UX/UI Designer - Product Operations - 12 Months Fixed Term Contract

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UX/UI Designer - Product Operations

Company: Next Plc

Location: Leicester, England, United Kingdom

Job Type: Temporary / Contractor

Category: Product Operations / UX/UI Design

Date Posted: 2026-07-31T07:52:13

Experience Level: Mid-Level (2-5 years)

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Design and optimize internal product operations tools, including Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems and data visualization dashboards, to enhance efficiency for Product Teams.

• Translate complex business processes, technical requirements, and large datasets into intuitive, user-centric digital experiences.

• Collaborate closely with Product Managers, Product Owners, Developers, Architects, Data Specialists, and Operational Users to ensure seamless integration and usability.

• Contribute to the development of design practices, standards, and culture within NEXT’s wider UX community, fostering knowledge sharing and consistency.

• Empower buying teams with user-friendly tools to manage product data accurately and make informed trading decisions across diverse product ranges.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is specifically focused on "Product Operations" within the UX/UI domain, emphasizing the design of internal enterprise tools rather than customer-facing products. The core function is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of internal teams through optimized user interfaces and workflows for product data management and reporting. The 12-month fixed-term contract nature suggests a project-driven initiative or a need for specialized skills for a defined period.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Understand and analyze complex business processes and technical requirements, translating them into clear user journeys, information architecture, and intuitive interface designs.

• