Lead UX/UI Designer (Fixed Term Contract)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead UX/UI Designer (Fixed Term Contract)

Company: Fastmarkets

Location: London, United Kingdom

Job Type: Full-time, Fixed Term Contract

Category: Product Design / User Experience Operations

Date Posted: 2026-04-15

Experience Level: 7+ Years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead end-to-end UX/UI design for complex, cross-functional product initiatives, setting the highest standards for visual craft and interaction design.

• Own and shape the customer experience (CX) roadmap, translating customer feedback and user research into actionable design strategies and impactful solutions.

• Drive strategic UX evolution by partnering closely with product management, engineering, data teams, and business stakeholders to achieve measurable design outcomes.

• Extend and refine the company's design system, ensuring scalability, accessibility, and consistency across multiple product delivery channels.

• Provide informal leadership, mentorship, and design direction to junior and mid-level designers, fostering a culture of design maturity and excellence.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the role is titled "Lead UX/UI Designer," the responsibilities and required experience (7+ years, leading complex initiatives, influencing product direction) indicate a senior individual contributor role with significant strategic influence, rather than direct people management. The focus on "Product Design" and "User Experience Operations" aligns with how operations professionals support product development cycles through design excellence and process refinement.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the complete design lifecycle for intricate product initiatives, from initial discovery and hypothesis generation through to final delivery, encompassing multiple customer segments and delivery channels.

• Translate complex and ambiguous problem spaces into clear design hypotheses, strategic directions, and high-impact, user-centered solutions.

• Champion evidence-based design practices by actively shaping user research questions, defining key success metrics, and developing robust measurement plans in collaboration with product and data teams.

• Produce comprehensive design artifacts, including detailed user flows, information architecture, wireframes, high-fidelity UI mockups, and interactive prototypes, utilizing Figma at an expert level.

• Facilitate complex stakeholder alignment sessions through clear rationale, compelling storytelling, and structured communication methods such as workshops, recorded demonstrations (Looms), and detailed walkthroughs.

• Ensure all delivered design work adheres to the highest standards of visual craft, interaction design, accessibility (including WCAG familiarity), and overall usability.

• Provide informal leadership, direction, and constructive feedback to junior and mid-level designers, consistently uplifting the team's design quality, consistency, and overall maturity.

• Conduct regular design critiques, share best practices, and coach team members on systems thinking, UX fundamentals, and data-driven iteration techniques.

• Partner with Product Managers, Engineers, and Data Analysts to meticulously define success events and measurable UX outcomes, leveraging analytics tools like Heap to validate assumptions and inform iterative design processes.

• Extend and refine the existing design system with scalable, accessible components, design tokens, and reusable patterns, creating clear documentation to ensure consistency across product teams.

• Identify opportunities for design convergence across different products to enhance user interface coherence and operational efficiency.

• Collaborate with user researchers or independently conduct lean user testing, including usability studies, concept validation exercises, and rapid experimentation to gather actionable insights.

• Translate research insights directly into design decisions and iterate designs based on customer feedback and performance data.

• Work closely with engineering teams throughout the development process, providing support, clarifying specifications, and collaborating on quality assurance (QA) to maintain design integrity.

• Maintain highly organized and well-structured Figma files, employing clear naming conventions, versioning hygiene, and detailed notes for efficient collaboration and handoff.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a hands-on, senior design role with strategic input. The inclusion of "data-driven design," "analytics tools," and "metrics-driven iteration" highlights the operational aspect of design, where success is measured and optimized. The focus on design systems and cross-product coherence also points to operational efficiency and standardization.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

Experience:

• 7+ years of progressive experience in product-focused UX/UI design, with a proven track record of successfully delivering end-to-end design solutions for complex, data-rich, B2B, or SaaS applications.

• Demonstrated ability to lead design initiatives independently, influence product strategy, and drive design outcomes with minimal supervision.

Required Skills:

• Expert-level Figma proficiency: Including mastery of components, variants, auto-layout, prototyping features, and design system management.

• Strong Interaction Design Skills: Ability to create intuitive and efficient user interactions.

