Senior UX Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior UX Designer

Company: Sword Group

Location: Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: User Experience (UX) Design / Product Design Operations

Date Posted: May 07, 2026

Experience Level: 5-10 Years

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the end-to-end User Experience (UX) design process, from initial discovery and user research through to low and mid-fidelity prototyping and validation for complex energy and infrastructure programs.

• Embed user-centered design principles and ensure digital solutions are grounded in genuine user needs and deliver measurable business value within enterprise environments.

• Collaborate closely with multidisciplinary delivery teams, including service owners, business analysts, developers, and product leads, to translate research insights into actionable design decisions that enhance usability and effectiveness.

• Champion adherence to accessibility standards, usability best practices, and governance processes to ensure high-quality, compliant digital products.

• Contribute to the strategic development and ongoing refinement of the organization’s User Experience Framework, promoting consistency and best practices across multiple projects.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Senior UX Designer," the responsibilities and context provided strongly indicate a role that intersects with operations by focusing on the implementation and continuous improvement of digital solutions within enterprise programs. The emphasis on governance, framework development, and collaboration with delivery teams suggests a need for operational rigor in the design process. The "Senior" designation implies a leadership capacity in driving these operational aspects of UX.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Conduct comprehensive user research, including in-depth interviews, interactive workshops, observational studies, and formal usability testing sessions to uncover user needs, behaviors, and pain points.

• Develop and maintain key UX artifacts such as user personas, detailed customer journey maps, and service blueprints to clearly articulate user behaviors, motivations, and pain points within the context of complex programs.

• Translate complex research findings into clear, actionable insights and design recommendations that directly shape the direction of digital product delivery and inform business requirements.

• Plan, facilitate, and manage design sprints, iterative prototyping cycles, and rigorous validation activities to ensure designs meet user needs and business objectives.

• Analyze usability testing results and performance data to identify areas for improvement, feeding these insights back into live programs and future iterations for continuous optimization.

• Support the definition and refinement of both business and user requirements, ensuring a clear understanding of project goals and user needs from an operational perspective.

• Promote and enforce adherence to established accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG), general usability best practices, and internal governance processes to ensure consistent quality and compliance.

• Actively contribute to the ongoing development, implementation, and refinement of the organization’s User Experience Framework, ensuring it remains current and effective.

• Provide expert UX guidance and support across multiple concurrent projects and large-scale programs, balancing competing demands and priorities effectively.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic UX leadership and hands-on execution. The emphasis on "complex energy and infrastructure programmes" and "enterprise environments" suggests a need for robust process management and an understanding of large-scale project lifecycles, which are core to operations. The mention of "governance processes" and "UX Framework" directly points to operationalizing UX practices.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Design, Psychology, Computer Science, or a related field is typically expected for senior-level UX roles. Equivalent practical experience will also be considered.

Experience: A minimum of 5-10 years of proven experience as a UX Designer, with a significant portion spent working within complex organizational settings and enterprise environments.

Required Skills:

• Proven experience as a UX Designer operating effectively in complex organizational settings and structured enterprise environments.

• Strong, demonstrated understanding of comprehensive UX methodologies covering discovery, user research, information architecture, interaction design, prototyping, and validation.

• Extensive experience planning and facilitating interactive workshops, design sprints, and various forms of usability testing (e.g., moderated, unmoderated, remote).

• Demonstrated ability to produce high-quality, impactful UX artifacts including user personas, detailed customer journey maps, user flow diagrams, and service blueprints.

• Proficiency in industry-standard prototyping and wireframing tools such as Figma, Axure, Adobe XD, or equivalent platforms.

• Solid knowledge of accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG 2.1 AA) and core usability principles, with the ability to apply them in practice.

• Excellent facilitation, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions and research findings clearly to diverse audiences.

• A highly collaborative and inquisitive mindset, possessing the confidence to challenge assumptions and advocate for user needs effectively.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in the Energy, Public, or Finance Sectors, with an understanding of their specific user needs and regulatory environments.

• Familiarity with agile development methodologies and experience working within cross-functional agile teams.

• Experience with user research tools for data collection and analysis (e.g., UserTesting.com, Hotjar, Maze).

• Basic understanding of front-end development principles (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) to inform design feasibility.

• Experience contributing to or developing design systems.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirements emphasize a blend of technical UX skills and crucial soft skills like facilitation and stakeholder management, which are critical for operationalizing design within large organizations. The explicit mention of "complex organisational settings" and "enterprise environments" suggests that candidates who can demonstrate experience managing design processes within these contexts will be highly valued.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A curated portfolio showcasing a range of UX projects, demonstrating the ability to tackle complex challenges from discovery through to validated design solutions.

• Specific case studies detailing the end-to-end UX process applied to at least 2-3 complex projects, highlighting the candidate's role, methodologies used, and challenges overcome.

• Clear articulation of how user research insights were translated into actionable design decisions and tangible improvements in usability and user experience.

• Evidence of creating and utilizing key UX artifacts such as personas, journey maps, service blueprints, wireframes, and interactive prototypes.

• Demonstration of experience with prototyping tools (Figma, Axure, Adobe XD, etc.), with examples of interactive prototypes.

Process Documentation:

• Examples of documented UX processes, showing how research findings were systematically translated into design requirements and implemented.

• Evidence of iterative design and testing processes, including how feedback was gathered, analyzed, and incorporated into design iterations for continuous improvement.

• Case studies that illustrate the impact of UX design on business objectives, ideally with quantifiable metrics or clear qualitative outcomes demonstrating ROI.

• Diagrams or descriptions of how UX activities integrate with broader project delivery lifecycles and cross-functional team workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Senior UX Designer role in an operations-focused context, the portfolio is paramount. It needs to go beyond just showcasing aesthetics; it must demonstrate a rigorous, process-driven approach to design that leads to measurable outcomes. Emphasis should be placed on the how and why behind design decisions, and how those decisions were validated and iterated upon.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for Senior UX Designers in Scotland, UK, with 5-10 years of experience, and considering the hybrid work arrangement and the company's focus on complex programs, the estimated salary range is £55,000 - £75,000 per annum. This range reflects the seniority, specialized skills, and potential impact of the role within an enterprise setting.

Benefits:

• Personalized Career Development: Tailored development plans with a range of learning and development opportunities, fostering professional growth within a supportive culture.

• Flexible Working Arrangements: Options to support work-life balance, with a commitment to discussing individual preferences to find workable solutions.

• Generous Annual Leave Allowance: A competitive number of paid vacation days to ensure adequate rest and personal time.

• Enhanced Family Friendly Benefits: Support for employees with family responsibilities, including potential for extended leave or flexible scheduling.

• Pension Scheme: A contributory pension plan to support long-term financial planning.

• Access to Private Health: Comprehensive private medical insurance coverage.

• Well-being Schemes: Programs and resources designed to support mental, physical, and emotional well-being.

• Insurance Schemes: Various insurance provisions to provide security and peace of mind.

Working Hours: The role is full-time, typically requiring around 40 hours per week. While specific daily hours may vary, the hybrid arrangement offers flexibility in how and when work is completed, balanced with the need for team collaboration and program delivery.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary estimate is based on research of similar Senior UX Designer roles in the Glasgow/Scotland region, considering the provided experience level (5-10 years) and the full-time, hybrid employment type. The benefits listed are directly from the job description and are presented to highlight the comprehensive package offered.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Sword Group operates within the Business Technology Solutions sector, with a strong focus on the Energy, Public, and Finance Sectors. This implies a work environment that values robust solutions, adherence to regulations, and a deep understanding of client-specific operational challenges.

Company Size: Sword Group is a significant player, likely employing hundreds to thousands of professionals globally. This size suggests a structured corporate environment with established processes, opportunities for career progression, and a diverse range of projects and clients. For operations professionals, this means working within established frameworks and contributing to large-scale operational efficiency.

Founded: Founded in 2000, Sword Group has over two decades of experience in driving transformational change for its clients, building a reputation for technical expertise and client partnership. This longevity indicates stability and a mature approach to business and technology solutions.

Team Structure:

• The UX team is likely integrated within multidisciplinary delivery teams, meaning close collaboration with service owners, business analysts, developers, and product leads. This structure facilitates a highly collaborative and integrated approach to product development.

• The reporting structure for a Senior UX Designer would typically involve reporting to a Head of UX, Design Lead, or a Program Manager, with direct influence on project outcomes.

Methodology:

• Data analysis and insights methods are central to this role, with a strong emphasis on user research, usability testing, and performance metrics to drive design decisions.

