Lead Product Designer - L6 (AEX)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead Product Designer - L6 (AEX)

Company: Street Group

Location: Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Design / UX Design

Date Posted: 2026-08-06

Experience Level: 8+ Years (Senior IC Level)

Remote Status: Hybrid (up to 4 days WFH)

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive product strategy and roadmap conversations as a strategic partner to Product and Engineering counterparts, setting the design direction for a specific product domain.

• Own the end-to-end design vision and execution for complex, cross-cutting, or strategically vital design initiatives within the domain.

• Elevate the overall design craft and quality standards across the team by producing exemplary work and actively mentoring other designers.

• Leverage and strategically integrate AI tools and methodologies into both personal workflows and product development to enhance user experiences and operational efficiency.

• Foster a data-driven design culture by defining success metrics upfront, conducting user research, and analyzing post-launch data to inform iterative improvements.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a senior individual contributor (IC) with potential for management responsibilities. The emphasis is on strategic influence, high-quality output, and mentorship, differentiating it from a standard senior role. The integration of AI is a key strategic component, requiring proactive application and thought leadership.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Design Vision & Execution: Own and articulate the design vision for a designated product domain, translating high-level strategic objectives into tangible, impactful design solutions.

• Craft & Quality Leadership: Set the benchmark for design excellence through personal output, ensuring all shipped work is of the highest craft standard in terms of interaction design, hierarchy, motion, microcopy, and overall user experience.

• Cross-Cutting Problem Solving: Address complex design challenges that span multiple features, user flows, and surfaces, ensuring coherence and consistency across the entire domain experience.

• Mentorship & Team Development: Actively mentor and coach fellow designers, providing constructive critique, pairing sessions, and guidance to elevate their skills and the team's overall design capability.

• Strategic AI Integration: Proactively identify and implement AI-driven opportunities within the product domain, evaluating the strategic value of AI features and guiding their development from concept to delivery.

• Commercial Acumen & Trade-offs: Make informed design decisions by understanding the product's commercial model, balancing user needs with business objectives, and articulating the rationale behind complex trade-offs.

• Data-Driven Iteration: Define clear success metrics for design initiatives, actively gather and analyze user feedback, support data, and performance metrics post-launch, and use these insights to drive continuous improvement.

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Operate as an equal peer to Product Managers and Engineering Leads, driving discussions and influencing the product roadmap and strategic direction of the domain.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a significant level of autonomy and strategic involvement. The emphasis on "outcomes, not artefacts" and "commercial fluency" indicates a need for designers who can connect their work directly to business impact and revenue. The explicit mention of AI integration points to a forward-thinking approach to product development.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• While no specific degree is listed, a strong portfolio demonstrating equivalent practical experience and a deep understanding of design principles is expected. Experience:

• Approximately 8+ years of progressive experience in Product Design or UX Design roles.

• Proven track record of operating at a senior individual contributor level within modern product organizations.

• Experience in SaaS or complex product environments is strongly preferred, showcasing an ability to handle intricate user flows and business logic. Required Skills:

• Strategic Design Leadership: Ability to define design vision, drive roadmap discussions, and influence product strategy at a domain level.

• End-to-End Design Execution: Proficiency in the full design lifecycle, from user research and ideation to high-fidelity prototyping, visual design, and post-launch analysis.

• Commercial Fluency: Deep understanding of product monetization, business models, and the ability to make design trade-offs informed by commercial objectives.

• AI Integration & Strategy: Demonstrated experience using AI tools in design workflows and a strong, well-formed view on strategically applying AI in product design, including identifying opportunities and potential failure modes.

• Metrics-Driven Design: Skill in defining upfront success measures, collecting relevant data (usage, support, customer feedback), and analyzing results to inform design iterations and demonstrate impact.

• Craftsmanship & Quality: Exceptional attention to detail in interaction design, visual hierarchy, motion design, microcopy, and overall user experience quality.

• Mentorship & Design Critique: Ability to provide constructive feedback, guide junior designers, and elevate the design craft of the team through effective critique and pairing.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Proven ability to work effectively as a peer with Product Management and Engineering teams, driving alignment and shared ownership.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in the PropTech industry.

• Familiarity with design systems and their implementation.

• Experience with user research methodologies and tools.

• Proficiency in specific AI tools relevant to design workflows (e.g., Claude Code).

