Senior Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Product Designer

Company: Bankwest

Location: Perth, WA, Australia

Job Type: Full-Time (Fixed-Term Contract)

Category: Product Design / User Experience

Date Posted: May 07, 2026

Experience Level: 5+ Years

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive end-to-end product design, from early discovery through to solution delivery, within a customer-centric digital banking environment.

• Lead collaborative discovery processes with product trios (Product, Design, Engineering) to define and prioritize customer problems using research and data insights.

• Translate complex problems into clear, validated design solutions through iterative prototyping, user testing, and application of lean UX methodologies.

• Champion customer-led design principles, influencing stakeholders and ensuring cohesive end-user experiences across the digital ecosystem.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is a fixed-term contract for 12 months, focusing on a "Senior Product Designer" title but with responsibilities aligning to a "Product Design Lead" in practice, particularly in leading problem spaces and influencing cross-functional teams. The emphasis on driving end-to-end design and shaping strategy indicates a senior-level contribution beyond typical execution.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the entire product design lifecycle, encompassing problem definition, discovery, design, prototyping, user testing, and delivery support.

• Facilitate and conduct user research (qualitative and quantitative) to gather insights and inform design decisions, aligning with voice-of-customer data and behavioral analytics.

• Develop comprehensive design artifacts, including journey maps, service design blueprints, user flows, wireframes, and interactive prototypes, using Figma and other relevant tools.

• Validate design concepts and solutions through rigorous customer testing, iterating based on feedback to optimize user experience and achieve desired outcomes.

• Clearly articulate design rationale and recommendations to diverse stakeholder groups through effective storytelling and structured presentations.

• Actively contribute to and evolve the company's design system to ensure consistency, efficiency, and quality across digital products.

• Collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and business partners in a dual-track agile environment, balancing continuous discovery with smooth delivery.

• Champion experience excellence across visual design, interaction design, prototyping, and research, ensuring high standards are met.

• Apply AI literacy and responsibly adopt new tools and technologies to enhance design processes and outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize a "lead" capacity, requiring the candidate to not only design but also to "own the problem space," "turn ambiguity into clarity," and "influence" cross-functional teams and stakeholders. This suggests a need for strong strategic thinking and leadership in design.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While specific educational requirements are not detailed, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, or a related field is typically expected for senior roles. Equivalent practical experience will also be considered.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5+ years of experience across the full product design lifecycle, including research, discovery, design, and delivery.

Required Skills:

• Expert capability in Lean UX principles and methodologies for efficient product development.

• Proficient in synthesizing research findings and translating them into actionable design direction.

• Advanced Figma prototyping skills for exploring concepts and validating solutions with appropriate fidelity.

• Strong interaction design skills, with a deep understanding of native mobile patterns, platform behaviors, and motion design.

• Ability to translate customer needs and insights into clear experience improvements across user journeys.

• Demonstrated capability in navigating ambiguity, weighing trade-offs, and making evidence-based recommendations.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills for effective partnerships within cross-functional environments.

• Understanding of business and technology constraints, coupled with a risk-aware mindset.

• AI literacy and a willingness to adopt new tools responsibly.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with service design blueprints and customer journey mapping.

• Familiarity with accessibility standards and best practices in design.

• Knowledge of micro-interactions and their impact on user experience.

• Experience in the financial services or digital banking sector.

• Understanding of design system principles and application.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "5+ years" experience requirement, coupled with the emphasis on leading problem spaces and influencing stakeholders, positions this as a senior-level individual contributor role with significant autonomy and strategic input. The mention of "AI literacy" is a forward-looking requirement.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase end-to-end product design projects demonstrating your involvement from problem definition to solution delivery.

• Highlight your ability to plan and conduct user research, synthesize insights, and translate them into design artifacts.

• Feature examples of complex problem-solving, demonstrating how you turned ambiguity into clarity.

• Include case studies that illustrate your prototyping skills (ideally in Figma) and how you used testing to validate and iterate designs.

• Demonstrate your understanding of interaction design, including mobile patterns and micro-interactions.

• Showcase your ability to work within or contribute to a design system.

Process Documentation:

• Clearly articulate the design process followed for each project, emphasizing lean UX principles.

• Detail how research and customer insights were integrated into the design process.

• Explain the methods used for prototyping and validation, including the tools employed.

• Describe how you navigated trade-offs and balanced user needs with business/technical constraints.