• Impeccable Visual Design Craft: A keen eye for aesthetics, typography, color, and layout.

• End-to-End Design Ownership: Proven ability to manage the design process from discovery to delivery.

• Complex Problem Solving: Aptitude for translating ambiguous problems into clear design solutions.

• Data-Driven Design Approach: Familiarity with using analytics, experimentation, and metrics to inform design decisions and drive iteration.

• Superb Communication & Facilitation: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to explain design rationale, conduct workshops, and manage stakeholder expectations.

• Mentorship & Coaching: Ability to provide guidance and feedback to less experienced designers, fostering skill development and design maturity.

• Pragmatic & Outcome-Focused: A results-oriented mindset, comfortable navigating large or ambiguous problem spaces to achieve business and user objectives.

• Design System Development & Extension: Experience in creating, maintaining, and scaling design systems, including components, tokens, and patterns.

Preferred Skills:

• Working knowledge of HTML/CSS for better understanding of implementation constraints.

• Experience designing for financial data, information-heavy interfaces, or trading platforms.

• Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG) and best practices for inclusive design.

• Experience with analytics tools such as Heap or similar platforms for user behavior analysis.

• Experience in Agile methodologies and collaborative tools like Jira and FigJam.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "expert-level Figma capability" and "design systems" highlights the need for operational efficiency and standardization in design processes. The "Data-Driven Design" and "Analytics" skills are crucial for operations professionals who need to measure and optimize design impact. The "Mentorship" aspect points to a leadership potential within the design function, contributing to the overall operational excellence of the design team.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• End-to-End Project Showcase: Present 2-3 complex projects that demonstrate your ownership from initial problem definition and user research through to final design delivery and impact. Focus on B2B/SaaS or data-rich applications.

• Figma Expertise Demonstration: Include examples showcasing advanced Figma skills, such as complex component libraries, auto-layout usage, interactive prototypes, and contributions to or creation of design systems.

• Problem-Solution Framing: Clearly articulate the user problem or business challenge addressed in each project, your design process, key decisions made, and the rationale behind them.

• Impact & Metrics: Quantify the success of your designs wherever possible. This could include improvements in user task completion, engagement rates, adoption metrics, retention, or other relevant KPIs.

• Process & Collaboration: Illustrate your collaborative approach with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders, and how you navigated design challenges or ambiguities.

Process Documentation:

• Showcase examples where you have documented design processes, user flows, or interaction patterns to ensure clarity and consistency for development teams.

• Demonstrate experience in extending or refining design systems, highlighting how you ensured scalability, accessibility, and maintainability through documentation and component standards.

• Include examples of how you've used data and analytics to inform design iterations and improvements, demonstrating a systematic approach to optimizing user experience.

• If applicable, provide examples of how you've facilitated workshops or design sprints, detailing the process and outcomes achieved.

📝 Enhancement Note: A strong portfolio is critical for this role, serving as the primary evidence of operational design capabilities. It needs to demonstrate not just visual and interaction design skills, but also the ability to manage complex processes, collaborate effectively, and drive measurable outcomes – key aspects of operations support within product development.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

Benefits:

• Fixed Term Contract (FTC) role, offering defined project duration and clear objectives.

• Opportunity to work with a leading global commodities information provider.

• Exposure to complex, data-rich B2B/SaaS product environments.

• Contribution to evolving a global design system and UX standards.

• Collaborative and inclusive work environment with a focus on employee values.

• Potential for professional development and mentorship.

Working Hours:

• Standard full-time role, likely around 40 hours per week, with potential for some flexibility depending on project needs and team collaboration schedules.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary is an estimate based on general market data for similar roles in London. Specific compensation will be determined by experience, contract duration, and negotiation. The "Benefits" section is tailored to highlight aspects relevant to a contractor role and a senior design professional.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Information Services / Price Reporting Agency (PRA) for Global Commodities. This industry requires high accuracy, reliability, and deep market knowledge, influencing the design's need for clarity and efficiency in handling complex data.

Company Size: Over 700 employees globally. This indicates a well-established organization with structured processes but also opportunities for impact.

