Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Product Designer

Company: Kensho

Location: London, United Kingdom

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / AI / Fintech

Date Posted: May 13, 2026

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

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the end-to-end user experience and design strategy for Spark Assist, an enterprise Generative AI (GenAI) tool powering financial workflows across S&P Global.

• Drive product direction through strategic partnerships with Product and Engineering leadership, user research, and a hands-on approach to design execution.

• Define and implement novel interaction patterns for conversational and agentic AI, focusing on trust, explainability, and the specific needs of financial professionals.

• Champion responsible AI principles, accessibility, and the creation of intuitive, trustworthy enterprise-grade AI solutions.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a Design Lead for a critical GenAI product within a large financial institution, requiring a blend of strategic influence, hands-on design execution, and deep understanding of AI-driven user experiences in a regulated environment. The emphasis on "shipping at pace" and "startup instinct" within a corporate structure suggests a high-energy, results-oriented environment.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the design strategy and execution for Spark Assist across web and mobile platforms, from initial concept development through to high-fidelity production, ensuring a cohesive and impactful user experience.

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to the Heads of Product and Engineering, actively contributing to roadmap prioritization, problem framing, and challenging existing assumptions to elevate design outcomes.

• Plan, conduct, and analyze user research studies, including discovery interviews, concept testing, and usability studies with internal financial analysts and researchers, translating findings into actionable design decisions and product direction.

• Define and innovate interaction patterns specifically tailored for Generative AI interfaces, encompassing streaming and loading states, confidence and uncertainty indicators, robust error handling, effective feedback loops, and the progressive disclosure of complex outputs.

• Prototype rapidly and iteratively using code or "vibe coding" (Figma Make, Claude Code, etc.) to test hypotheses, validate design concepts, and communicate intent more effectively than traditional workflows.

• Scope, brief, and meticulously review design and development work, establishing high quality bars and ensuring consistency and coherence across the Spark Assist product.

• Contribute to and actively evolve the existing design system to maintain consistency and prevent genericization across Spark Assist and related products.

• Advocate for and integrate principles of transparency, explainability, and responsible AI into all product features, with a particular focus on accessibility and the trust signals required by financial users.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a senior-level role demanding significant autonomy and strategic contribution. The emphasis on "vibe coding" and rapid prototyping suggests a need for designers comfortable with a more fluid and technically integrated design process, bridging the gap between design and development for quick iteration.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a background in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Cognitive Science, or a related discipline is considered a significant plus, indicating a preference for candidates with a strong theoretical foundation in user behavior and design principles.

Experience:

• 4-7 years of professional product design experience, with a substantial portion (at least part) gained within a financial services company, a fintech startup, or a closely related finance-adjacent organization. This ensures a practical understanding of how financial professionals (analysts, researchers, etc.) operate.

Required Skills:

• Product Design Leadership: Ability to lead design strategy and execution from concept to production for complex enterprise products.

• User Experience (UX) Design: Deep understanding of UX principles and best practices for creating intuitive and effective digital products.

• Generative AI / LLM Interface Design: Specific expertise in designing for conversational AI, agentic systems, and generative tools, including managing complex outputs and user trust.

• User Research: Hands-on experience planning and conducting various user research methodologies (discovery interviews, concept testing, usability studies).

• Prototyping: Fluency in rapid prototyping, including proficiency with tools like Figma (especially Figma Make) and an ability to "vibe code" or use basic coding (HTML/CSS) to build interactive prototypes.

• Design Systems: Expert-level experience with Figma and modern design system practices, including contribution to and evolution of existing systems.

• Financial Industry Context: Familiarity with sell-side or buy-side workflows, market data, research distribution, or related financial domains is highly valued.

• Communication & Collaboration: Exceptional ability to communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders, from leadership to engineering and external contractors, and to give/receive direct feedback.

