Senior UI Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior UI Designer

Company: M&G plc

Location: Edinburgh, United Kingdom / Stirling, United Kingdom

Job Type: Contract (12-month Fixed Term)

Category: Digital Design / User Interface Operations

Date Posted: 2026-05-21

Experience Level: Experienced Colleague (5-10 years)

Remote Status: Hybrid (Office 2-3 days per week)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the design and delivery of high-quality, accessible UI solutions across web and mobile platforms, ensuring alignment with M&G's brand and strategic objectives.

• Play a pivotal role in evolving M&G's design system and component library, driving consistency and scalability across digital experiences.

• Translate complex user journeys, business requirements, and regulatory needs into intuitive, engaging, and user-friendly interfaces.

• Collaborate extensively with UX designers, product owners, brand teams, and senior stakeholders to deliver best-in-class digital interfaces.

• Ensure all digital designs adhere to accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) and usability best practices, fostering an inclusive user experience.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is a 12-month fixed-term contract, indicating a project-driven need for senior UI design expertise within M&G's Digital Experience Centre of Excellence (CoE). The emphasis on "operations" in this context refers to the operational execution of design principles and the maintenance of design systems to ensure consistent and efficient digital product delivery.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Spearhead the creation and implementation of pixel-perfect, scalable interface designs for both web and mobile applications, adhering strictly to M&G's established brand guidelines and design system.

• Actively contribute to the expansion and refinement of M&G’s central design system and its associated component library, ensuring its utility and maintainability for ongoing projects.

• Deconstruct and transform intricate user flows, business logic, and regulatory mandates into clear, intuitive, and actionable UI designs that simplify complex processes.

• Foster seamless collaboration with UX researchers, product managers, content strategists, and engineering teams throughout the entire product development lifecycle, from ideation to deployment.

• Confidently present and articulate design rationales, strategic thinking, and proposed solutions to a diverse range of stakeholders, including senior management, compliance, and technology functions.

• Integrate design efforts within agile product teams, facilitating iterative improvements and contributing to the continuous enhancement of digital products through a data-informed approach.

• Uphold and champion adherence to all relevant accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG 2.1 AA) and usability heuristics, ensuring M&G's digital touchpoints are inclusive and accessible to all users.

• Provide mentorship and guidance to junior designers, sharing expertise and promoting best practices in UI design and design system utilization.

• Support and facilitate stakeholder management across various business units, compliance, risk, and technology departments to ensure design alignment and buy-in.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of hands-on design execution and strategic contribution. The emphasis on "translating complex business and regulatory requirements" underscores the need for a UI designer who can operate effectively within a regulated industry, ensuring compliance and user-centricity are balanced.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong understanding of design principles equivalent to a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field is expected.

Experience: Minimum of 5-10 years of progressive experience as a Senior UI Designer, Digital Designer, or a closely related role, with a proven track record of delivering high-quality digital interfaces.

Required Skills:

• Demonstrated expertise in leading the design and delivery of sophisticated UI solutions across responsive web and mobile platforms.

• Proven ability to create pixel-perfect, accessible, and scalable interface designs that rigorously adhere to brand standards and established design systems.

• Deep understanding and practical application of design systems, component-based design methodologies, and scalable UI frameworks.

• Exceptional visual design capabilities, encompassing mastery of typography, layout principles, color theory, and interaction design.

• Strong proficiency in modern design and prototyping tools, with expert-level skills in Figma and the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, XD).

• Proven experience collaborating effectively within cross-functional agile product teams, contributing to iterative development cycles.

• Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions and influence outcomes at all organizational levels.

Preferred Skills:

• Prior experience working within the financial services sector or a similarly regulated industry.

• Familiarity with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards and inclusive design principles, with a commitment to universal design.

• Experience managing and contributing to enterprise-scale digital products and platforms.

• Understanding of user research methodologies and how to integrate user feedback into the design process.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Experienced Colleague" designation and the 5-10 year experience range suggest this role requires a seasoned professional capable of independent work and leadership. The emphasis on a strong portfolio is critical, as it will be the primary tool for evaluating design quality and strategic thinking.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio is mandatory for application, showcasing a range of high-quality UI design work across diverse responsive digital platforms (web, mobile applications).

• Case studies demonstrating the end-to-end design process, from initial concept and user research through to final UI execution and iteration, are highly valued.