Founded: History dating back to 1865. A long-standing company implies stability, deep domain expertise, and a culture that has evolved over time, likely balancing tradition with innovation.

Team Structure:

• The role is within the Product department, likely reporting to a Head of Product, Design Lead, or Senior Product Manager.

• Collaboration will be extensive with Product Managers, Engineers, Data Analysts, User Researchers, and potentially other designers.

Methodology:

• Data Analysis & Insights: Fastmarkets emphasizes "Metrics Driven" and "Customer Centric" values, indicating a strong reliance on data analysis and customer insights to guide product development and UX improvements.

• Workflow Planning & Optimization: The "Accountable" and "Growth Mindset" values suggest a focus on efficient workflows, continuous improvement, and agile methodologies.

• Automation & Efficiency: While not explicitly stated for design, the company's nature as an information provider likely drives a need for efficient internal processes and user-facing tools, which the UX/UI designer will support.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's industry and values (Metrics Driven, Customer Centric, Collaborative) strongly suggest an environment where data, user feedback, and cross-functional teamwork are paramount, aligning perfectly with the operational demands of a senior UX/UI role.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role represents a senior individual contributor level within the Product Design function, often referred to as a 'Lead' or 'Principal' UX/UI Designer. It signifies a high degree of autonomy, strategic influence, and expertise in complex design challenges. The "Fixed Term Contract" nature means growth is project-based, with potential for extension or conversion to permanent, or leveraging this experience for future lead roles.

Reporting Structure: The Lead UX/UI Designer will likely report to a Head of Product, Director of Product Design, or a similar leadership role within the Product organization. They will collaborate closely with Product Managers and Engineering Leads on specific product initiatives.

Operations Impact: The role directly impacts the usability, efficiency, and adoption of Fastmarkets' digital products. By creating intuitive and effective user experiences, the designer contributes to customer satisfaction, retention, and ultimately, revenue generation by making critical market data more accessible and actionable. They operationalize user needs into functional product designs.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Specialization: Deepen expertise in specific areas such as design systems, accessibility, data visualization, or B2B/SaaS UX.

• Leadership Development: Gain experience in mentoring junior designers, leading design critiques, and influencing product strategy, which can pave the way for formal management roles or Principal Designer positions.

• Industry Expertise: Develop a strong understanding of commodity markets and financial data, becoming an expert in designing for this specialized domain.

• Project Leadership: Take ownership of significant product redesigns or new feature developments, demonstrating end-to-end project leadership capabilities.

• Potential for Permanent Role: Exceptional performance during the fixed-term contract may lead to an offer for a permanent position within Fastmarkets.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Lead" title implies a level of operational responsibility for design quality and mentorship. Growth opportunities are framed around deepening operational expertise in design, leadership, and industry-specific knowledge.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is advertised as "On-site," implying a traditional office-based work environment in London. This suggests a focus on in-person collaboration, team synergy, and direct engagement with colleagues.

Office Location(s): London, United Kingdom. Specific office address details would typically be provided during the interview process.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: Being on-site encourages spontaneous brainstorming, quick problem-solving sessions, and strong team cohesion, vital for complex design initiatives.

• Operations Tools & Technology: Access to standard office technology, high-speed internet, and potentially specialized design software and hardware. The company will likely provide necessary Figma licenses and access to analytics tools.

• Team Interaction: Frequent opportunities for direct interaction with product managers, engineers, researchers, and other designers, facilitating efficient communication and feedback loops.

Work Schedule:

• Standard full-time hours (approximately 40 hours per week) are expected. While on-site, there may be some flexibility in start/end times, but adherence to core business hours for team collaboration is typically required. The fixed-term contract nature may influence the intensity and schedule based on project milestones.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement is key for fostering a strong, collaborative design culture and enabling efficient operational workflows through direct team interaction.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your CV and portfolio by a recruiter or hiring manager to assess basic qualifications and fit.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: A dedicated session where you present 2-3 key projects from your portfolio. Expect in-depth questions about your design process, decision-making, collaboration, and the impact of your work. This is where your operational approach to design will be scrutinized.

