Lead UX Designer (gn) full-time / part-time (hybrid)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead UX Designer (gn)

Company: DKV Mobility Services

Location: Ratingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Job Type: Full-time / Part-time (minimum 30 hours/week)

Category: Technology / Design / User Experience

Date Posted: August 18, 2026

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

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the end-to-end development of complex digital products, from initial discovery through successful delivery, ensuring alignment with user needs and business objectives.

• Drive product strategy by identifying and validating user and business opportunities in collaboration with Product Management and Engineering teams.

• Champion UX methods, standards, and design excellence, fostering a strong UX culture across the organization through mentorship and design reviews.

• Evaluate and integrate emerging technologies like AI and Conversational AI to enhance research, design processes, and product development efficiency.

• Support the growth of UX talent through coaching, recruitment, and by strengthening the overall UX capabilities within the company.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a Lead UX Designer, indicating a need for both strong individual contribution and leadership/mentorship capabilities. The emphasis on driving product strategy, fostering culture, and evaluating new technologies suggests a strategic and forward-thinking individual is sought. The hybrid work model and part-time option highlight DKV Mobility's commitment to work-life balance and flexibility.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Guide the full product development lifecycle for complex digital solutions, from user research and ideation to final delivery and post-launch analysis.

• Collaborate closely with Product Management and Engineering to identify, validate, and prioritize user needs and business opportunities, translating them into user-centered designs.

• Actively contribute to shaping product strategy, championing data-driven decision-making to ensure that user needs and business objectives are met effectively.

• Serve as a key mentor and trusted advisor for other UX professionals, continuously advancing UX methodologies, design standards, and promoting design excellence.

• Foster and strengthen the UX design culture across the organization through proactive engagement, design reviews, and knowledge sharing initiatives.

• Support the recruitment and development of UX talent by providing coaching, conducting design reviews, and contributing to the long-term success of the UX team.

• Integrate and evaluate modern technologies, including Artificial Intelligence and Conversational AI, to optimize research, design processes, and product development.

• Plan and execute qualitative and quantitative user research, translating findings into actionable recommendations for product improvement.

• Drive hands-on execution while maintaining a strategic perspective, ensuring seamless collaboration with cross-functional teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities clearly outline a dual focus on strategic leadership and hands-on design execution. The emphasis on "continuous discovery" and "empowered product teams" suggests an agile and iterative approach to product development, requiring the Lead UX Designer to be adept at working within such frameworks.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Computer Science, or a related field is typically expected for a Lead UX Designer role. Equivalent practical experience will also be strongly considered.

Experience: Several years of experience in UX Design, Product Design, or User Research for digital products, demonstrating a deep understanding of modern product development processes. Proven experience in Product Discovery and Continuous Discovery, with confidence working within empowered product teams.

Required Skills:

• Extensive experience in UX Design, Product Design, and User Research for digital products.

• Deep understanding of modern product development methodologies and lifecycles.

• Proven expertise in Product Discovery and Continuous Discovery processes.

• Proficiency in planning and conducting qualitative and quantitative user research.

• Ability to translate user research insights into actionable product recommendations.

• Strong strategic thinking coupled with hands-on execution capabilities.

• Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills.

• Experience in coaching and mentoring other designers.

• Fluency in written and spoken English. Preferred Skills:

• Experience with Opportunity Solution Trees (OST).

• Familiarity with Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) frameworks.

• Experience in designing and executing experiments for validation.

• Knowledge of AI-powered experiences and Conversational AI interfaces.

• Experience with Design Systems and UX Governance principles.

• Understanding of sustainability principles within product design.

📝 Enhancement Note: The preferred skills list provides a strong indication of the specific methodologies and technologies DKV Mobility is prioritizing. Candidates with demonstrable experience in these areas will have a significant advantage. The requirement for English proficiency is crucial for a role in a company operating across 50+ countries.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio showcasing a range of digital product design projects, highlighting your role and contributions.

• Demonstrations of your ability to lead product discovery, from identifying user needs to defining product opportunities.

• Case studies that illustrate your process for conducting qualitative and quantitative user research and translating insights into design solutions.

• Examples of how you have influenced product strategy and contributed to data-driven decision-making.

• Evidence of your mentorship and leadership in UX, including design reviews, coaching, or team development initiatives.

• Projects that showcase your experience with modern technologies such as AI or conversational interfaces, if applicable. Process Documentation:

• Showcase your approach to defining and documenting design processes, including user research methodologies, ideation techniques, and prototyping standards.