• Examples should highlight the successful application of design systems, component-based design, and scalable UI frameworks.

• Demonstrations of how complex business requirements and regulatory constraints were translated into intuitive and accessible user interfaces are essential.

Process Documentation:

• Showcase a structured approach to UI design, detailing workflow stages from discovery and ideation to wireframing, prototyping, visual design, and handoff.

• Provide evidence of contributing to or evolving design systems, including component creation, documentation, and governance.

• Illustrate how accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) were integrated into the design process and validated.

• Present examples of collaboration with UX, product, and engineering teams, demonstrating effective handoff and iteration processes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit requirement for a portfolio underscores its importance. Candidates should curate their portfolio to specifically address the responsibilities and skills outlined, focusing on case studies that demonstrate problem-solving, strategic thinking, and successful UI implementation within a complex environment.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For a Senior UI Designer with 5-10 years of experience in Edinburgh, UK, the estimated annual salary range is between £55,000 and £75,000. This estimate is based on current market data for similar roles in the UK financial services sector, considering the hybrid work model and the fixed-term contract nature of the position.

Benefits:

• Pension Scheme: A valuable pension scheme with 18% contribution (13% Employer, 5% Employee).

• Share Save & Share Incentive Plan: Opportunities for employee ownership and investment in the company.

• Financial Wellbeing Support: Access to services and support for managing personal finances.

• Annual Leave: 38 days per year (including bank holidays), with the option to purchase up to 5 additional days.

• Time Off When You Need It Policy: Flexible policy to balance work and personal commitments.

• Inspiring Families Policy: Market-leading paid parental leave for maternity, adoption, surrogacy, and paternity.

• Health & Protection: Comprehensive cover including Private Healthcare, Critical Illness Cover, and Life Assurance, with family options available.

Working Hours: Standard working hours are typically 40 hours per week. The role operates on a hybrid model, requiring 2-3 days per week in the office, allowing for flexibility in work location for the remainder of the week.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimation for the Edinburgh area, a major financial hub in the UK. The comprehensive benefits package, particularly the generous pension and leave allowances, reflects M&G's commitment to employee wellbeing and long-term financial security, which are attractive to experienced professionals.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Services (Savings and Investments). M&G plc is a prominent international savings and investments company with a rich heritage spanning over 175 years, offering a wide spectrum of solutions combining asset management and insurance expertise.

Company Size: M&G plc is a large, established organization. While exact employee numbers for the specific Digital Experience CoE are not detailed, the company as a whole operates on a global scale, indicating a robust corporate structure and significant resource allocation for digital initiatives.

Founded: M&G's heritage dates back over 175 years, signifying a stable, established, and experienced entity within the financial sector, which often translates to a culture valuing tradition, reliability, and long-term strategy.

Team Structure:

• The Senior UI Designer will be part of the Digital Experience Centre of Excellence (CoE), suggesting a specialized, centralized team focused on driving digital design standards and innovation.

• The role reports to the Senior Digital Design Manager, indicating a clear reporting line within the design function.

Methodology:

• The Digital Experience CoE likely employs a blend of established design methodologies and agile practices to ensure efficient and effective digital product development.

• Emphasis is placed on human-centred design principles, translating complex business and regulatory requirements into intuitive user interfaces.

• Data analysis and user research are integral to informing design decisions and ensuring the delivery of impactful digital experiences.

• Workflow optimization and the consistent application of design systems are key to maintaining quality and efficiency across M&G's digital platforms.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: M&G's long history suggests a corporate culture that balances innovation with stability. The emphasis on "telling it like it is, owning it now, and moving it forward together with care and integrity" points towards a value system that encourages transparency, accountability, teamwork, and ethical conduct, which are crucial in the financial services industry.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is classified as an "Experienced Colleague," placing it at a senior individual contributor level. It requires a high degree of autonomy, strategic input, and the ability to mentor others. The focus is on operationalizing design excellence and ensuring consistent application of UI standards across the organization.

Reporting Structure: The Senior UI Designer reports to the Senior Digital Design Manager. This structure provides direct mentorship and guidance within the design discipline, while also requiring close collaboration with product owners and engineering leads within agile teams.

Operations Impact: The Senior UI Designer's work directly impacts customer and adviser experience across M&G's digital platforms. By creating intuitive, accessible, and brand-aligned interfaces, this role contributes to customer satisfaction, engagement, conversion rates, and overall brand perception. Effective UI design operationalization reduces friction, improves efficiency, and supports M&G's strategic goals for digital product delivery.