• Agility & Shipping Bias: A strong bias towards shipping functional products quickly and iterating based on user feedback, comfortable with ambiguity and fast-paced environments.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience designing GenAI and/or productivity tools specifically within a financial institution or fintech company.

• A well-articulated point of view on UX patterns for LLMs and agentic systems.

• Track record of mentoring junior designers or managing external design contractors.

• Genuine curiosity about the impact of AI on financial workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience requirement is nuanced, emphasizing practical application within the financial sector and specific experience with AI interfaces. The "vibe coding" requirement is a key differentiator, suggesting a lean and agile design culture.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Strategic Range: Demonstrate a portfolio that showcases strategic thinking and problem-framing, not just polished visual designs. Include examples of how you shaped product direction and executed designs within fast-paced environments.

• AI/Data-Dense Product Experience: Showcase specific projects involving the design of AI-driven or data-intensive applications, highlighting the unique design challenges and solutions implemented.

• Financial Workflow Understanding: Include case studies that illustrate an understanding of financial professional workflows, demonstrating how design solutions addressed specific pain points or enhanced efficiency within this domain.

• Process Optimization & Iteration: Provide evidence of your ability to iterate on designs based on user research and feedback, demonstrating a clear process for improvement and refinement.

• Technical Collaboration: Include examples where your design work facilitated substantive collaboration with engineering teams, potentially showcasing prototypes or early-stage technical implementations.

Process Documentation:

• User-Centered Design Process: Clearly articulate your approach to user research, from planning and execution to synthesizing findings and translating them into actionable design requirements and prototypes.

• Agile Design & Development Workflow: Showcase experience working within agile or lean methodologies, emphasizing rapid prototyping, iterative development, and quick deployment cycles.

• Design System Contribution: Detail your experience with creating, maintaining, or contributing to design systems, illustrating how you ensure consistency and scalability across products.

• Responsible AI Integration: Demonstrate how you’ve considered and implemented principles of transparency, explainability, and ethical AI design in your past projects.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio is expected to be more than just a collection of screens; it needs to tell a story of strategic impact, problem-solving in complex domains (AI and Finance), and a hands-on, iterative design process. The emphasis on technical collaboration and rapid iteration is crucial.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for a Senior Product Designer with 4-7 years of experience in London, within the AI/Fintech sector, a competitive salary range is estimated between £70,000 - £100,000 per annum. This estimate considers the specialized nature of AI/GenAI design, the financial industry context, and the strategic importance of this role within Kensho and S&P Global.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance with 100% company-paid premiums.

• Work-Life Balance: Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO) and a generous 26 weeks of 100% paid Parental Leave (maternity and paternity).

• Financial Security: 401(k) plan with a significant 6% employer matching contribution.

• Community Impact: Generous company matching on donations to non-profit charities.

• Professional Development: Up to $20,000 in tuition assistance for degree programs and up to $4,000 annually for ongoing professional education, including industry conferences.

• On-site Perks: Plentiful snacks and drinks, regularly catered lunches, and a dog-friendly office environment.

• Wellness & Convenience: Bike sharing program memberships, compassion leave, and elder care leave.

• Career Growth: Access to mentoring programs and additional learning opportunities to foster professional development and network expansion.

Working Hours: The role is advertised with "35 HRS" in the location detail, suggesting a standard work week of 35 hours. However, the company culture emphasizes "shipping at pace" and "startup instinct," implying that while formal hours might be 35, the nature of the work could require flexibility and dedication beyond typical office hours, especially during critical project phases.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary estimate is based on London market data for senior-level product designers in tech/finance, adjusted for the specific AI and GenAI specialization. The benefits package is exceptionally strong, particularly the unlimited PTO, extensive parental leave, and significant professional development allowances, reflecting a commitment to employee well-being and growth. The 35-hour work week is noted, but the "startup instinct" culture suggests a need for flexibility.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Kensho operates within the Financial Services and AI Innovation sectors. As S&P Global's hub for AI, Kensho leverages cutting-edge machine learning, natural language processing, and data discovery to build AI-driven tools for financial professionals. This context means a strong emphasis on data integrity, regulatory awareness, and the practical application of AI to solve complex business problems within a highly regulated and competitive market.

Company Size: Kensho is part of S&P Global, a large, established global financial information provider. While Kensho itself operates with "startup instinct," it benefits from the resources and scale of its parent company. This duality creates an environment where innovation can happen rapidly but within a framework of robust corporate support and market reach, impacting potentially tens of thousands of users (e.g., Spark Assist's 44,000+ users).

Founded: Kensho was founded in 2013 and acquired by S&P Global in 2018. This history indicates a mature AI company that has successfully integrated into a larger corporate structure, blending startup agility with corporate stability. The focus on "short cycles, urgency, resourcefulness, and as little process as possible" suggests a culture that prioritizes speed and impact over bureaucracy.

Team Structure:

• AI Innovation Hub: Kensho functions as a specialized unit within S&P Global, dedicated to AI research and product development.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: The Product Designer will partner directly with leadership (Heads of Product and Engineering) and work closely with data scientists, AI engineers, and product managers. Collaboration is expected to be direct, honest, and efficient.

• Product-Centric: The team is organized around key product initiatives like Spark Assist, with designers playing a central role in shaping product direction and user experience.

• Autonomous Execution: Designers are given autonomy and support to build technology, implying a decentralized decision-making process within product teams.

Methodology:

• Lean & Agile: The team operates with "startup instinct," characterized by "short cycles, urgency, resourcefulness, and as little process as possible." This points to agile development methodologies, rapid prototyping, and a focus on Minimum Viable Products (MVPs).

• Data-Driven Insights: While not explicitly detailed as a methodology, the nature of AI and financial services implies a strong reliance on data to inform product decisions and measure impact.

• Exploration & Innovation: Kensho dedicates resources to exploring new ideas, fostering rapid innovation while maintaining engineering best practices for scalability and robustness.

Company Website: https://www.kensho.com/ (Note: The provided URL was for the job posting, this is the presumed company website based on domain).

📝 Enhancement Note: The company context emphasizes a unique blend of startup agility and corporate backing. The "startup instinct" within a large financial institution means high expectations for speed, innovation, and impact, while also providing stability and significant user reach. Understanding this dynamic is key for candidates.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned at a Mid-to-Senior level, specifically as a Design Lead for a critical product. It demands not only strong individual design contributions but also strategic influence, leadership in defining product direction, and the ability to mentor or guide others (even if not formally managing). The expectation to "partner directly with leadership" and "shape Spark Assist’s direction" signifies a level of responsibility typically associated with senior ICs or informal team leads.

Reporting Structure: The Product Designer will partner directly with the Heads of Product and Engineering for Spark Assist. While a formal reporting line isn't specified, this indicates a close working relationship with senior product and tech leadership, suggesting direct access and influence on product strategy and execution. This is a flatter structure common in agile, innovation-focused teams.

Operations Impact: The impact of this role is significant. By leading the design of Spark Assist, a GenAI tool used by over 44,000 S&P Global employees, the designer directly influences productivity, research efficiency, and analytical depth across the organization. Success in this role means empowering financial professionals with advanced AI tools, driving better insights and decision-making, and ultimately contributing to the overall efficiency and competitive edge of S&P Global in the financial markets. The role is at the forefront of AI adoption within a major financial institution.

Growth Opportunities:

• Product Leadership: Opportunity to grow into a more senior product design leadership role, potentially managing a design team or owning the UX strategy for a larger portfolio of AI products within Kensho/S&P Global.

• AI/GenAI Specialization: Deepen expertise in designing cutting-edge Generative AI and LLM-based interfaces, becoming a recognized specialist in a rapidly evolving field.

• Financial Domain Expertise: Enhance understanding of complex financial workflows and data, becoming a valuable asset at the intersection of AI and finance.

• Cross-Functional Influence: Develop strong strategic partnership skills with product and engineering leadership, enhancing influence across the organization.

• Mentorship & Development: Potential to mentor junior designers, manage external contractors, and contribute to the growth of the design function within Kensho. The company also offers significant professional education allowances for continuous learning and skill development.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role offers substantial growth potential, particularly for individuals looking to specialize in AI/GenAI design within the lucrative and complex financial services sector. The direct line to leadership and impact on a large user base are key career accelerators.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: This is a hybrid role based in London, UK. The description mentions the "London office" and "mix of in-office collaboration and async work across time zones." The company also notes a "dog-friendly office (CAM office)," which likely refers to their Cambridge, MA location, but implies a culture that is open to employee comforts. The London office is at 25 Ropemaker Street.

Office Location(s):

• Primary: 25 Ropemaker Street, London, United Kingdom. This is a prime location in the heart of London's financial district.

• Other Kensho Offices: Cambridge, MA, and New York City (as mentioned in the location details). The role partners with teams across Europe and South Asia, indicating a globally distributed team.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Hub: The London office is expected to serve as a hub for in-office collaboration, facilitating direct interaction with product, engineering, and leadership teams.

• Technology Integration: As an AI innovation hub, the workspace will likely be equipped with modern technology and tools necessary for design, development, and data analysis.

• Cross-Time Zone Interaction: The role requires effective async communication and collaboration with colleagues across different geographic locations and time zones, necessitating strong digital communication skills and tools.

• Startup Culture Environment: Despite being in a large corporate building, the work environment within Kensho is described as having "startup instinct," suggesting an energetic, fast-paced, and less formal atmosphere within their specific teams.

Work Schedule: The job listing specifies "35 HRS" for the working hours. While this indicates a standard work week, the company culture of "shipping at pace" and "startup instinct" implies that flexibility and dedication beyond standard hours may be expected, particularly during sprints or project deadlines. The hybrid nature allows for a blend of structured office time and flexible remote work.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid nature in a key financial district office, combined with a global team and a fast-paced work culture, defines the work environment. Candidates should be comfortable with both in-person collaboration and effective remote async communication.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Likely a recruiter screen to assess basic qualifications, experience alignment, and cultural fit.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: A core part of the process will involve presenting your portfolio. Expect to walk through 2-3 key projects, focusing on your strategic thinking, problem-solving approach, design process, and the impact of your work, particularly in AI/Fintech contexts. Be prepared to discuss your "why" behind design decisions.

• Design Challenges/Case Studies: You may be given a small design challenge or asked to discuss how you would approach a specific problem related to Spark Assist or GenAI interfaces. This assesses your problem-solving skills, strategic thinking, and ability to apply your design process under a time constraint.

• Stakeholder Interviews: Interviews with Product and Engineering leadership (Heads of Product/Engineering) to assess strategic alignment, collaboration style, and technical understanding.

• Cultural Fit Interview: Discussions to gauge your comfort with ambiguity, bias towards shipping, and ability to thrive in a fast-paced, innovative environment within a large corporation.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Strategic Narrative: Structure your portfolio presentations to tell a compelling story for each project. Focus on the problem, your strategic approach, the constraints, your process, the solution, and most importantly, the impact and learnings. Quantify results where possible.

• Highlight AI & Finance: Emphasize projects that demonstrate your experience with AI/GenAI interfaces and/or financial industry workflows. Clearly articulate the unique challenges and your innovative solutions.

• Showcase Process & Iteration: Don't just show final screens. Include sketches, wireframes, research findings, user testing insights, and iterations to demonstrate your design process and how you evolved solutions.

• "Vibe Coding" & Prototyping: If you have examples of interactive prototypes built with code or advanced Figma features, highlight these to demonstrate your technical proficiency and ability to test concepts rapidly.