• Illustrate how you contributed to or utilized a design system.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a senior product designer role, the portfolio is critical. It should not just show polished final designs but the process behind them, demonstrating strategic thinking, problem-solving capabilities, and a deep understanding of the design lifecycle, particularly in a complex, regulated industry like banking.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For a Senior Product Designer role in Perth, Australia, with 5+ years of experience, a fixed-term contract, and the responsibilities outlined, the estimated salary range is AUD $120,000 - $160,000 per annum (pro-rata for the contract duration). This estimate considers the seniority of the role, the demand for skilled product designers, and the cost of living in Perth.

Benefits:

• Flexible working arrangements to support work-life balance.

• Access to resources for career development and professional growth.

• Annual volunteer leave to contribute to community causes.

• A comprehensive package of work perks covering financial, lifestyle, and general wellbeing initiatives.

• Meaningful recognition programs that reward exceptional work.

• Opportunity to work on a significant digital transformation within a major Australian bank.

Working Hours: The standard full-time working hours are approximately 40 hours per week. Bankwest offers flexible working arrangements, allowing for adaptation to personal needs while ensuring project delivery and team collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary for fixed-term contracts can vary based on urgency and candidate experience. The provided range is a benchmark for a permanent senior role; contract rates might be slightly higher on an hourly or daily basis, or include a premium for the fixed term. The benefits listed are standard for large organizations and are valuable for attracting talent.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Banking and Financial Services. Bankwest is undergoing a significant transformation to become Australia's favorite digital bank, moving from traditional banking roots to a modern, customer-centric digital experience. This implies a culture that values innovation, agility, and a forward-thinking approach.

Company Size: Bankwest is part of the Commonwealth Bank Group, a large, established financial institution. This means access to significant resources and a structured corporate environment, but also a drive towards greater agility and a startup-like mentality within specific transformation teams.

Founded: Bankwest has a long history, tracing its origins back to 1895. This legacy provides stability and experience, while the current mission focuses on future digital innovation.

Team Structure:

• The Senior Product Designer will sit within the Brand and Experience team, which is part of the broader Customer, Marketing, and Communications division.

• This team is described as a highly collaborative group comprising CX strategy, product design, experience design, and accessibility specialists.

Methodology:

• Customer-led design is paramount, with a focus on creating simple, distinctive, and useful experiences.

• The team operates in a "dual-track rhythm," integrating continuous discovery (understanding problems) with delivery (building solutions).

• Lean UX principles are emphasized for iterative development and validation.

• Design thinking and user-centered design methodologies are core to the approach.

Company Website: https://www.bankwest.com.au/

📝 Enhancement Note: The "digital bank transformation" context is key. It suggests a dynamic environment where established processes meet innovative thinking, requiring designers to be adaptable and influential. The "Made by Us" culture emphasizes employee ownership and pride.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a Senior Product Designer role, indicating an individual contributor with a high degree of autonomy and expertise. The responsibilities suggest a lead capacity within design projects, requiring strategic input and the ability to guide problem-solving and solution design. It sits above a standard Product Designer role and potentially below a Design Manager or Head of Design.

Reporting Structure: The role reports into the Brand and Experience team structure, likely under a Head of Experience or Design Lead. The day-to-day work involves close collaboration within product trios and with broader stakeholder groups across product, engineering, and business functions.

Operations Impact: The Senior Product Designer is critical to Bankwest's mission of becoming Australia's favorite digital bank. Their work directly impacts customer satisfaction, engagement, and the usability of digital banking products. By designing intuitive and effective experiences, they contribute to customer acquisition, retention, and ultimately, the bank's digital revenue and market position.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in specific areas of UX/Product Design, such as service design, accessibility, or emerging technologies like AI in design.

• Leadership: Transition into a Product Design Lead role, mentoring junior designers, or taking on more strategic design initiatives.

• Cross-functional Expertise: Develop a stronger understanding of product management and engineering processes, enabling more holistic product development contributions.

• Industry Impact: Contribute to a major digital transformation in the financial services sector, gaining valuable experience in a highly regulated but innovative industry.

• Contract to Permanent: Successful performance in this fixed-term contract could lead to opportunities for permanent roles within Bankwest or the wider Commonwealth Bank Group.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Senior" title combined with "lead and own the problem space" implies a trajectory towards design leadership, either as a senior individual contributor driving major initiatives or as a stepping stone to management. The fixed-term nature also presents an opportunity for a trial period for both the candidate and the company.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is based in Bankwest Place, Perth, WA. This suggests a modern corporate office environment. Given the "Hybrid" work arrangement, employees can expect a mix of in-office collaboration and remote work.

Office Location(s): The primary location mentioned is Perth, WA (300 Murray Street - Bankwest Place). The description also mentions Sydney as a potential location for the role, indicating flexibility or a need to align with teams in both major cities.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The role requires working within cross-functional teams and engaging with diverse stakeholders, implying a dynamic and interactive workspace. Bankwest Place likely offers collaborative zones and meeting spaces.

• Tools and Technology: Access to industry-standard design tools (Figma), prototyping software, research platforms, and potentially internal collaboration tools. The company is also exploring AI tools.

• Team Interaction: Frequent interaction with product managers, engineers, UX researchers, accessibility specialists, and business stakeholders. The hybrid model will dictate the frequency and nature of in-person interactions.

Work Schedule: The standard is a 40-hour work week, with flexibility offered. This allows operations professionals to manage their time effectively while ensuring project deadlines and collaborative needs are met. The hybrid nature requires discipline to ensure adequate time is spent on focused work, collaboration, and team engagement, both remotely and in the office.

📝 Enhancement Note: The mention of both Perth and Sydney locations, coupled with a hybrid model, suggests that candidates may need to be flexible about their primary work location and comfortable with remote collaboration across different sites.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your application, resume, and portfolio to assess alignment with the role's requirements.

• Hiring Manager/Team Interview: A conversation to discuss your experience, approach to product design, and suitability for the team and company culture. This may include behavioral questions.

• Portfolio Presentation & Design Challenge: You will likely be asked to present a case study from your portfolio, walking through your process, decisions, and outcomes. A practical design challenge or exercise may also be part of this stage to assess your problem-solving and design skills in real-time.

• Stakeholder/Cross-functional Interview: An opportunity to meet with potential collaborators (e.g., Product Managers, Engineers) to evaluate your ability to work effectively in a cross-functional team.

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

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Process: Clearly articulate your design process for each case study, emphasizing how you defined problems, conducted research, made decisions, and iterated.

• Showcase Impact: Quantify the impact of your designs whenever possible (e.g., improved conversion rates, reduced user errors, increased satisfaction scores).

• Demonstrate Collaboration: Highlight instances where you collaborated effectively with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders.

• Storytelling: Structure your case studies as compelling narratives that guide the reviewer through your problem-solving journey.

• Fidelity Matters: Show examples of prototypes at various fidelities and explain why you chose a particular level for different stages of the project.

• Tailor to the Role: Emphasize projects that align with digital banking, complex problem-solving, and end-to-end design responsibilities.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: If given a design challenge, thoroughly understand the problem statement, target users, and business objectives.

• Think Aloud: Articulate your thought process, assumptions, and rationale clearly. Explain why you are making certain design decisions.

• Prioritize: Focus on the most critical aspects of the problem and demonstrate how you would prioritize tasks and features.

• Iterate: Show that you can think iteratively and are open to feedback or exploring alternative solutions.

• Consider Constraints: Be mindful of potential business and technical constraints, as this is a real-world scenario.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the Senior role and the emphasis on end-to-end design and problem-solving, expect the interview process to be rigorous. A strong portfolio that clearly articulates the "how" and "why" behind design decisions, rather than just showcasing pretty interfaces, will be crucial.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Essential for wireframing, prototyping, UI design, and collaboration. Proficiency is a core requirement.

• Prototyping Tools: Beyond Figma, familiarity with other prototyping tools (e.g., InVision, Adobe XD, Principle) might be beneficial for specific use cases.

• User Research Platforms: Tools for conducting remote user interviews, usability testing, and surveys (e.g., UserTesting.com, Lookback, Maze, SurveyMonkey).

• Collaboration Tools: Platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Confluence for team communication, project management, and documentation.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Web/App Analytics: Familiarity with tools like Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, or internal analytics platforms to understand user behavior data.

• Data Visualization Tools: Tools such as Tableau, Power BI, or Looker for interpreting and presenting data insights to stakeholders.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a CRM/Automation role, understanding how design impacts user journeys within CRM and marketing automation platforms can be advantageous.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of Figma and AI literacy highlights key technological expectations. A strong understanding of the digital banking ecosystem's technology stack, even from a design perspective, is implied.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and serving customer needs, making banking simpler and more intuitive.