• Workflow planning and optimization strategies are applied through the UX process, from initial discovery to iterative design and validation, aiming to streamline user journeys and improve system efficiency.

• Automation and efficiency practices are indirectly supported by creating intuitive and effective user interfaces that reduce user error and training time, thereby improving operational efficiency for clients.

Company Website: https://www.sword-group.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company context suggests an environment where operational rigor, client-centric solutions, and technological expertise are highly valued. For a UX professional, this means understanding how design contributes to the broader operational success of clients in regulated or complex industries.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is at a Senior level, indicating a significant degree of autonomy, responsibility, and influence. A Senior UX Designer is expected to lead design efforts, mentor junior team members, and contribute to the strategic direction of UX within projects and potentially the broader organization. In an operations context, this means not just designing interfaces but also shaping the processes by which user experience is integrated and maintained.

Reporting Structure: As a Senior UX Designer, you would likely report to a Design Lead, Head of UX, or a Program Director overseeing the complex energy and infrastructure programs. You would work closely with project managers, business analysts, and development teams, forming integral parts of cross-functional delivery units.

Operations Impact: The operations impact of this role is substantial. By ensuring digital solutions are user-centered, intuitive, and effective, the Senior UX Designer directly contributes to:

• Increased Client Efficiency: Streamlined user interfaces reduce training time, minimize errors, and improve task completion rates for end-users of the client's systems.

• Enhanced Adoption Rates: Well-designed digital tools are more likely to be adopted and utilized effectively by target audiences, maximizing the return on technology investments.

• Reduced Support Costs: Intuitive designs lead to fewer user queries and support requests, lowering operational overhead for clients.

• Improved Program Success: By grounding digital solutions in genuine user needs, the UX design process mitigates risks associated with poor adoption or usability issues, contributing to the overall success of complex infrastructure and energy programs.

• Framework Evolution: Contribution to the UX Framework directly impacts how UX is operationalized across the company, setting standards for future projects and ensuring consistent quality.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Development: Opportunities to lead UX initiatives on major programs, mentor junior designers, and potentially step into a Lead UX Designer or UX Manager role.

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in specific areas such as user research methodologies, accessibility compliance, or UX strategy within particular industries (Energy, Public, Finance).

• Strategic Contribution: Influence the evolution of Sword Group's UX Framework and contribute to strategic decisions regarding user experience investments and priorities.

• Cross-functional Expertise: Gain in-depth knowledge of business analysis, development processes, and program management within complex enterprise environments.

📝 Enhancement Note: The career path for a Senior UX Designer in this context is not just about visual design skills but also about operationalizing design principles within large, structured organizations. Growth involves strategic influence and process leadership.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Sword Group offers a Hybrid work arrangement. This suggests a blend of remote work and in-office collaboration. The in-office component is crucial for fostering team cohesion, facilitating spontaneous brainstorming, and conducting in-person workshops or stakeholder meetings.

Office Location(s): The primary office location specified is Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. This provides a central hub for employees in the region, offering access to amenities and collaborative spaces.

Workspace Context:

• The workspace is designed to foster collaboration, with areas likely allocated for team meetings, design critiques, and cross-functional project work. This environment is conducive to the iterative design process and stakeholder engagement required.

• Access to essential operations tools and technology, including high-performance workstations, reliable internet connectivity, and relevant software licenses (e.g., prototyping tools, collaboration platforms), is expected.

• Opportunities for regular interaction with UX colleagues, as well as with business analysts, developers, product owners, and client stakeholders, are integral to the daily work, promoting a dynamic and communicative atmosphere.

Work Schedule: The work schedule is flexible, accommodating the hybrid model. While core hours may be established for team availability, there's an emphasis on achieving results and supporting work-life balance, which is beneficial for deep-focus design tasks and managing project timelines effectively.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model implies a need for strong self-management and proactive communication. The Glasgow office serves as a focal point for collaborative activities, ensuring that operational efficiency in design is maintained through both focused individual work and team synergy.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A brief conversation with an HR representative or recruiter to assess basic qualifications, interest in the role, and cultural fit.

• Technical Interview / Portfolio Review: A detailed discussion with hiring managers and/or senior UX team members. This stage heavily focuses on reviewing your portfolio, discussing specific case studies, and assessing your understanding of UX methodologies, research techniques, and your process for tackling complex design challenges. Be prepared to walk through your work and articulate your decision-making.