• Conciseness & Clarity: Be prepared to present your work concisely and clearly, adapting your narrative to the audience (e.g., more strategic for leadership, more process-focused for designers).

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand Spark Assist: Research Spark Assist, Kensho, and S&P Global. Try to understand the core problems Spark Assist aims to solve for financial professionals.

• GenAI UX Patterns: Refresh your knowledge of best practices and emerging patterns for conversational AI, LLMs, and agentic systems, especially concerning trust, explainability, and user control.

• Financial Workflows: If possible, familiarize yourself with common workflows in financial analysis, research, or data retrieval.

• Problem Decomposition: Practice breaking down complex problems into smaller, manageable parts and articulating a clear, step-by-step approach to solving them.

• Data-Driven Justification: Be ready to justify your design decisions with user research, data, or logical reasoning, rather than just aesthetic preferences.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process heavily emphasizes strategic thinking, practical application in AI/Fintech, and a hands-on, iterative approach. The portfolio is a critical tool for demonstrating these capabilities.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Explicitly mentioned as the primary design tool. Expertise in Figma, including its advanced features like components, variants, auto layout, and prototyping capabilities (Figma Make), is essential.

• Prototyping Tools: Beyond Figma, proficiency with "Claude Code" or similar tools for rapid, code-based prototyping is highlighted, indicating a need for designers who can bridge the gap between design and development.

• Basic Coding (HTML/CSS): Essential for creating interactive prototypes and collaborating effectively with engineers.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not explicitly listed, expect to work with product analytics tools (e.g., Amplitude, Mixpanel) to understand user behavior within Spark Assist and inform design iterations.

• Data Visualization: The nature of financial data and AI outputs suggests a need to present complex information clearly, likely involving dashboarding tools or design for data visualization components.

CRM & Automation:

• Design Systems: Experience with or ability to contribute to a comprehensive design system is a core requirement, ensuring consistency and scalability.

• Collaboration Tools: Expect to use standard collaboration platforms like Slack, Jira, Confluence, and shared document repositories for communication, project management, and knowledge sharing.

📝 Enhancement Note: The technology stack emphasizes modern design tooling (Figma) and a unique requirement for "vibe coding" or basic coding proficiency for rapid prototyping and technical collaboration. This highlights a lean, technically integrated design process.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Innovation & Speed: A core value is rapid innovation, driven by "startup instinct," "short cycles," and a "bias toward shipping." This means embracing new ideas and executing them quickly.

• Autonomy & Ownership: Talented individuals are given autonomy and support to build amazing technology. This fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility for outcomes.

• Collaboration & Openness: Communication is described as "open, honest, and efficient." The team values diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving.

• Practicality & Impact: Ideas are "rooted in engineering best practices" and aim to produce technology that is "scalable, robust, and useful." Focus is on tangible impact rather than theoretical exploration alone.

• Transparency & Responsibility: Championing "transparency, explainability, and responsible AI" is a stated value, particularly critical in the financial sector.

Collaboration Style:

• Direct & Efficient: Collaboration is characterized by open, honest, and efficient communication, often directly with leadership.

• Cross-Functional Integration: The designer is expected to be a strategic partner, deeply integrated with Product and Engineering teams, not operating in a silo.

• Feedback Culture: The ability to "give and receive direct feedback" is crucial, indicating a mature and professional environment where constructive criticism is valued for improvement.

• Async & Synchronous Mix: While in-office collaboration is valued, the global nature of the team necessitates effective asynchronous communication alongside synchronous meetings.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture is a blend of entrepreneurial spirit and corporate responsibility. Candidates who are self-starters, comfortable with rapid iteration, and value direct communication will thrive here.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Designing for AI Trust & Explainability: Ensuring users trust and understand the outputs of complex GenAI models in high-stakes financial scenarios is a perpetual challenge. This requires innovative UX patterns for confidence indicators, provenance, and error handling.

