Illustrate the evolution of a design through multiple iterations, highlighting learning from testing and feedback, and how this process led to the final prototype.

Process Documentation:

  • Discovery & Research Documentation: Examples of how user research was synthesized into actionable insights, personas, journey maps, or problem statements that guided prototype development.

  • Prototyping Workflow: Documentation or case studies detailing the tools and methods used to create functional prototypes, including any code integration or hand-off procedures.

  • Impact Measurement Frameworks: Evidence of how you defined and tracked metrics (e.g., adoption rates, task success, efficiency gains) to measure the success and business impact of your designs and prototypes.

  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Examples of how you documented and communicated design decisions, research findings, and prototype feedback to diverse stakeholder groups, ensuring alignment and buy-in.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio is paramount for this role. Candidates should curate their submissions to specifically highlight functional prototypes and their direct impact on engineering and business outcomes. The "code-backed" requirement suggests that showcasing any front-end code contributions or structured design hand-offs will be highly advantageous.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For a Lead UX Designer with 7+ years of experience in a hybrid role in Lisbon or Madrid, the estimated annual salary range is €55,000 - €75,000. This estimate is based on market research for similar roles in major European tech hubs, considering the company's likely scale-up environment and the specialized nature of AI-augmented design and functional prototyping.

Benefits:

  • Hybrid Work Model: Offers flexibility with core hours, allowing for a structured week balancing focused delivery and necessary collaboration.

  • Comprehensive Health Insurance: Coverage for medical, dental, and vision needs.

  • Generous Paid Time Off: Includes vacation days, public holidays, and sick leave.

  • Professional Development Budget: Funds for training, conferences, workshops, and certifications to support continuous learning, particularly in AI-augmented design and advanced prototyping.

  • Stock Options/Equity: Potential for equity in a growing company, aligning employee success with business growth.

  • Retirement Savings Plan: Contributions to a pension or similar savings scheme.

  • Relocation Assistance: Support for candidates relocating within Europe, especially for the preferred Paris or London locations, though consideration is given to other European bases.

Working Hours: Standard full-time hours (approximately 40 hours per week) with flexible core hours to accommodate individual work styles and team collaboration needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimate for Lisbon/Madrid. If the role is truly hybrid and Paris/London are preferred locations, the upper end of the range might be higher (€65,000 - €85,000+). The benefits are standard for a tech company of this nature, with a specific emphasis on professional development crucial for a role requiring continuous learning in AI and advanced prototyping.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: QIMA operates in a dynamic sector that bridges technology, quality control, and supply chain management. They serve a diverse global client base, from large multinational brands to individual entrepreneurs, providing essential services for product safety and compliance. This industry context implies a need for operational excellence, data integrity, and a deep understanding of client workflows.

Company Size: QIMA's scale is not explicitly stated, but the description implies a significant global footprint and a diverse client base requiring robust digital solutions. This suggests a company that has moved beyond startup phase and is scaling its operations, likely with a dedicated technology and product team.

Founded: The founding date is not provided, but the company's description suggests a mature organization with established processes and a forward-looking vision for digital client experience and AI integration.

Team Structure:

  • Operations Focus: The role explicitly mentions partnering with Sales, Marketing, and Operations teams, indicating a strong cross-functional emphasis and a need for the design team to understand and support operational efficiency.

  • Technology & Product Division: This role is part of the Technology department, likely working within or closely with product management, engineering, and potentially other design disciplines.

  • Reporting: The Lead Designer will likely report to a Head of Product, Director of Design, or VP of Technology, with direct collaboration across multiple business units.

Methodology:

  • Client-Centric Design: A core methodology is understanding and designing for the client's actual experience and workflow.

  • Rigorous Research & Discovery: Emphasis on data-driven insights to inform design decisions.

  • Iterative Prototyping: A bias for action and continuous refinement through functional prototypes.

  • AI Integration: Proactive adoption of AI tools to enhance design processes and outcomes.

  • Business Alignment: Ensuring design efforts directly contribute to business growth and operational efficiency.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's diverse client base and global reach mean the UX challenges are complex, requiring designs that are both globally consistent and locally relevant. The emphasis on "operations" collaboration suggests that understanding business processes and efficiency drivers is as crucial as user-centric design skills.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a "Lead" position, indicating a senior-level role with significant autonomy and responsibility. It requires not only advanced design and research skills but also the ability to influence strategy, build internal partnerships, and mentor others. The focus on functional prototypes and business impact positions this role as a key contributor to product development and company growth, bridging design and operational execution.

Reporting Structure: The Lead Designer will likely report to a senior leader within the Technology or Product organization (e.g., Head of Product, Director of Design). They will work closely with product managers, engineering teams, and stakeholders in Sales, Marketing, and Operations.

