Senior UX/UI (Product) Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior UX/UI (Product) Designer

Company: VML

Location: Faro, Faro District, Portugal

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Product Design / UX/UI Design

Date Posted: 2026-05-29T08:20:18

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (5-10 years)

Remote Status: Hybrid

🚀 Role Summary

• This Senior Product Designer role focuses on leading the end-to-end design process for digital products, ensuring exceptional user experiences and interfaces.

• Key responsibilities include driving design thinking, managing complex design systems, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver impactful solutions for enterprise clients.

• The position emphasizes autonomous work, strong stakeholder management, and a deep understanding of user-centric design principles across various devices and channels.

• Candidates will leverage advanced Figma skills and expertise in responsive design and accessibility to shape product direction and deliver high-quality outcomes in a dynamic agency environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is situated within VML's Enterprise Solutions division, suggesting a focus on large-scale digital transformation projects for major global brands. The "hybrid" work arrangement specifies an average of four days per week in the office, indicating a collaborative team environment. The selection process being conducted in English and requiring CVs in English points to an international team dynamic.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the full product design lifecycle, from initial discovery, user research, and experience definition to high-fidelity UI execution and interaction design.

• Develop and maintain complex, tokenized design systems, ensuring component architecture, variants, properties, and scalable design patterns are consistently applied.

• Translate user research, data analytics, and conversion principles into actionable insights that inform design decisions and build stakeholder confidence.

• Collaborate closely with product managers, developers, and other stakeholders to frame problems, define opportunities, and shape product direction autonomously.

• Create high-quality supporting design artifacts beyond core product UI, including interactive prototypes, presentations, visual assets for internal communications, and user research documentation.

• Ensure a consistent and high-quality user experience across multiple devices and platforms by applying strong responsive design principles and behavior logic.

• Adapt design approaches to work effectively across various clients, sectors, and problem spaces, demonstrating domain understanding and flexibility with different levels of design maturity.

• Operate effectively within Business As Usual (BAU) and retained delivery models, balancing pace and quality while managing multiple workstreams, priorities, and stakeholders.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a need for a designer who can not only execute but also strategically influence product direction, acting as a thought leader rather than just a task completer. The emphasis on "tokenized design systems" and "component architecture" indicates a need for a designer with a strong understanding of design system scalability and maintainability, crucial for enterprise-level projects.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio demonstrating equivalent practical experience in UX/UI design, product design, or a related field is essential.

Experience: 5-10 years of proven experience in product design, with a significant focus on user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design, preferably within an agency or fast-paced digital environment.

Required Skills:

• Proven ability to work autonomously and lead design initiatives in complex, fast-paced environments with evolving requirements.

• Strong experience in stakeholder management, capable of challenging, influencing, and aligning senior stakeholders across diverse disciplines.

• Demonstrated ability to frame problems, define opportunities, and shape product direction, going beyond simple brief responses.

• Proficiency in operating as an end-to-end product designer, seamlessly transitioning between UX strategy, interaction design, and high-fidelity UI execution.

• Comfortable working with multiple brands and visual identities, adapting design approaches while maintaining consistency and brand alignment.

• Advanced proficiency in Figma, with the ability to create scalable, well-structured design files that support collaboration, handover, and systemization.

• Strong experience working with complex, tokenized design systems and a deep understanding of component architecture (variants, properties, scalable patterns).

• Solid understanding of responsive design principles and behavior logic for cross-device consistency.

• Expertise in translating user research and data into actionable insights to drive informed design decisions.

• Strong communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to articulate design rationale, trade-offs, and recommendations clearly.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in translating user research and data into actionable insights to drive informed design decisions.

• Ability to produce high-quality supporting design artifacts beyond core product UI, such as prototypes, presentations, and visual assets.

• Experience working in BAU and retained delivery models, managing multiple workstreams and priorities.

• Familiarity with various design thinking methodologies and their application in complex problem spaces.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Required Skills" section is extensive, reflecting the senior nature of the role. Emphasis on autonomy, stakeholder influence, and end-to-end product design capabilities suggests a need for a candidate who can operate with minimal supervision and drive strategic design outcomes. Proficiency in Figma is a hard requirement.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase end-to-end product design projects that demonstrate problem framing, user journey mapping, interaction design, and high-fidelity UI execution.

• Include case studies that highlight experience with complex, tokenized design systems, showcasing component architecture and scalability.

• Provide examples of how user research and data were translated into actionable design decisions and positive outcomes.

• Demonstrate proficiency in Figma, with organized and structured design files that facilitate collaboration and handover.

Process Documentation:

• Include documentation or case studies detailing your process for conducting user research, synthesizing findings, and translating them into design solutions.