• Balancing Speed with Enterprise Rigor: Operating with "startup instinct" within a large financial institution requires navigating corporate processes and compliance standards while maintaining rapid iteration cycles.

• Onboarding and Scaling a GenAI Tool: Designing for adoption and effective use by a diverse user base of over 44,000 financial professionals, each with potentially different needs and technical aptitudes.

• Evolving AI Landscape: The rapid evolution of AI technology means continuously adapting design strategies and ensuring the product remains cutting-edge and relevant.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• AI/GenAI Specialization: Deepen expertise in a highly sought-after field. Opportunities to explore new AI capabilities and translate them into user-centric product features.

• Financial Domain Mastery: Gain in-depth knowledge of financial workflows, data, and the specific challenges faced by professionals in this industry, becoming a niche expert.

• Strategic Product Influence: Develop skills in influencing product roadmaps, partnering with senior leadership, and driving design strategy at an organizational level.

• Professional Education: Significant financial support for ongoing professional development, including conferences and degree programs, allows for continuous skill enhancement and industry networking.

• Mentorship Programs: Access to mentoring from experienced professionals and the opportunity to mentor others, fostering leadership and knowledge sharing.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are inherent to working at the cutting edge of AI within a regulated industry. These challenges also present significant growth opportunities for individuals eager to master complex domains and technologies.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to frame an ambiguous problem for a new product or feature. How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on your problem-definition process, user research, and strategic framing.)

• "How would you approach designing the user experience for an agentic AI assistant that helps financial analysts with complex research tasks? What are the key considerations for trust and explainability?" (Prepare to discuss interaction patterns, confidence indicators, error states, and data provenance.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why are you interested in Kensho and S&P Global, specifically within the context of AI and financial services?" (Research Kensho's mission, Spark Assist's impact, and S&P Global's role in the industry.)

• "How do you approach collaboration with product managers and engineers, particularly when there are differing opinions on design direction?" (Emphasize your communication style, ability to provide data-driven rationale, and commitment to finding optimal solutions.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Storytelling: For each project, craft a narrative that begins with the business problem and user need, details your strategic approach and design process, showcases key solutions and iterations, and concludes with the measurable impact and key learnings.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs (e.g., increased efficiency, improved user satisfaction, adoption rates).

• Highlight AI/Finance Specifics: Clearly articulate the unique challenges and solutions related to designing for AI interfaces and/or financial workflows.

• Demonstrate Technical Fluency: Be prepared to discuss your prototyping methods, especially any "vibe coding" or HTML/CSS examples, and how they facilitated collaboration or testing.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Anticipate detailed questions about your decision-making process, how you handled specific constraints, and what you would do differently.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparation should focus on demonstrating strategic thinking, hands-on execution with AI/Fintech experience, and a collaborative, agile mindset. Your portfolio is your primary evidence.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided Workday link: https://spgi.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Kensho_Careers/job/UK---LONDON-25-ROPEMAKER-STREET-35-HRS/Product-Designer_319418

• Customize Your Resume: Tailor your resume to highlight experience in product design, Generative AI, LLM interfaces, user research, and financial services. Use keywords from the job description and emphasize achievements with quantifiable results.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your strongest projects that best showcase your strategic thinking, AI/Fintech experience, and hands-on design process. Ensure your portfolio tells a clear, impactful story for each case study.

• Prepare Your Presentation: Practice presenting your portfolio projects, focusing on clear articulation of the problem, your strategic approach, design process, solutions, and measurable impact. Be ready to discuss your design rationale and learnings.

• Research Kensho & Spark Assist: Thoroughly research Kensho, its role within S&P Global, and the Spark Assist product. Understand the target users and the problems Spark Assist aims to solve to demonstrate genuine interest and informed perspective.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and industry-standard assumptions. All details, especially regarding salary ranges and specific process expectations, should be verified directly with the hiring organization during the application and interview process. Be aware of potential recruitment fraud; S&P Global will not ask for payment for applications or equipment.