Growth Opportunities:

• Skill Specialization: Deepen expertise in areas like design system architecture, accessibility standards, motion design, or specialized platform design (e.g., enterprise applications).

• Leadership Development: Potential to move into Lead Designer roles, managing specific product streams or taking on more direct team leadership responsibilities within the CoE.

• Cross-functional Exposure: Gain broader experience by working on diverse projects across different M&G business units, understanding their unique operational and user needs.

• Mentorship & Training: Formalize mentorship capabilities and contribute to internal design training programs, developing leadership and coaching skills.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Experienced Colleague" designation implies that candidates are expected to be self-sufficient and capable of contributing strategically from day one. Growth opportunities are likely to stem from demonstrating impact and taking on increasing levels of responsibility within the Digital Experience CoE.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Hybrid work model, requiring 2-3 days per week in the office. This suggests a modern office setup designed for collaboration, with flexible workspaces and meeting areas.

Office Location(s): Edinburgh and Stirling, United Kingdom. These locations offer access to established business and tech communities.

Workspace Context:

• The office environment is expected to be collaborative, fostering interaction between designers, product teams, and stakeholders.

• Access to necessary design tools and technology is a given, with an emphasis on industry-standard software like Figma and the Adobe Creative Suite.

• Opportunities for team interaction will be present during in-office days, facilitating brainstorming sessions, design critiques, and knowledge sharing.

Work Schedule: The standard working hours are likely 9 AM to 5 PM, with flexibility offered through the hybrid model. This schedule supports the operational demands of iterative design work while allowing for personal work-life balance.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model indicates a modern approach to work, balancing the benefits of in-person collaboration with the flexibility of remote work. For a Senior UI Designer, this environment would typically support focused design sprints in the office and dedicated deep-work sessions remotely.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

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

• Portfolio Presentation & Technical Interview: Candidates will likely present their portfolio, discussing specific case studies, design rationale, and problem-solving approaches. This stage assesses UI expertise, design system knowledge, and communication skills. Expect questions on accessibility, responsive design, and tool proficiency.

• Cross-functional Stakeholder Interview: Meeting with UX designers, product owners, and potentially engineering leads to evaluate collaboration style, understanding of agile processes, and ability to integrate with product teams.

• Hiring Manager Interview: A final discussion with the Senior Digital Design Manager to assess cultural fit, leadership potential, and alignment with M&G's values and operational goals.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate for Relevance: Select 3-5 of your strongest, most relevant projects that showcase your senior-level UI design skills, particularly those involving design systems, complex requirements, and responsive design.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed, your design decisions (and why), the challenges you faced, and the outcomes achieved. Use visuals effectively to support your narrative.

• Highlight Design System Contributions: If applicable, dedicate sections to your experience with creating, maintaining, or contributing to design systems and component libraries.

• Demonstrate Accessibility Focus: Explicitly mention how you incorporated accessibility standards (WCAG) into your designs and the rationale behind those choices.

• Quantify Impact: Where possible, use metrics or qualitative feedback to demonstrate the impact of your UI designs on user experience, engagement, or business goals.

Challenge Preparation:

• Be prepared for a design challenge, which could involve a critique of an existing interface, a short feature design task, or a problem-solving scenario related to usability or design system implementation.

• Practice articulating your thought process clearly and concisely, as if presenting to a diverse group of stakeholders.

• Familiarize yourself with M&G's current digital presence to understand their existing design language and identify potential areas for improvement.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process will likely scrutinize not just design execution but also strategic thinking, collaboration capabilities, and understanding of operationalizing design within a large, regulated organization. The portfolio is the primary gatekeeper for this role.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Expert proficiency is essential for UI design, prototyping, and collaboration within design systems.

• Adobe Creative Suite: Strong command of Photoshop, Illustrator, and potentially Adobe XD for asset creation, editing, and legacy design work.

• Prototyping Tools: Proficiency in Figma's prototyping features or other tools like InVision for interactive mockups.

Analytics & Reporting:

CRM & Automation:

• Understanding of how UI designs integrate with CRM systems and automation workflows is advantageous, particularly for user-facing features that drive business processes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on Figma and Adobe Creative Suite indicates the core technical requirements for this UI design role. Experience with design systems within these tools will be a significant differentiator.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Audience-First Mindset: A core value is prioritizing the user's needs and experience to create intuitive and effective digital solutions. This translates to a design process driven by empathy and user research.