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience requirement of "8+ years" and the emphasis on "senior IC level" and "broader scope" suggest this role is for seasoned professionals who can operate with significant autonomy and strategic influence, moving beyond typical senior designer responsibilities. The expectation for AI fluency is a critical differentiator.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Outcome-Oriented Case Studies: Showcase a minimum of 2-3 detailed case studies demonstrating significant design impact. Each case study must clearly articulate:

  • The business problem or user need addressed.
  • The strategic thinking and design process employed.
  • The specific design solutions and their rationale.
  • The defined success metrics and the actual results achieved post-launch.
  • Any commercial trade-offs made and their justification.
  • The role of AI in either the design process or the final product.

• Demonstration of Craft: Include examples of high-fidelity UI designs, interaction flows, and potentially motion or microcopy examples that exemplify exceptional design quality.

• Strategic Thinking: Highlight instances where design thinking influenced product strategy or roadmap decisions.

• Commercial Awareness: Evidence of how design decisions were informed by or impacted the product's commercial success.

Process Documentation:

• Candidates should be prepared to discuss their personal design process, including:

  • How they define problems and scope projects.

  • Their approach to user research and validation.

  • Methods for rapid prototyping and iterative testing.

  • Strategies for collaborating with product and engineering.

  • How they measure and report on design impact.

  • Their approach to integrating AI into their workflow and product development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "outcomes, not artefacts" and the requirement to "write the success measure upfront and read the result after release" strongly indicate that a portfolio heavily focused on quantifiable results and strategic impact will be paramount. The inclusion of AI in case studies is also a key expectation.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• £70,000 - £90,000 GBP per annum.

• This range is negotiable based on the candidate's experience, demonstrated skills, and the scope of responsibilities they are best suited for. Benefits:

• Hybrid & Flexible Working: Up to 4 days per week working from home, with flexible working hours.

• Professional Development:

  • £1000 towards a holiday after the first year (tax covered).
  • £500 yearly Learning & Development (L&D) budget for career development.
  • Opportunities for growth and development within a supportive culture.

• Well-being & Time Off:

  • Birthday off (paid).
  • 2 paid volunteering days per year.
  • Enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption pay.
  • Paid menopause leave.
  • Holiday buying scheme.
  • Mental health and well-being support via Health Assured.
  • Regular well-being initiatives.

• Commuting & Lifestyle:

  • Public transport season ticket loans.
  • Cycle to work scheme.
  • Electric car salary sacrifice scheme.

• Company Culture & Perks:

  • Joining an exciting, fast-growing PropTech company with a huge ambition.

  • Opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology.

  • Comfortable, relaxed office space with office dogs welcome.

  • Fully stocked fridge with drinks and snacks, including beers on Friday afternoons.

  • Company and team off-sites, events, and happy hours.

  • Contributing to a mission to improve the property industry.

  • Commitment to sustainability as a climate-positive company. Working Hours:

• Standard full-time hours are assumed to be around 40 hours per week, with flexibility offered.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is clearly defined. The benefits package is extensive, with a strong emphasis on work-life balance, professional growth, and employee well-being, which are attractive to senior-level professionals. The "negotiable" aspect of the salary and the explicit mention of discussing scope indicates flexibility for the right candidate.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: PropTech (Property Technology). Street Group aims to be the leading creator of delightful experiences for all parties involved in property transactions (buying, selling, renting, letting) by elevating UK Estate Agencies through world-class technology.

Company Size: Not explicitly stated, but described as "one of the fastest-growing PropTech companies in the UK" and having "huge ambition," suggesting a dynamic, scaling organization. The "L6" designation for the Lead Product Designer implies a structured, likely mature, product organization.

Founded: Street Group's founding date is not provided, but their rapid growth indicates a relatively established yet innovative company.

Team Structure:

• Product Domain Focus: The role operates within a specific "product domain," suggesting a structured product organization with dedicated teams focusing on distinct areas of the platform.

• Cross-Functional Teams: Designers work as peers alongside Product Managers and Engineering counterparts within these domains, fostering close collaboration.

• Design Team Hierarchy: The role is the "most senior individual contributor for design within a product domain," with potential for line management of one or two designers. This indicates a growing design team with clear leadership needs.

• Strategic Involvement: Design is positioned as a "strategic seat," with Lead Designers driving roadmap conversations rather than simply responding to briefs.

Methodology:

• User-Centric & Data-Driven: "Our users rely on us to run their businesses, so they love talking to us. You can spin up a call and validate a prototype instantly. We don't guess; we ask." This highlights a strong emphasis on direct user feedback and rapid validation.

• Pace & Shipping: "We move at pace, including on strategic work. Strategy isn't a separate, slower track here - we test it by shipping." This indicates an agile development environment where strategic initiatives are validated through rapid deployment and iteration.

• AI Integration: Proactive use of AI in personal workflows and strategic consideration of AI features for users.

Company Website: https://www.streetgroup.co.uk/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture emphasizes speed, strategic design involvement, user-centricity, and a forward-thinking approach to technology like AI. The structure suggests a mature product organization with clearly defined domains and collaborative cross-functional teams.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: L6 Lead Product Designer. This is a senior individual contributor (IC) role, representing a high level of expertise and strategic influence within the design function. It is positioned as a step beyond a "Senior+" role, demanding materially more scope, autonomy, judgment, and ownership of outcomes. The potential for line management offers a dual career path.

Reporting Structure:

• While not explicitly stated, a Lead Product Designer typically reports to a Head of Design, Director of Product Design, or potentially a VP of Product. Within their domain, they work as a peer to Product Managers and Engineering Leads. If management responsibilities are taken on, they would directly manage 1-2 junior or mid-level designers. Operations Impact:

• Strategic Influence: Lead Product Designers are expected to drive roadmap conversations and identify strategic opportunities, directly influencing the direction of product development.

• Commercial Impact: The role requires commercial fluency, meaning design decisions are expected to align with and contribute to the company's revenue generation and business objectives.

• Quality & Standards: The Lead Designer sets the "craft bar" for their domain, directly impacting the quality and effectiveness of the product's user experience, which in turn affects user adoption, retention, and business success in the PropTech market.

• AI Innovation: Driving AI thinking strategically means influencing how the company leverages emerging technologies to create new value propositions and competitive advantages.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Path: Potential to move into formal people management roles (e.g., Design Manager) if desired, by taking on direct reports.

• Domain Expertise: Deepen expertise within a specific product domain, becoming a go-to authority on user needs and design solutions for that area.

• Strategic Impact: Grow influence by taking on larger, more complex, or more strategically critical product domains.

• AI Thought Leadership: Develop into a recognized expert in applying AI to product design within the PropTech space.

• Cross-Functional Advancement: Gain broader product strategy experience by working closely with senior leaders in Product and Engineering.

• Learning & Development: Utilize the £500 annual L&D budget for courses, conferences, books, or certifications to acquire new skills or deepen existing ones.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers significant growth potential for experienced designers, focusing on strategic impact, leadership, and cutting-edge technology integration. The clear distinction between "Senior+" and "Lead" emphasizes the elevated expectations for autonomy and ownership.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Street Group operates a hybrid model, with an office space in Manchester. The description mentions a "comfortable, relaxed office space" and welcomes "office dogs." This suggests a modern, employee-friendly workplace culture.

Office Location(s): Manchester, England, United Kingdom. The specific office address is not provided, but the "Hybrid" nature means employees will be expected to commute to the Manchester office for at least one day per week.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Atmosphere: The emphasis on cross-functional partnerships and the "relaxed office space" suggests an environment conducive to collaboration and open communication.

• Tools & Technology: While specific tools are detailed in a later section, the mention of "cutting-edge technology" and AI integration implies access to modern design software and development tools.

• Team Interaction: The hybrid model means opportunities for in-person collaboration, team events, and informal interactions, balanced with the flexibility of remote work. The "fully stocked fridge and beers... every Friday afternoon" points to a social and convivial office culture.

Work Schedule:

• Flexible Hours: The company explicitly offers "Flexible working hours," allowing employees to manage their schedules effectively around core collaboration times.

• Hybrid Model: Employees are expected to be in the office for "up to 1 day per week" in Manchester, with the option to work from home for the remaining days. This provides a balance between in-person collaboration and remote autonomy.

📝 Enhancement Note: The work environment is designed to offer flexibility and a positive employee experience, blending structured collaboration with personal autonomy. The Manchester office serves as a hub for team connection and in-person work, while the hybrid policy caters to modern work preferences.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Stage 1: Introductory Call: An initial conversation with a member of the Talent team to assess basic fit, understand motivations, and explain the role and company.

• Stage 2: Technical Interview & Design Task: This stage involves a practical design task, likely to assess core design skills, problem-solving abilities, and strategic thinking. It will be conducted with the Head of UX, providing direct insight into the design leadership.

• Stage 3: Final Interview: A conversation with senior leadership, including the Co-Founder and/or Head of Product, to evaluate strategic alignment, cultural fit, commercial acumen, and overall leadership potential.

• Stage 4: Offer: Extension of an offer to the successful candidate.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Outcomes: Prioritize case studies that clearly demonstrate quantifiable results and business impact, not just polished visuals. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your narratives.

• Highlight Strategic Contributions: Showcase instances where your design work influenced product strategy, roadmap decisions, or identified new opportunities.

• Articulate Commercial Trade-offs: Be prepared to discuss specific examples where you balanced user needs with business objectives and explain the rationale behind your decisions.

• Demonstrate AI Fluency: Include examples of how you've used AI in your workflow or how you've strategically considered AI for product features. Be ready to discuss its benefits and limitations.

• Showcase Craftsmanship: Ensure your portfolio visually represents a high standard of design execution, from interaction details to visual polish.

• Prepare to Present: Be ready to walk through your chosen case studies, articulating your thought process, challenges, and outcomes clearly and concisely.

Challenge Preparation:

• Design Task: Expect a task that likely involves a complex problem within the PropTech domain. Focus on demonstrating your structured approach, user-centricity, strategic thinking, and ability to articulate your solution. Consider how you would integrate AI.

• Strategic Questions: Prepare to answer questions about how you identify opportunities, define success metrics, make commercial trade-offs, and lead design initiatives without a detailed brief.

• AI Strategy: Be ready to discuss your views on AI in product design, its current applications, future potential, and how you'd approach its implementation ethically and effectively.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is designed to assess a candidate's strategic thinking, practical design skills, commercial acumen, and leadership potential. The portfolio review is critical, with a strong emphasis on measurable outcomes and strategic impact, including AI integration.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping Software: While not explicitly named, expect industry-standard tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop), and prototyping tools like InVision, Principle, or Framer. Figma is highly probable given its prevalence in modern product design.

• AI Design Assistants: Explicitly mentioned is "Claude Code," indicating the use of AI tools for code generation or design assistance. Expect familiarity with other AI-powered design aids.

• User Research & Feedback Platforms: Tools for conducting user interviews, usability testing, and gathering feedback (e.g., UserTesting.com, Maze, Hotjar, or internal tools).

• Collaboration & Project Management: Tools like Jira, Confluence, Asana, Trello, or Monday.com for managing workflows and collaborating with product and engineering teams.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics: Proficiency with tools like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, or Pendo to track user behavior, measure feature adoption, and analyze performance metrics.

• Data Visualization/BI Tools: Experience with tools like Tableau, Power BI, or Looker for creating dashboards and reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs).

• A/B Testing Platforms: Familiarity with tools for running controlled experiments to test design hypotheses (e.g., Optimizely, VWO).

CRM & Automation:

• While not a direct responsibility for a Product Designer, understanding the underlying CRM (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) and sales/marketing automation systems that the PropTech platform integrates with or supports can be beneficial for context.

📝 Enhancement Note: The technology stack emphasizes modern design tools, a strong focus on data analytics for performance measurement, and a forward-looking adoption of AI tools. Candidates should be comfortable working in a digitally integrated environment and leveraging data to inform design decisions.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Strategic Partnership: Design is viewed as a co-pilot to Product and Engineering, actively contributing to strategy and roadmap decisions.

• User Obsession: A deep commitment to understanding and serving users, with a culture that encourages direct interaction and validation.

• Pace & Execution: A bias for action, with a focus on shipping and iterating rapidly to test strategic ideas.

• Commercial Acumen: A value placed on understanding and contributing to the business's financial success through design choices.

• Continuous Improvement: A culture of learning from data, customer feedback, and post-launch analysis to constantly refine products.

• AI Forwardness: Embracing AI as a tool for both internal efficiency and external product innovation.

Collaboration Style:

• Peer-to-Peer: Designers work as equals with Product Managers and Engineers within their domain teams.

• Data-Informed: Collaboration is grounded in user research, performance metrics, and analytical insights.

• Transparent Communication: Open sharing of ideas, feedback, and results is encouraged.