• Showcase examples of your workflow for designing and managing design systems, including component creation, documentation, and governance.

• Present how you approach responsive design and ensure consistency across different devices and platforms.

• Demonstrate your ability to create supporting design artifacts like prototypes, presentations, and visual assets, detailing the process and purpose behind them.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Senior Product Designer role, the portfolio is critical. It should not just be a collection of screens but a narrative that explains the "why" behind the design decisions, the process followed, the challenges overcome, and the measurable impact. Emphasis on design systems and stakeholder alignment is key for this enterprise-focused role.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for Senior Product Designers (5-10 years experience) in Portugal, a competitive salary range would typically fall between €40,000 - €60,000 annually. This estimate considers the cost of living in Portugal, the agency's global presence (VML/WPP), and the specialized skills required for this senior role.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive training opportunities for continuous professional development.

• Medical insurance coverage.

• Dental insurance coverage.

• Meal cards to support daily expenses.

• Organized social events to foster team cohesion and networking.

• Family-friendly policies to support work-life balance.

• Discounts with a wide range of retailers.

Working Hours: The role is full-time, with an average of 40 hours per week. The hybrid model implies flexibility in scheduling, with an expectation of being in the office approximately four days per week.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimation based on market data for senior design roles in Portugal. Actual compensation may vary based on individual experience, specific negotiation, and the company's internal compensation structure. The benefits package is standard for a large agency, with specific mention of family-friendly policies and retailer discounts.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Advertising & Marketing Services, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Solutions. VML operates within a highly competitive agency landscape, focusing on creating integrated brand, customer, and commerce experiences. The Enterprise Solutions division specifically targets large-scale digital platforms and services for global organizations.

Company Size: VML is part of WPP, a global network of 26,000+ employees across 55+ markets. VML itself is a substantial entity within this structure. This size implies ample resources, diverse projects, and a global reach.

Founded: VML was founded in 1992, and its merger with Wunderman Thompson to form VML in 2024 signifies a significant evolution. This history points to a company with a long-standing presence in the industry, adapting to market changes and client needs.

Team Structure:

• The Senior Product Designer will likely be part of a larger design or digital transformation team within the Enterprise Solutions division.

• Reporting structure is expected to be to a Design Lead, Creative Director, or Head of Digital Design, with close collaboration with project managers, strategists, developers, and client teams.

Methodology:

• VML emphasizes a human-first, data-driven approach to design, focusing on creating connected experiences that drive growth.

• The agency utilizes agile methodologies and design thinking principles to tackle complex client challenges, emphasizing iterative development and user feedback.

• Emphasis on "connected brands" suggests a holistic approach to customer journeys across various touchpoints and channels.

Company Website: www.vml.com

📝 Enhancement Note: VML's culture is built on "Heart, Brains, and Courage." This suggests a blend of empathy and human connection (Heart), intellectual curiosity and problem-solving (Brains), and the willingness to experiment and advocate for bold ideas (Courage). The Enterprise Solutions division implies a focus on strategic, large-scale, and often complex projects for major global brands.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a Senior Product Designer role, indicating a level of expertise where individuals are expected to lead design initiatives, mentor junior designers, and influence strategic product decisions. It's a pivotal role for driving significant design outcomes within complex projects.

Reporting Structure: The Senior Product Designer will likely report to a Design Manager, Creative Director, or a similar leadership role within the Enterprise Solutions division. They will collaborate extensively with project managers, product owners, developers, and client-side teams.

Operations Impact: The impact of this role is directly tied to the success of digital products and services for VML's enterprise clients. By crafting exceptional user experiences and interfaces, the designer contributes to increased user engagement, conversion rates, customer satisfaction, and ultimately, business growth for these clients. The role plays a crucial part in the digital transformation journeys of major global brands.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Development: Potential to move into Lead Designer, Design Manager, or Creative Director roles, managing teams and larger strategic initiatives.

• Specialization: Opportunity to deepen expertise in specific areas like design systems, accessibility, or user research methodologies, becoming a subject matter expert.

• Client & Project Exposure: Gain experience with a diverse portfolio of high-profile global brands and complex projects, broadening industry knowledge and strategic thinking.

• Mentorship: Opportunity to mentor and guide junior designers, developing leadership and coaching skills.

• Continuous Learning: Access to training opportunities, industry conferences, and internal knowledge-sharing sessions to stay abreast of the latest design trends and technologies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Operations" context here is interpreted as the operational execution of design strategies within a large agency setting. The growth opportunities are framed around typical career progression paths for senior designers in agency environments, emphasizing leadership, specialization, and broad project experience.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is hybrid, meaning a blend of remote work and in-office collaboration. VML's culture values in-person interaction for creativity, collaboration, and connection, with an average of four days per week in the office.

Office Location(s): The position is based in VML's offices in Faro, Portugal. This location likely offers a modern workspace designed to foster collaboration and creativity.

Workspace Context:

• The office environment is expected to be dynamic and collaborative, designed to encourage interaction among diverse teams (designers, strategists, developers, client services).

• Access to necessary design tools and technologies, including advanced Figma capabilities and potentially other relevant software, will be provided.

• Opportunities for informal and formal collaboration with colleagues, including design critiques, brainstorming sessions, and project-specific meetings, are integral to the workspace.

Work Schedule: Full-time, approximately 40 hours per week. The hybrid arrangement offers some flexibility, but the expectation of regular in-office presence suggests a structured approach to collaboration and team integration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model with a specified number of office days per week is a key aspect of the work environment. It signifies a company that balances flexibility with the recognized benefits of in-person collaboration for creative and strategic work.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will review your CV and portfolio to assess basic qualifications and experience.

• Portfolio Presentation & Discussion: You will likely be asked to present a selection of your work, focusing on 2-3 key projects that demonstrate your end-to-end design process, problem-solving skills, stakeholder management, and impact. Be prepared to discuss your rationale, challenges, and outcomes in detail.

• Skills-Based Interview/Challenge: This may involve a design exercise or a practical challenge that simulates real-world tasks, assessing your Figma proficiency, design thinking, and ability to work under pressure.

• Team/Cultural Fit Interview: You'll likely meet with potential team members and leadership to assess your collaboration style, communication skills, and alignment with VML's core values (Heart, Brains, Courage).

• Final Interview: A final discussion with senior leadership to confirm fit and discuss role expectations and compensation.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select projects that best showcase your end-to-end capabilities, relevant to enterprise clients, complex design systems, and challenging problem spaces.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed, the key decisions you made, the challenges you faced, and the quantifiable results or impact.

• Highlight Design Systems: If you have experience with tokenized design systems, showcase your understanding of component architecture, scalability, and maintenance.

• Demonstrate Figma Proficiency: Ensure your Figma files are well-organized, demonstrating advanced usage and best practices for collaboration and handover.

• Showcase Stakeholder Interaction: Include examples or descriptions of how you managed stakeholder expectations, presented design rationale, and influenced outcomes.

• Focus on Impact: Quantify results wherever possible (e.g., improved conversion rates, increased user satisfaction, reduced design debt).

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Brief: If given a design challenge, ensure you fully understand the objectives, constraints, and target audience before starting.

• Prioritize: Focus on demonstrating your core skills – problem-solving, UX strategy, interaction design, and UI execution – within the given time limits.

• Communicate Your Process: Be prepared to articulate your thought process, assumptions, and design decisions clearly, even if you don't complete the entire exercise.

• Consider Scalability & Systems: For enterprise-level challenges, think about how your solution could scale and integrate with existing systems or design patterns.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process emphasizes practical demonstration of skills and strategic thinking. A strong portfolio that tells a compelling story of problem-solving and impact, coupled with the ability to articulate design rationale and handle design challenges, will be key to success.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Advanced proficiency required for UI design, prototyping, collaboration, and design system management. The ability to create scalable, well-structured files is crucial.

• Prototyping Tools: While Figma has robust prototyping capabilities, familiarity with other specialized tools might be beneficial for complex interactive prototypes.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Familiarity with user analytics platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) to translate data into design insights.

CRM & Automation:

Design System Tools:

• Deep understanding of component-based design systems and their implementation. This includes familiarity with design tokens for scalability and consistency across brands.

📝 Enhancement Note: Figma is explicitly called out as a primary tool with advanced proficiency required. The emphasis on design systems, user research, and analytics indicates a need for a designer who is data-informed and system-minded, capable of contributing to scalable and efficient design solutions within an enterprise context.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Heart: Empathy, trust, and genuine connections drive human-centric work. Designers are expected to understand user needs deeply and foster positive relationships within the team and with clients.

• Brains: Relentless curiosity and collaborative intelligence are valued for solving complex challenges. This means a proactive approach to learning, analytical thinking, and contributing innovative ideas.

• Courage: Inspiring individuals to speak up, embrace experimentation, and advocate for bold solutions. Designers should be comfortable challenging the status quo and pushing creative boundaries.

• Impact-Driven: A focus on creating work that drives growth and delivers tangible results for clients. Designers are expected to understand business objectives and align their work accordingly.

• Collaboration: A strong emphasis on working together across disciplines to achieve shared goals.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Designers are expected to integrate seamlessly with strategists, developers, and client teams, fostering a shared understanding of project goals and challenges.