Operations Impact: The role's impact is directly tied to enhancing the client digital experience, which is positioned as a "compounding enabler of growth." By making the client experience simpler, more efficient, and more insightful, this role aims to drive portal adoption, client retention, and ultimately, revenue. Measuring this impact through defined metrics is a core responsibility.

Growth Opportunities:

  • Leadership Development: Opportunity to lead design initiatives, mentor junior designers, and influence product strategy.

  • Specialization: Deepen expertise in AI-augmented design, advanced prototyping techniques, and user research within a specific industry context.

  • Cross-Functional Expertise: Gain a comprehensive understanding of QIMA's business operations, sales cycles, and financial drivers through close collaboration.

  • Strategic Influence: Contribute to the long-term technology vision and product roadmap, shaping the future of QIMA's client-facing platforms.

  • Potential for Advancement: Progression to roles like Senior Lead Designer, Design Manager, or Head of UX/Product Design.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers a clear path for growth beyond traditional design leadership. The emphasis on business impact, operational collaboration, and AI integration positions it as a strategic role with significant potential for career advancement within QIMA or the broader tech industry.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: This is a hybrid role. While remote applications are encouraged from anywhere in Europe, the preferred locations (Paris, London) and the emphasis on in-person collaboration with engineering and stakeholders suggest a structured hybrid model. This likely means a requirement for some days in a physical office space for focused collaboration.

Office Location(s): Preferred locations are Paris or London, but candidates based elsewhere in Europe are encouraged to apply if the hybrid arrangement can still work effectively. This suggests that while physical presence is valued for collaboration, flexibility exists.

Workspace Context:

  • Collaborative Environment: Expect a dynamic environment that requires close interaction with engineering teams, product managers, and business stakeholders. This is crucial for rapidly iterating on prototypes and aligning design with business needs.

  • Technology & Tools: Access to modern design and prototyping tools, likely including Figma, AI-powered design assistants, and potentially no-code/low-code platforms. The company encourages pushing the limits of these tools.

  • Cross-functional Interaction: Frequent opportunities to engage with individuals from diverse departments (Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance), fostering a holistic understanding of the business and client journey.

  • Agile Workflow: The work environment is geared towards agile methodologies, emphasizing speed, iteration, and continuous improvement.

Work Schedule: The work schedule is described as "hybrid with flexible core hours." This allows individuals to structure their week to balance focused, individual work (e.g., research, design, prototyping) with collaborative sessions and team meetings.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid nature with flexible core hours is a key aspect. Candidates should be prepared to discuss how they manage their hybrid schedule, ensure effective collaboration with remote and in-office colleagues, and maintain productivity across different work settings. The emphasis on "in-person collaboration with engineering and stakeholders" suggests that some office presence will be expected, even if flexibility is provided.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

  • Initial Screening: A review of your application, resume, and portfolio to assess core qualifications and experience.

  • Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: A dedicated session where you present your portfolio, focusing on functional prototypes, research integration, and business impact. Expect in-depth questions about your process, decision-making, and problem-solving approach.

  • Skills-Based Challenge: Potentially a design exercise or a case study related to a QIMA business problem, focusing on your research, prototyping, and problem-solving skills. This might involve rapid ideation or a more detailed analysis.

  • Stakeholder Interviews: Meetings with key stakeholders from engineering, product, and business units (e.g., Operations, Sales) to assess your collaboration style, communication skills, and ability to align design with business objectives.

  • Final Interview: A discussion with a senior leader to evaluate cultural fit, strategic thinking, and overall leadership potential.

Portfolio Review Tips:

  • Highlight Functional Prototypes: Ensure your portfolio clearly showcases working prototypes. For each, explain the problem, your process (research, ideation), the solution implemented in the prototype, and its impact (e.g., user feedback, engineering decisions, business metrics).

  • Demonstrate AI Integration: Specifically call out projects where you utilized AI tools to enhance your design process, speed up prototyping, or generate novel solutions. Explain the AI's role and the outcome.

  • Showcase Research-to-Prototype Link: Clearly articulate how your user research directly informed the design and functionality of your prototypes. Use specific examples.

  • Quantify Impact: Where possible, provide metrics that demonstrate the success of your work, such as increased user engagement, improved task completion rates, or reduced friction.

  • Explain Business Acumen: Be prepared to discuss how your design decisions supported business goals, operational efficiency, or revenue growth.

  • Tailor to QIMA: Research QIMA's services and client base to tailor your presentation and highlight relevant experience.

Challenge Preparation:

  • Understand QIMA's Business: Familiarize yourself with QIMA's offerings, target clients, and market position.

  • Focus on Process: For any design challenge, emphasize your structured approach: understanding the problem, defining user needs, ideating solutions, prototyping, and testing.