• Technical/Design Challenge: This may involve a take-home assignment or an in-person/virtual whiteboarding session to assess your problem-solving skills, design thinking, and Figma proficiency on a specific brief.

• Stakeholder/Team Interviews: Meetings with Product Managers, Engineers, and potentially other designers to assess your collaborative skills, communication style, and how you integrate into cross-functional teams.

• Final Interview: A discussion with senior leadership to assess overall fit, strategic thinking, and alignment with company values.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Structure for Clarity: Organize your portfolio with a clear introduction for each project: problem statement, your role, process, solutions, and outcomes.

• Highlight Operations: Emphasize how you operationalized user needs, managed design processes efficiently, collaborated with technical teams, and measured design impact. Use terms like "process optimization," "workflow design," "stakeholder alignment," and "measurable outcomes."

• Showcase Figma Mastery: Be prepared to walk through your Figma files, demonstrating your understanding of components, variants, auto-layout, and design system principles.

• Quantify Impact: Use data and metrics to demonstrate the tangible results of your design work.

• Tell a Story: For each project, narrate your journey, challenges faced, and how you overcame them using sound design principles and collaborative efforts.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: If given a take-home challenge, thoroughly research Fastmarkets' products and industry to inform your approach.

• Focus on Process: For whiteboarding challenges, articulate your thought process clearly. Show how you would break down a problem, gather requirements, and ideate solutions.

• Design System Thinking: Consider how your proposed solutions could integrate with or extend an existing design system.

• Time Management: Practice delivering concise and impactful presentations within time constraints.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process and portfolio review are crucial for demonstrating not just design skill, but also operational efficiency, strategic thinking, and the ability to integrate into a collaborative, data-driven environment.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Essential for all design work, including wireframing, UI design, prototyping, and design system management. Expert-level proficiency is required.

• Design System Management: Tools and methodologies for creating, maintaining, and scaling design systems (likely built within Figma).

• Prototyping Tools: Figma's built-in prototyping capabilities are key.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Heap (or similar analytics platform): Required for understanding user behavior, validating assumptions, and informing iterative design. Familiarity with defining events and interpreting analytics dashboards is important.

• Data Visualization Tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI): Potentially used to understand market data and user interaction patterns, though direct usage may be limited to interpretation.

CRM & Automation:

• Jira: Commonly used for project management and tracking within Agile development teams. Familiarity with creating tickets, understanding workflows, and collaborating with engineering.

• FigJam: Used for collaborative workshops, brainstorming, and ideation sessions.

• Communication Platforms: Slack, Microsoft Teams for daily communication and collaboration.

• Documentation Tools: Confluence, Notion, or similar for knowledge sharing and design documentation.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in Figma and familiarity with analytics tools like Heap are critical operational requirements. Exposure to Agile tools like Jira and collaborative platforms like FigJam is also highly relevant for seamless integration into development workflows.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• METRICS DRIVEN: Design decisions must be informed by data and user analytics. The focus is on measurable improvements in customer experience and business performance, aligning design outcomes with operational KPIs.

• ACCOUNTABLE: Taking ownership of design work from inception to delivery, ensuring promises are kept regarding design quality, timelines, and functionality, reflecting a strong operational mindset.

• GROWTH MINDSET: Embracing new design challenges, adapting to evolving market needs, and continuously learning to improve design processes and user solutions with a sense of urgency.

• INCLUSIVE: Designing with accessibility (WCAG) in mind and ensuring that user experiences are welcoming and usable for a diverse range of customers, reflecting an ethical and operational consideration for all users.

• CUSTOMER CENTRIC: Placing the customer at the heart of all design decisions, ensuring that products are intuitive, efficient, and valuable to users, driving operational success through user satisfaction.

• COLLABORATIVE: Actively working with cross-functional teams (Product, Engineering, Data) to achieve shared goals, leveraging diverse perspectives to create robust and cohesive product experiences.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: The role requires seamless collaboration with Product Managers to define requirements, Engineers for implementation feasibility, and Data Analysts for performance measurement.

• Process Review & Feedback: An open culture for design critiques, feedback sessions, and iterative refinement of designs and processes to ensure optimal outcomes.

• Knowledge Sharing: Encouraging the sharing of best practices, design patterns, and learnings across teams to foster a cohesive and efficient design operation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's stated values directly translate into operational expectations for a designer: data-informed decisions, ownership, continuous improvement, inclusivity, customer focus, and teamwork are all core to effective operations.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Complex Data with Usability: Fastmarkets deals with intricate commodity data. The challenge is to present this information in a clear, accessible, and actionable way for users, requiring sophisticated information architecture and UI design.

• Cross-Product Coherence: Ensuring a consistent and cohesive user experience across multiple delivery channels and potentially disparate product offerings, requiring strong design system governance and strategic thinking.

• Influencing Product Direction: As a senior individual contributor, influencing product strategy and securing buy-in for design-led initiatives can be challenging in a matrixed organization.

• Fixed-Term Contract Constraints: Working within defined project timelines and scope, requiring efficient workflow management and prioritization to deliver maximum impact within the contract period.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Design System Mastery: Opportunity to significantly contribute to and refine a global design system, becoming an expert in its application and governance.

• Industry Domain Expertise: Gain deep knowledge of commodity markets, financial data, and the specific needs of price-reporting agency users.

• Strategic Design Leadership: Hone skills in influencing product roadmaps, driving strategic design initiatives, and mentoring other designers.

• Agile & Cross-Functional Collaboration: Enhance experience working within fast-paced Agile teams and collaborating with diverse stakeholders across Product and Engineering.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges highlight the operational complexities of designing for data-rich B2B environments, while the growth opportunities focus on deepening specialized skills and strategic influence within the design and product operations framework.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a complex, data-rich B2B/SaaS product you designed from end-to-end. What were the key challenges, how did you approach them, and what was the measurable impact?" (Focus on process, problem-solving, and outcome demonstration.)

• "How do you approach translating ambiguous problem statements into clear design hypotheses and actionable solutions? Can you walk us through an example?" (Assess strategic thinking and problem-definition skills.)

• "How do you ensure consistency and usability across multiple product channels or applications? Discuss your experience with design systems and their operational impact." (Highlight design system expertise and standardization capabilities.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Based on our values (Metrics Driven, Customer Centric, etc.), how would you approach designing for Fastmarkets' customers?" (Showcase understanding of company culture and its application to design operations.)

• "How do you collaborate with product managers and engineers? Describe your ideal working relationship and how you ensure smooth handoffs and ongoing communication." (Assess collaboration and team integration.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Quantify Everything: For each project, have clear metrics ready to demonstrate the impact of your design work.

• Focus on Process, Not Just Pixels: Explain your decision-making process, the research conducted, and how you collaborated with teams.

• Showcase Figma Proficiency: Be ready to share your Figma files and explain your file structure, component usage, and prototyping techniques.

• Connect to Fastmarkets: If possible, draw parallels between your past work and the challenges Fastmarkets might face. Research their products to inform your presentation.

• Prepare for Questions: Anticipate questions about your role, your specific contributions, challenges faced, and how you measured success.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating operational efficiency, strategic thinking, and the ability to deliver measurable results through design, using specific examples and articulating your process clearly.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations-aligned design position:

• Submit your application through the provided application link on SmartRecruiters.

• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your portfolio prominently features 2-3 complex projects that demonstrate end-to-end ownership, data-rich/B2B/SaaS experience, and measurable impact. Highlight your Figma mastery and design system contributions.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to emphasize keywords like UX/UI Design, Product Design, Figma, Design Systems, Data-Driven Design, Stakeholder Management, and any experience with financial data or B2B/SaaS applications. Quantify achievements where possible.

• Interview Preparation: Practice presenting your portfolio projects, focusing on articulating your process, rationale, collaboration, and quantifiable outcomes. Prepare for questions related to Fastmarkets' values and industry.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Fastmarkets, its products, its industry (price reporting agencies, commodities), and its stated values to demonstrate your understanding and alignment during interviews.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details, particularly regarding salary and specific benefits, should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions. The "Fixed Term Contract" nature should also be clarified regarding potential for extension or conversion.