• Iterative & Agile: Working in sprints, with frequent communication and feedback loops to adapt to changing priorities and learnings.

• Mentorship Culture: Senior designers actively support and develop junior talent, fostering a learning environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture values strategic contribution, user empathy, and rapid execution. Collaboration is seen as a partnership, driven by data and a shared commitment to product excellence and business growth, with a clear integration of AI as a strategic enabler.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Ambiguity & Strategic Ownership: Taking ownership of design for a domain, including identifying what's worth doing, requires navigating ambiguity and proactively defining project scope and direction.

• Balancing Pace & Strategy: The need to "test strategy by shipping" requires careful planning to ensure strategic initiatives are robust enough for rapid deployment without sacrificing long-term vision.

• Commercial Trade-offs: Consistently balancing user needs with commercial viability and making difficult design decisions that impact revenue can be challenging.

• AI Integration Nuance: Strategically integrating AI effectively, distinguishing between genuinely valuable features and gimmicks, and managing potential AI-related risks or ethical considerations.

• Elevating Design Craft: Continuously raising the bar for design quality across a domain while also mentoring other designers requires strong leadership and communication skills.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Strategic Product Development: Gain deep experience in shaping product strategy and roadmaps from a design perspective.

• AI in Product Design: Become an expert in leveraging AI tools for design efficiency and creating AI-powered product features.

• Commercial Strategy: Develop a sophisticated understanding of business models and how design directly impacts revenue and profitability.

• Leadership & Mentorship: Hone leadership skills through mentoring designers and potentially managing a small team.

• PropTech Industry Expertise: Deepen knowledge within the fast-growing property technology sector.

• Formal L&D: Utilize the £500 annual budget for targeted learning resources to pursue specific skill development or certifications.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role presents opportunities to tackle complex strategic challenges and grow significantly in areas like AI integration, commercial thinking, and leadership, supported by the company's L&D initiatives.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How do you identify the most impactful design problems to solve within a product domain?"

• "Describe a time you influenced a product roadmap using design insights. What was the outcome?"

• "How do you define success metrics for a design initiative before you start working on it, and how do you measure it post-launch?"

• "Walk me through a complex commercial trade-off you had to make in a design project. What was your rationale, and what was the result?"

• "What are your views on the strategic application of AI in product design? Can you provide an example of a well-executed AI feature and a poorly executed one?"

• "How do you balance moving at pace with ensuring strategic work is robust?" Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about Street Group and the PropTech industry?"

• "How would you describe your ideal collaboration with Product Managers and Engineers?"

• "How do you approach mentoring designers and elevating the craft of a design team?"

• "What is your understanding of our business model, and how do you see design contributing to it?"

• "How do you stay updated on AI advancements and their application in design?" Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your approach, the solution, and the measurable outcome. Start with the "why" and end with the "so what."

• Quantify Impact: Emphasize metrics – user engagement, conversion rates, retention, revenue impact, cost savings, etc. – and explain how your design contributed to these.

• Showcase Strategic Thinking: Highlight instances where you identified opportunities or influenced direction beyond just fulfilling a brief.

• Detail Your Process: Explain your methodology, research techniques, and how you iterated based on feedback and data.

• Integrate AI: Specifically call out how AI was used in your workflow or how it was a strategic component of the product you designed.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Anticipate detailed questions about your design decisions, trade-offs, and the challenges you faced.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparation should focus on demonstrating strategic thinking, commercial awareness, AI fluency, and a data-driven, outcome-oriented approach. Be ready to articulate your reasoning and impact clearly and concisely, using your portfolio as evidence.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead Product Designer position:

• Submit Your Application: Use the provided link on Ashby to submit your application for review.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your strongest case studies that best demonstrate your experience in strategic design, commercial fluency, AI integration, and quantifiable outcomes. Ensure each case study clearly outlines the problem, your process, the solution, and the measured results.

• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your 8+ years of experience, specifically mentioning SaaS or complex product environments. Emphasize achievements related to strategic influence, commercial impact, AI application, and mentorship. Use keywords from the job description.

• Prepare Your Narrative: Practice walking through your portfolio case studies, focusing on articulating your strategic thinking, design process, commercial trade-offs, and the measurable impact of your work. Be ready to discuss your views on AI in product design.

• Research Street Group: Understand their mission, the PropTech industry, and their approach to product development. Consider how your skills and experience align with their values and challenges.

⚠️ 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.