  • Prototype Quickly: Be ready to demonstrate rapid prototyping skills, showing how you can quickly iterate and test concepts.

  • Articulate Trade-offs: Be prepared to discuss the trade-offs involved in design decisions, especially between user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility.

  • AI Application: Consider how AI could be leveraged in any challenge scenario to accelerate the process or enhance the solution.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "functional, code-backed prototypes" and "minimal translation loss for engineering" is crucial. Candidates should prepare to discuss their technical prototyping capabilities and how they bridge the gap between design and development. The interview process is designed to assess not just design craft but also strategic thinking, business acumen, and the ability to drive operational improvements through design.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

  • Prototyping Software: Advanced proficiency in tools like Figma (leveraging its interactive features, components, and auto-layout), with a strong understanding of how to create prototypes that closely mimic final products.

  • No-code/Low-code Prototyping Tools: Familiarity and experience with platforms such as ProtoPie, Axure RP, or similar tools that allow for complex interactions and logic beyond standard design software.

  • AI-Augmented Design Tools: Daily use and exploration of AI tools for ideation, content generation, image creation, code assistance, and workflow acceleration (e.g., Midjourney, DALL-E, ChatGPT for design assistance, GitHub Copilot for code snippets).

  • Design Systems: Experience working with or contributing to design systems to ensure consistency and scalability across products.

Analytics & Reporting:

  • Web Analytics Platforms: Familiarity with tools like Google Analytics, Amplitude, or Mixpanel to track user behavior, portal adoption, and task completion rates.

  • Data Visualization Tools: Ability to use tools like Tableau, Power BI, or Looker Studio to create dashboards and reports that communicate design impact to stakeholders.

  • User Feedback Platforms: Experience with tools for gathering and analyzing user feedback (e.g., Hotjar, UserTesting.com, survey tools).

CRM & Automation:

  • CRM Systems: Understanding of how CRM platforms (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) integrate with client-facing portals and how design can impact CRM data and workflows.

  • Project Management Tools: Proficiency in tools like Jira, Asana, or Trello for managing design tasks, tracking progress, and collaborating with engineering teams within agile workflows.

  • Collaboration Platforms: Daily use of tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or similar for communication and collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The specific mention of "no-code or low-code prototyping tools, or basic front-end code" is a key requirement. Candidates should be prepared to discuss their proficiency in these areas and how they leverage them to create prototypes that are closer to production-ready, minimizing hand-off friction for engineering. The AI component is also critical, suggesting an expectation for hands-on experience with AI tools in the design process.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

  • Client-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and serving the diverse needs of QIMA's global client base, ensuring their experience is seamless and valuable.

  • Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative data to inform design choices, measure impact, and build strong business cases.

  • Efficiency & Agility: A bias for action, iterative development, and continuous improvement to deliver value quickly and adapt to evolving needs.

  • Craftsmanship & Detail: An obsessive attention to detail and a pursuit of high-quality, polished, and functional user experiences that rival the best in the market.

  • Collaboration & Partnership: Working hand-in-hand with cross-functional teams (Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance, Engineering) to achieve shared goals and drive business growth.

  • Innovation: Embracing new technologies and methodologies, particularly AI-augmented design, to push boundaries and enhance outcomes.

Collaboration Style:

  • Cross-functional Integration: Proactively engaging with and integrating insights from Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Finance to ensure designs are strategically aligned and operationally sound.

  • Evidence-Based Communication: Using prototypes, research findings, and data to support design recommendations and drive consensus, rather than relying on opinions.

  • Iterative Feedback Loops: Fostering a culture of continuous feedback and iteration, where prototypes are shared early and often with stakeholders and users to refine solutions.

  • Knowledge Sharing: Actively sharing learnings, best practices, and insights, particularly regarding AI-augmented design and advanced prototyping techniques, to elevate the entire team.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture appears to value a pragmatic, results-oriented approach that blends user advocacy with strong business acumen. The emphasis on collaboration with "operations" and "finance" suggests a desire for designers who understand business impact and can communicate effectively with non-design stakeholders.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

  • Diverse Client Needs: Balancing the needs of a highly diverse global client base, from large corporations to individual entrepreneurs, each with unique workflows and expectations.

  • Bridging Design & Engineering: Ensuring seamless translation of functional prototypes into production-ready code, minimizing ambiguity and rework for engineering teams.

  • Scaling Design Practices: Maintaining high UX craft and rigorous research standards while operating at QIMA's scale and aiming for rapid iterative delivery.

  • AI Integration Mastery: Staying ahead of the curve with AI-augmented design tools and methodologies, and effectively integrating them to enhance efficiency and innovation without compromising quality.