• Open Feedback: A culture that encourages constructive feedback exchange, both giving and receiving, to continuously improve design quality and processes.

• Knowledge Sharing: Encouraging the sharing of best practices, learnings, and insights across the design team and broader agency.

• Agile & Iterative: Embracing agile principles means collaborating closely with development teams in iterative cycles, adapting to feedback and evolving requirements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The core values of "Heart, Brains, and Courage" are central to VML's culture. This suggests a dynamic environment where designers are encouraged to be empathetic, intellectually curious, and bold. The emphasis on cross-functional collaboration and iterative processes is typical of modern agency work.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Ambiguity: Working with complex, sometimes ambiguous client requirements and evolving project scopes, demanding strong problem-framing skills and adaptability.

• Balancing Pace and Quality: Operating in fast-paced agency environments (BAU and retained models) requires efficiently delivering high-quality design solutions while managing multiple priorities.

• Stakeholder Alignment: Influencing and aligning diverse senior stakeholders with potentially different priorities and levels of design maturity.

• Design System Complexity: Managing and evolving complex, tokenized design systems across multiple brands and platforms, ensuring consistency and scalability.

• Adapting to Different Client Needs: Quickly building domain understanding and adapting design approaches to suit varied client sectors, brand identities, and design maturity levels.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Skill Advancement: Access to training programs, workshops, and internal resources to deepen expertise in UX/UI, design systems, emerging technologies, and design thinking methodologies.

• Industry Exposure: Opportunities to attend industry conferences, webinars, and events to stay current with design trends and network with peers.

• Mentorship & Coaching: Potential to be mentored by senior leaders or to mentor junior designers, fostering leadership and coaching skills.

• Diverse Project Experience: Working on a wide array of projects for leading global brands provides invaluable learning experiences and broadens professional horizons.

• Specialization: The option to specialize in areas like design system architecture, accessibility, or UX research, becoming a recognized expert.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges highlight the demanding yet rewarding nature of senior design roles in a leading agency. The growth opportunities are substantial, offering clear pathways for both technical and leadership development within a global organization.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to lead the design process for a complex digital product with ambiguous requirements. How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?" - Prepare a STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) story focusing on your autonomy, problem-framing, and execution.

• "How do you approach stakeholder management when you need to influence senior leaders on design decisions, especially if they have differing opinions?" - Prepare examples of challenging conversations, how you used data and rationale, and the strategies you employed to gain alignment.

• "Walk us through your process for designing and managing a complex, tokenized design system. What are the key considerations for scalability and maintenance?" - Be ready to detail your experience with component architecture, variants, properties, and governance.

Company & Culture Questions:

• "How do VML's core values (Heart, Brains, Courage) resonate with your own working philosophy?" - Reflect on specific examples that demonstrate these values in your past work.

• "Describe your experience working in a hybrid environment and how you ensure effective collaboration with remote and in-office team members." - Discuss strategies for communication, asynchronous work, and leveraging in-office time.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Select Wisely: Choose 2-3 projects that best showcase your end-to-end capabilities, design system expertise, and impact on enterprise clients.

• Structure Your Narrative: For each project, clearly outline: Problem, Your Role, Process, Solution, Challenges, Results (quantified if possible).

• Emphasize Figma: Be prepared to briefly showcase your Figma file structure, component usage, and prototyping capabilities.

• Articulate Rationale: Be ready to defend your design decisions, explain trade-offs, and discuss how your work aligned with business objectives.

• Highlight Collaboration: Discuss how you worked with cross-functional teams and stakeholders throughout the project.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparation should focus on demonstrating strategic thinking, strong communication, and a deep understanding of design systems and user-centric methodologies. Be ready to showcase your Figma skills and articulate how you embody VML's core values.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior UX/UI (Product) Designer position:

• Submit your application through the VML careers portal.

• Customize Your CV: Highlight your 5-10 years of experience in product design, specifically mentioning expertise in UX/UI, Figma, design systems, stakeholder management, and agile environments. Quantify achievements where possible.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select your strongest end-to-end projects, ensuring they demonstrate your ability to work autonomously, manage complex design systems, translate research into insights, and deliver impactful solutions for enterprise clients.

• Prepare Your Presentation: Practice presenting 2-3 key portfolio projects, focusing on clear storytelling, design rationale, and measurable outcomes. Be ready to discuss your Figma workflow and experience with tokenized design systems.

• Research VML: Familiarize yourself with VML's work, client portfolio (especially within Enterprise Solutions), and their core values (Heart, Brains, Courage). Understand their hybrid work model and agency culture.

⚠️ 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.