• Provide examples of how you have established or improved UX governance within a product team or organization.

• Illustrate your methods for collaborating with Product Management and Engineering to ensure seamless integration of UX into the development workflow.

• Detail your experience with iterative design processes, including feedback loops and design system implementation.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Lead UX Designer role, the portfolio is paramount. It needs to go beyond visual design to demonstrate strategic thinking, research acumen, leadership, and the ability to drive measurable value. Candidates should be prepared to articulate their process, decision-making rationale, and the impact of their work.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For a Lead UX Designer with 5-10 years of experience in Ratingen, Germany, a competitive salary range would typically be between €70,000 and €95,000 annually. This estimate is based on industry benchmarks for similar roles in Germany, considering the hybrid work arrangement and the company's sector.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive company health management programs.

• Access to parent-child offices (availability may vary).

• E-bike leasing options through their partner Jobrad.

• Flexible working hours to support work-life balance.

• Family-friendly working time models.

• Access to a modern, flexible learning environment for continuous development.

• Opportunities for professional growth and career advancement within a leading European B2B platform.

• Hybrid work model offering a balance between remote and in-office collaboration.

Working Hours: This position can be full-time or part-time, with a minimum requirement of 30 hours per week. The company emphasizes flexible working hours and family-friendly models, suggesting a commitment to accommodating individual needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary estimate is a benchmark and can vary based on the candidate's specific experience, skills, and negotiation. The listed benefits are attractive, particularly for professionals seeking work-life balance and continuous learning opportunities. The explicit mention of a minimum 30-hour week for part-time roles indicates a clear structure.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: DKV Mobility operates within the B2B Mobility Services sector, providing on-the-road payment solutions. Their mission is to drive the transition towards an efficient and sustainable future of mobility.

Company Size: Approximately 2,700 employees throughout Europe, indicating a medium to large enterprise with established processes and a significant market presence.

Founded: DKV Mobility has a history of approximately 90 years, signifying stability, experience, and a proven ability to adapt and grow in a dynamic market.

Team Structure:

• The UX team likely comprises designers, researchers, and potentially UX writers, working within or closely with agile product teams.

• The Lead UX Designer will report into a Head of Product, Design, or a similar senior leadership role, with direct interaction with Product Managers and Engineering leads.

• Cross-functional collaboration is a cornerstone, with strong partnerships expected between UX, Product Management, and Engineering to define and deliver digital products. Methodology:

• DKV Mobility embraces a data-driven approach, utilizing insights from user research and business metrics to inform product decisions.

• The company operates in a dynamic and agile environment, valuing iterative development and continuous improvement.

• A strong emphasis is placed on user-centered design principles, ensuring that customer needs are at the forefront of product development.

• The integration of modern technologies like AI and Conversational AI suggests a forward-thinking approach to innovation and efficiency.

Company Website: https://www.dkv-mobility.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture appears to be a blend of established stability (90 years of history) and forward-looking innovation (focus on sustainability, AI, agile development). The "team of teams" philosophy suggests a collaborative and integrated working environment.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is at a Lead level, signifying responsibility for guiding UX strategy and execution for complex digital products. It requires not only strong individual design and research skills but also the ability to mentor, influence, and foster a design-centric culture.

Reporting Structure: The Lead UX Designer will likely report to a Director or VP of Product, Design, or Technology. They will work closely with Product Managers and Engineering leads within empowered product teams, acting as a key strategic partner.

Operations Impact: The Lead UX Designer's impact is directly tied to the success of DKV Mobility's digital products. By ensuring user-centered design and effective product discovery, they will influence customer satisfaction, user adoption, operational efficiency, and ultimately, the company's ability to achieve its purpose of driving sustainable mobility solutions.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization & Leadership: Deepen expertise in specific areas like AI-driven UX, Conversational AI, or advanced research methodologies, or transition into a management role overseeing a UX team.

• Strategic Influence: Take on greater responsibility in shaping the overall product vision and technology strategy for DKV Mobility's digital offerings.

• Industry Impact: Contribute to DKV Mobility's sustainability goals through innovative UX solutions that promote efficient and eco-friendly mobility.

• Continuous Learning: Leverage the modern learning environment and potential for industry certifications or conference participation to stay at the forefront of UX trends.

📝 Enhancement Note: This Lead role offers a clear path for career progression, moving from individual contribution and team mentorship towards broader strategic influence and potential management responsibilities within the UX/Product domain. The company's focus on innovation and sustainability provides unique avenues for impact and growth.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: DKV Mobility operates a hybrid work model, allowing for a balance between remote work and in-office collaboration. The office in Ratingen serves as a hub for team meetings, workshops, and cross-functional collaboration.

Office Location(s): The primary office is located at Balcke-Dürr-Allee 3, 40882 Ratingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. This location offers accessibility within the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.

Workspace Context:

• The hybrid setup promotes flexibility, allowing UX designers to choose their work environment based on the task at hand, while still benefiting from face-to-face interaction for critical team activities.

• Access to modern technologies and digital tools is expected, supporting efficient design and research workflows.

• Opportunities for collaboration with diverse teams (Product Management, Engineering, Marketing, etc.) are integral to the workspace, fostering a dynamic and integrated product development environment.

Work Schedule: The role offers flexibility with full-time or part-time options (min. 30 hours/week) and flexible working hours, accommodating different needs and promoting a healthy work-life balance. This allows for effective time management across design sprints, research activities, and team syncs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model and flexible hours are key aspects of the work environment, appealing to professionals who value autonomy and work-life integration. The Ratingen office location is well-situated for professionals in the region.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A brief call with HR or a recruiter to assess basic qualifications and cultural fit.

• Hiring Manager Interview: Discussion with Kartal Bilgic (or another hiring manager) focusing on your experience, leadership approach, and understanding of UX strategy.

• Portfolio Review & Design Challenge: Presentation of your portfolio, likely including a deep dive into 1-2 key projects. This may be accompanied by a design challenge or a case study discussion to assess your problem-solving skills, research methodologies, and design thinking.

• Team/Stakeholder Interviews: Meetings with Product Management, Engineering leads, and potentially other UX team members to evaluate collaboration skills, technical understanding, and cultural alignment.

• Final Interview: Potentially with a senior leader to discuss overall fit and strategic alignment.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 2-3 projects that best showcase your leadership, strategic thinking, research capabilities, and impact on product outcomes. Prioritize projects that align with DKV Mobility's focus on B2B mobility, sustainability, or technology integration (AI, conversational).

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed (discovery, research, ideation, design, testing), the challenges encountered, your solutions, and the measurable results (e.g., improved conversion, user satisfaction, efficiency gains).

• Highlight Leadership: Emphasize instances where you mentored junior designers, influenced product strategy, or championed UX best practices.

• Showcase Data-Driven Insights: Present how user research and data informed your design decisions and led to positive outcomes.

• Be Prepared for Technical Questions: Expect to discuss your familiarity with modern technologies like AI and conversational interfaces, even if not deeply experienced, show curiosity and a willingness to learn.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: If a design challenge is given, ensure you understand the business context and user problem presented.

• Process Over Perfection: Focus on demonstrating your thought process, research approach, and ability to break down complex problems. It's often more about how you arrive at a solution than the final pixel-perfect design.

• Articulate Assumptions: Clearly state any assumptions you make and how you would validate them with further research.

• Practice Presentation: Rehearse presenting your portfolio and any case studies concisely and engagingly.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is likely to be thorough, assessing not just design skills but also strategic thinking, leadership potential, and cultural fit. A well-prepared portfolio that tells a compelling story of impact and process is crucial.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop), InVision, Axure RP (or similar prototyping tools).

• User Research & Testing: UserTesting.com, Optimal Workshop, Hotjar, Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, Maze.

• Collaboration & Project Management: Jira, Confluence, Asana, Trello, Miro, Mural.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Web Analytics: Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics.

• BI/Dashboarding Tools: Tableau, Power BI (or similar for understanding product performance metrics).

CRM & Automation:

• CRM: Salesforce (or a similar enterprise CRM, relevant for B2B context).

• Automation: While not directly a UX tool, understanding how automation impacts user workflows and digital product design is beneficial.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the job description doesn't explicitly list tools, these are standard in the UX Design field. Proficiency in industry-standard design and research tools is expected. Familiarity with product management and analytics tools will be advantageous for cross-functional collaboration and understanding product performance.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Purpose-Driven: A strong commitment to the company's purpose: "To drive the transition towards an efficient and sustainable future of mobility." UX designs should reflect and support this mission.

• Customer-Centricity: A deep focus on understanding and solving user needs, ensuring digital products deliver exceptional value and experience.

• Collaboration & Teamwork: Valuing a "team of teams" approach, where cross-functional collaboration is key to success. Open communication and mutual support are encouraged.

• Innovation & Agility: Embracing new technologies (AI, Conversational AI) and agile methodologies to continuously improve products and processes.

• Efficiency & Sustainability: Designing solutions that are not only user-friendly but also contribute to operational efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Expect close collaboration with Product Management and Engineering, working in empowered product teams to define and deliver solutions iteratively.

• Constructive Feedback: A culture of open feedback and design reviews to continuously improve quality and foster learning among team members.

• Knowledge Sharing: Encouraging the sharing of best practices, research insights, and design patterns to elevate the collective UX expertise within the organization.

• Data-Informed: A balanced approach that combines qualitative user insights with quantitative data to validate hypotheses and measure impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture emphasizes a blend of purpose, customer focus, innovation, and collaboration. Candidates who can demonstrate alignment with these values, particularly the sustainability mission and agile ways of working, will be a strong fit.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Diverse Needs: Effectively balancing the complex needs of B2B customers, internal stakeholders, and evolving mobility market demands within product designs.

• Integrating New Technologies: Successfully evaluating, integrating, and designing with emerging technologies like AI and Conversational AI, which may require learning new paradigms and user interaction models.

• Scaling UX Impact: Expanding the influence and adoption of UX best practices across a large organization with diverse teams and potentially varying levels of design maturity.

• Driving Sustainable Design: Translating the company's sustainability mission into tangible design outcomes that influence user behavior and operational efficiency.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced UX Methodologies: Opportunities to deepen expertise in specialized areas such as AI/ML in UX, conversational design, advanced qualitative/quantitative research, and service design.

• Industry Conferences & Training: Access to industry events, workshops, and potential certifications to stay current with UX trends and technologies.

• Mentorship & Leadership Development: Formal and informal mentorship programs, as well as opportunities to develop leadership skills through coaching, team guidance, and strategic project ownership.

• Cross-Functional Exposure: Gaining deeper insights into business strategy, engineering challenges, and market dynamics through close collaboration with other departments.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are typical for a lead role in a large, evolving company. They offer significant opportunities for professional growth and skill development, especially in areas like AI and sustainability-focused design.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you guided the development of a complex digital product from discovery to delivery. What was your process, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on your leadership, process, and impact.)

• "How do you identify, validate, and prioritize user and business opportunities? Can you provide an example using a framework like Opportunity Solution Trees or Jobs-to-be-Done?" (Demonstrate your strategic approach to discovery.)

• "How would you mentor a junior designer who is struggling with stakeholder management or translating research into design?" (Assess your coaching and leadership style.)

• "What are your thoughts on integrating AI into UX design processes? How would you approach evaluating its potential impact and user experience?" (Gauge your forward-thinking and technical curiosity.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about DKV Mobility's mission to drive the future of mobility and sustainability?" (Show your alignment with the company's purpose.)

• "How do you foster a strong UX culture within a product team or organization?" (Demonstrate your understanding of building design maturity.)

• "Describe your ideal collaboration style with Product Management and Engineering." (Highlight your teamwork and communication skills.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly outline the problem, your role, the methodology, key decisions, challenges, solutions, and quantifiable results.

• Highlight Leadership & Strategy: Emphasize your strategic contributions, decision-making rationale, and any instances of mentorship or team leadership.

• Showcase Research & Data: Clearly present how user research and data informed your design process and led to successful outcomes.

• Be Concise and Engaging: Practice presenting your work within the allotted time, using visuals effectively and telling a compelling story.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating strategic thinking, leadership, a strong understanding of the UX process, and alignment with DKV Mobility's mission and values. Be ready to discuss specific examples from your experience that showcase these capabilities.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead UX Designer position:

• Submit your application through the DKV Mobility careers portal: https://dkv-mobility.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/10/home/requisition/4430?c=dkv-mobility

• Tailor your Resume: Highlight your experience in product discovery, user research, stakeholder management, and any leadership or mentorship roles. Use keywords from the job description such as "UX Design," "Product Discovery," "Continuous Discovery," "Stakeholder Management," and "AI."

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 strong case studies that showcase your strategic thinking, research process, design solutions, and measurable impact. Prioritize projects relevant to B2B, mobility, or technology innovation.

• Prepare Your Narrative: Be ready to articulate your process, decision-making, and the outcomes of your projects during the portfolio review. Practice explaining how your work aligns with DKV Mobility's mission.

• Research DKV Mobility: Understand their business, their purpose, their commitment to sustainability, and the B2B mobility services market. This will help you frame your answers and demonstrate genuine interest.

⚠️ 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.