  • Cross-Divisional Alignment: Gaining deep fluency across QIMA's multiple business divisions and securing buy-in for design solutions that may span different operational areas.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

  • Advanced Prototyping & AI: Deepen expertise in cutting-edge prototyping tools and AI-augmented design techniques through dedicated training, workshops, and practical application.

  • Industry Specialization: Develop a profound understanding of QIMA's specific industry (quality control, supply chain) and its operational intricacies, becoming a subject matter expert.

  • Business Acumen Development: Enhance understanding of business strategy, revenue models, and operational efficiency by working closely with Sales, Finance, and Operations teams.

  • Leadership & Mentorship: Grow leadership capabilities by mentoring junior designers, leading cross-functional initiatives, and influencing product strategy.

  • Global Product Impact: Contribute to products used by a diverse international client base, gaining experience in designing for global markets and diverse user contexts.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role presents an opportunity to tackle complex design challenges at scale, with a strong focus on bridging the gap between design and engineering through advanced prototyping. The emphasis on AI integration offers a significant avenue for professional development and specialization in a rapidly evolving field.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

  • "Describe a time you led the development of a functional prototype that directly informed an engineering decision. What was the process, the outcome, and the business impact?" (Focus on process, prototype detail, and quantifiable results.)

  • "How do you approach understanding and designing for a highly diverse user base with varying technical proficiencies and workflows, such as QIMA's clients?" (Highlight research methods, segmentation, and balancing simplification with power-user needs.)

  • "Walk us through your experience integrating AI tools into your design workflow. How has it accelerated your process, and what challenges did you encounter?" (Be specific about tools used, the impact, and your approach to overcoming limitations.)

  • "How do you build alignment and secure buy-in from non-design stakeholders (e.g., Sales, Operations, Finance) for your design recommendations?" (Emphasize data-driven arguments, prototype demonstrations, and understanding their business priorities.) Company & Culture Questions:

  • "What excites you most about QIMA's mission and its approach to client digital experience?" (Show you've researched their services and values.)

  • "How would you contribute to QIMA's culture of iterative design and rapid prototyping?" (Discuss your personal workflow, bias for action, and how you foster collaboration.)

  • "Describe your experience working in a hybrid environment. How do you ensure effective collaboration and productivity?" (Address managing flexible hours and remote/in-office interactions.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

  • Structure Your Narrative: For each project, clearly articulate: The Problem, Your Role, The Process (Research, Ideation, Prototyping), The Solution (Prototype Features), The Impact (User, Business, Engineering), and Key Learnings.

  • Show, Don't Just Tell: Focus on demonstrating the functionality of your prototypes. Be prepared to interact with them live or provide clear video walkthroughs.

  • Highlight "Code-Backed" Elements: If your prototypes involved HTML/CSS/JS snippets or were structured for easy hand-off, explicitly point this out and explain its benefit.

  • Quantify When Possible: Use metrics to back up claims about user satisfaction, efficiency gains, or business impact.

  • Emphasize AI Use: Dedicate a section or specific examples to showcasing how AI tools enhanced your work.

  • Be Ready for Deep Dives: Anticipate detailed questions about your design decisions, research methodologies, and problem-solving approaches.

Challenge Preparation:

  • Rapid Ideation: Practice quickly generating multiple design concepts for a given problem.

  • Prototype Focus: Be prepared to quickly create an interactive prototype that demonstrates a core user flow.

  • Data & Metrics: Think about how you would measure the success of a proposed solution.

  • Business Context: Consider how your design would impact QIMA's business objectives and operational efficiency.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is heavily weighted towards portfolio demonstration and practical application. Candidates should prepare to showcase not just aesthetic design skills but also their ability to research, build functional prototypes rapidly, integrate AI, and articulate the business value of their work.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead Designer, UX Research and Prototyping position:

  • Submit your application through the provided link on SmartRecruiters.

  • Tailor Your Resume: Highlight experience in UX research, functional prototyping, AI-augmented design, and cross-functional collaboration, using keywords from the job description. Quantify achievements wherever possible.

  • Curate Your Portfolio: Ensure your portfolio prominently features working prototypes, clearly links research to design, and demonstrates your ability to create code-backed or highly interactive prototypes. Include specific examples of AI integration and business impact.

  • Prepare Your Narrative: Practice presenting your portfolio projects, focusing on clear storytelling, your specific contributions, the functional aspects of your prototypes, and the measurable outcomes.

  • Research QIMA: Understand their services, client base, and market position to tailor your application and prepare for interview questions about company alignment and business context.

  • Practice Interview Questions: Prepare responses for common UX design, research, prototyping, and AI-related questions, as well as scenario-based questions about stakeholder management and business impact.

⚠️ 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.

Application Requirements

Candidates should have approximately 7 years of experience in UX research or product design with a portfolio demonstrating complex, functional prototypes. Proficiency in English and the ability to work in a hybrid environment across Europe are required.