• Collaboration & Teamwork: The role emphasizes working across disciplines and with cross-functional teams, indicating a culture that values shared ownership and collective problem-solving.

• Integrity & Care: Reflecting M&G's broader values, this translates to ethical design practices, a commitment to accuracy, and a focus on building trust with users and stakeholders.

• Efficiency & Quality: A drive for continuous improvement, attention to detail, and the operationalization of high standards in design delivery.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Expect close collaboration with UX, Product Management, Engineering, and Brand teams, requiring strong communication and the ability to translate between different functional languages.

• Iterative Process: The agile environment fosters a culture of continuous feedback and iteration, where designs are refined based on stakeholder input and user testing.

• Knowledge Sharing: Encouragement of sharing best practices, design patterns, and insights within the design team and across the wider organization to promote consistency and learning.

📝 Enhancement Note: M&G's stated values ("owning it now," "moving it forward together with care and integrity") suggest a culture that encourages accountability, proactive problem-solving, and a strong sense of shared purpose, which is crucial for effective operations and design delivery.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Complexity and Simplicity: Translating intricate financial products, regulatory requirements, and business logic into simple, intuitive user interfaces is a constant challenge.

• Maintaining Consistency at Scale: Ensuring brand and design system consistency across a wide range of digital products and platforms within a large organization requires rigorous process and vigilant oversight.

• Stakeholder Alignment: Navigating diverse stakeholder needs and priorities (e.g., business, compliance, technology) to achieve consensus on design direction can be demanding.

• Pace of Change: Adapting to evolving user expectations, technological advancements, and business strategies while maintaining a stable and effective design system.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Design System Mastery: Opportunity to become a subject matter expert in design systems, potentially leading to roles focused on system architecture or governance.

• Financial Services UX: Gaining deep insights into the unique user needs and operational complexities of the financial services industry.

• Leadership Skills: Developing mentorship capabilities and potentially leading design initiatives or small teams.

• Accessibility Expertise: Further specializing in inclusive design and accessibility, a critical and growing area within digital product development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are typical for senior roles in large, regulated industries. Successfully navigating these will provide significant opportunities for professional growth and skill development.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to translate a complex regulatory requirement into a simple UI solution. What was your process, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on problem-solving, simplification, and impact.)

• "How do you approach building and maintaining a design system? What are the key components, and how do you ensure its adoption and evolution?" (Highlight your understanding of operationalizing design systems.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What are your thoughts on M&G's current digital offerings? Based on your review, where do you see opportunities for UI improvement?" (Show you've done your research and can apply your expertise.)

• "How do you ensure your design process is user-centric, especially when dealing with internal or compliance-driven requirements?" (Connect to M&G's audience-first mindset.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Impact: Begin with a high-level overview of your role and the project's objectives. Clearly define the problem and the user needs you addressed.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals generously to illustrate your design process, wireframes, mockups, and final UI. Explain your key design decisions and the rationale behind them.

• Emphasize Design System Usage: If the project involved a design system, explain how you leveraged it, contributed to it, or adapted it.

• Quantify Results: Where possible, present metrics or user feedback that demonstrate the success of your designs.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Prepare to answer detailed questions about your design choices, technical constraints, and collaborative processes.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparation should focus on demonstrating not just design skill but also strategic thinking, process adherence, and the ability to operate effectively within a corporate structure. Highlighting experience with design systems and accessibility will be crucial.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior UI Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided Workday link, ensuring all required fields are completed accurately.

• Portfolio Customization: Curate your portfolio to prominently feature 3-5 of your strongest projects that align with the job description's emphasis on responsive design, design systems, and complex requirement translation. Ensure case studies clearly articulate your process, rationale, and outcomes.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to highlight your 5-10 years of experience as a Senior UI Designer, emphasizing key skills like Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, design systems, accessibility (WCAG), and stakeholder management. Use keywords from the job description.

• Interview Preparation: Practice presenting your portfolio, focusing on clear articulation of your design process, decisions, and impact. Prepare for potential design challenges and behavioral questions related to collaboration and problem-solving.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research M&G plc, understanding their business, brand, and current digital presence. Consider their values and how your design philosophy aligns with their operational goals.

⚠️ 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.