• Curiosity & Bold Thinking: Encouraging exploration of new ideas, challenging the status quo, and fostering innovation.

• Collaboration: Working effectively across diverse teams (product, engineering, business) to achieve shared goals.

• Efficiency & Simplicity: Designing experiences that are not only effective but also uncomplicated and easy to use.

• Agility & Adaptability: Embracing change and evolving practices to meet the demands of a digital transformation.

• Data-Driven Decisions: Using research, insights, and analytics to inform design choices and measure impact.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Actively participating in product trios and engaging with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure alignment and shared understanding.

• Open Communication: Fostering an environment where ideas can be shared freely, feedback is constructive, and rationale is clearly communicated.

• Design System Advocacy: Promoting the use and evolution of the design system to ensure consistency and efficiency across all touchpoints.

• Empowerment: Operating with autonomy while being accountable for design outcomes, contributing to a culture where individuals feel valued and empowered.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Made by Us" slogan reinforces the value of employee contribution and a sense of collective ownership over the company's culture and success.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Ambiguity: Dealing with complex problems and evolving requirements inherent in a large-scale digital transformation.

• Balancing Stakeholder Needs: Managing diverse opinions and priorities from various business units, product teams, and engineering.

• Driving Adoption of Design: Advocating for design-led decisions and ensuring buy-in from non-design stakeholders.

• Maintaining Consistency: Ensuring a cohesive user experience across a broad digital ecosystem while working with multiple teams and potentially evolving design systems.

• Fixed-Term Contract Uncertainty: Adapting to a contract role while seeking opportunities for long-term engagement or career advancement.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Dive into Digital Banking: Gain specialized knowledge of the financial services industry's unique design challenges and opportunities.

• Advanced Design Methodologies: Hone skills in areas like service design, advanced prototyping, or specific research techniques.

• AI Integration: Explore and implement AI-driven tools and insights into the design process, staying at the forefront of technological advancements.

• Cross-Functional Skill Development: Enhance understanding of product management, agile development, and business strategy.

• Exposure to Large-Scale Transformation: Contribute to and learn from a significant digital transformation initiative within a major Australian financial institution.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role offers a significant opportunity to gain experience in a highly regulated yet rapidly evolving industry, particularly in the context of a major digital transformation.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you led the end-to-end design of a complex product feature. What was your process, what challenges did you face, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on problem definition, research, iteration, and impact.)

• "How do you approach turning ambiguity into clarity when faced with a new, ill-defined problem space?" (Highlight your structured approach, hypothesis framing, and validation methods.)

• "How do you balance customer needs with business and technical constraints? Can you provide an example?" (Demonstrate your ability to make trade-offs and communicate rationale.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Bankwest's mission to become Australia's favorite digital bank?" (Research their strategy and express genuine interest in their transformation.)

• "How do you see your role contributing to a customer-led design culture?" (Connect your experience and values to Bankwest's stated values.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure: Use a clear narrative: Problem -> Your Role -> Process -> Solution -> Outcome -> Learnings.

• Highlight Your Contribution: Be specific about what you did in each project, especially if it was a team effort.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals (screenshots, prototypes, flows) to illustrate your points.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, present metrics that demonstrate the success of your designs.

• Be Ready for Questions: Anticipate questions about your design choices, trade-offs, and alternative solutions.

• AI Integration: If you have relevant experience, be prepared to discuss how you've used or would use AI tools in your design process responsibly.

📝 Enhancement Note: Expect questions that probe your strategic thinking, problem-solving capabilities, and ability to influence. Your portfolio presentation is your primary tool to showcase these skills in action.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided Workday link.

• Tailor your Resume: Highlight your 5+ years of end-to-end product design experience, specific achievements in lean UX, Figma proficiency, and experience with complex problem-solving. Use keywords from the job description.

• Curate your Portfolio: Select 2-3 strong case studies that best demonstrate your end-to-end design process, research integration, prototyping skills (Figma), and impact. Ensure clear articulation of your role and contributions.

• Prepare for Presentation: Practice presenting your portfolio case studies, focusing on storytelling, clear articulation of your process, and demonstrating impact. Be ready to discuss your design rationale and how you handle trade-offs.

• Research Bankwest: Understand their digital transformation goals, customer-centric approach, and "Made by Us" culture. Prepare to discuss how your values and skills align with theirs.

⚠️ 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.

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