• Skills Assessment / Design Challenge: You may be given a take-home assignment or a live design exercise to assess your problem-solving skills, ability to apply UX principles, and your approach to a specific challenge relevant to Sword Group's work.

• Team/Stakeholder Interviews: Meetings with potential colleagues (developers, BAs, product owners) and key stakeholders to evaluate collaboration style, communication effectiveness, and cultural alignment.

• Final Interview: A discussion with senior leadership to confirm fit, discuss career aspirations, and outline the role's strategic importance.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly outline the problem, your role, the process followed, your specific contributions, the solutions you designed, and the outcomes achieved (quantifiable if possible).

• Highlight Process & Rationale: Emphasize how you arrived at your design decisions. Explain the research, analysis, and testing that informed your choices. For this role, demonstrate your structured, detail-oriented approach.

• Showcase Complexity: Include examples of projects involving complex systems, multiple stakeholders, or challenging user needs, aligning with Sword Group's project profile.

• Demonstrate Tool Proficiency: Clearly indicate the tools used (Figma, Axure, etc.) and how they were leveraged to achieve design goals.

• Address Accessibility & Usability: Explicitly show how you incorporated accessibility standards and usability best practices into your designs.

• Tailor to Sword Group: Research Sword Group's industry focus (Energy, Public, Finance) and try to highlight relevant experience or demonstrate an understanding of the unique challenges in these sectors.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: If given a challenge, take time to understand the problem space, target users, and business objectives.

• Focus on Process: Demonstrate your systematic approach. Outline your research, ideation, and validation steps, even if time is limited.

• Communicate Clearly: Articulate your thought process and design rationale verbally or visually. Be prepared to explain your assumptions and trade-offs.

• Prioritize: For time-bound challenges, identify the most critical aspects to address and focus your efforts there.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process for a Senior UX role, especially in an enterprise context like Sword Group, will heavily scrutinize your portfolio and your ability to articulate a structured, data-driven design process. Demonstrating how you operationalize UX within complex projects will be key.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Prototyping & Wireframing: Proficiency is essential in tools such as Figma, Axure, and Adobe XD. Candidates are expected to use these tools to create interactive prototypes, wireframes, and mockups that effectively communicate design solutions.

• User Research Platforms: Experience with platforms like UserTesting.com, Maze, or similar tools for conducting remote usability testing and gathering user feedback.

• Collaboration & Documentation: Tools like Jira, Confluence, Miro, or Mural are likely used for project management, documentation, collaborative ideation, and design sprint facilitation.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Analytics Tools: Familiarity with web analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) to understand user behavior on live digital products and inform design improvements.

• Data Visualization: Experience with tools like Tableau or Power BI may be beneficial for presenting research findings and performance metrics to stakeholders.

CRM & Automation:

• While not primary UX tools, an understanding of how CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce) and business process automation tools can impact user experience within enterprise environments is advantageous. This includes recognizing how user interfaces interact with backend processes.

• Design System Tools: Experience with or contribution to design systems, often managed using tools like Zeplin or in conjunction with Figma/Sketch.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on specific prototyping tools like Figma and Axure, along with the need for research and collaboration platforms, highlights the technical requirements. The mention of "governance processes" and "UX Framework" suggests that candidates who understand how to integrate UX tools into larger operational workflows will be highly valued.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User-Centricity: A fundamental commitment to understanding and serving user needs, ensuring that all digital solutions are designed with the end-user in mind. This translates to a focus on empathy and user advocacy.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: A strong reliance on user research, usability testing, and performance data to inform design choices and validate solutions, promoting an objective and analytical approach.

• Collaboration & Partnership: An emphasis on working effectively with diverse teams (developers, BAs, product leads) and stakeholders to achieve shared goals, fostering a spirit of co-creation.

• Excellence & Quality: A dedication to delivering high-quality, robust, and effective digital solutions that meet rigorous standards for usability, accessibility, and technical performance.

• Continuous Improvement: A mindset of ongoing learning and iteration, actively seeking feedback and opportunities to refine processes and enhance user experiences over time.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: The UX team is deeply integrated within multidisciplinary delivery teams, requiring seamless collaboration and communication to align design efforts with development and business objectives.

• Process Review Culture: An open culture for reviewing and refining design processes, encouraging constructive feedback and shared learning to enhance team effectiveness.

• Knowledge Sharing: Practices that promote sharing of UX insights, best practices, and lessons learned across projects and teams to foster collective growth and maintain high standards.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture appears to value a blend of user advocacy and operational rigor. For a Senior UX Designer, this means being a strong user champion while also being highly collaborative, process-oriented, and data-informed, fitting well within an operations-focused mindset.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing User Needs with Business/Technical Constraints: In complex enterprise environments, aligning ideal user experiences with often rigid technical limitations, budget, and aggressive timelines requires strong negotiation and problem-solving skills.

• Driving UX Adoption in Non-Design Teams: Educating and influencing stakeholders and team members who may not fully grasp UX principles or its importance can be an ongoing challenge, requiring strong advocacy and communication.

• Maintaining Consistency Across Large Programs: Ensuring a unified and coherent user experience across multiple, potentially disconnected, projects and platforms within large energy and infrastructure programs demands robust governance and a well-defined UX framework.

• Keeping Pace with Evolving Technology & User Expectations: The rapid advancement of digital technologies and changing user expectations requires continuous learning and adaptation of design approaches and tools.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Operations Skill Advancement: Opportunities to deepen understanding of project management, agile methodologies, and enterprise program lifecycles, enhancing the ability to integrate UX seamlessly into operational workflows.

• Industry-Specific Knowledge: Gaining specialized knowledge within the Energy, Public, and Finance sectors, understanding their unique user needs, regulatory landscapes, and operational challenges.

• Leadership and Mentorship: Developing leadership skills through guiding junior designers, leading design initiatives, and contributing to strategic UX planning.

• Advanced UX Techniques: Exploring and implementing cutting-edge UX research methods, accessibility best practices, and advanced prototyping techniques.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges highlight the need for a pragmatic and operationally minded UX professional who can navigate complex organizational structures and deliver tangible value. Growth opportunities are geared towards both deepening UX expertise and broadening strategic impact within an enterprise setting.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to balance competing stakeholder requirements with user needs on a complex project. How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on your process for prioritization, negotiation, and documentation.)

• "How do you ensure user-centered design principles are understood and adopted by non-design team members, such as developers or business analysts, in a large organization?" (Highlight your communication, facilitation, and educational strategies.)

• "Walk me through a project where you significantly improved the usability or effectiveness of a digital product. What was the problem, your process, and the measurable impact?" (Prepare a detailed case study focusing on your operational contribution.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Sword Group and our work in the Energy, Public, and Finance sectors?" (Research the company's mission, values, and recent projects.)

• "How do you see your role contributing to Sword Group's User Experience Framework and our overall goals?" (Connect your skills and experience to the company's strategic needs.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Start with the "Why": Clearly articulate the business problem or user need that initiated each project.

• Detail Your Process: Explain your methodologies (research, ideation, prototyping, testing) step-by-step. Be specific about the techniques and tools you employed.

• Showcase Your Role: Delineate your specific contributions, especially any leadership or process-driving activities.

• Highlight Impact and Outcomes: Present quantitative data (e.g., conversion rates, task completion times, error reduction) or strong qualitative evidence of success.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Anticipate detailed questions about your design decisions, trade-offs, and how you handled challenges.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating not just design skills but also a strong understanding of process, stakeholder management, and the ability to deliver measurable results within a structured, operational environment.

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📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior UX Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Workable.

• Prepare Your Portfolio: Curate your portfolio to prominently feature at least 2-3 detailed case studies of complex projects. Focus on showcasing your end-to-end UX process, research methodologies, problem-solving skills, and measurable outcomes. Ensure it highlights your experience in enterprise environments and your ability to adhere to governance and best practices.

• Tailor Your Resume: Update your resume to highlight keywords from the job description, such as "User Research," "Prototyping," "Usability Testing," "Figma," "Axure," "Accessibility Standards," "Stakeholder Engagement," and "User-Centered Design." Quantify achievements where possible to demonstrate operational impact.

• Practice Your Presentation: Rehearse presenting your portfolio case studies, focusing on clear storytelling, articulating your process, and explaining the impact of your design decisions. Be ready to answer strategy and behavioral questions that assess your senior-level capabilities and operational mindset.

• Research Sword Group: Investigate Sword Group's services, industry focus (Energy, Public, Finance), and company values. Understand their approach to technology and client solutions to better align your application and interview responses with their business objectives and operational context.

⚠️ 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.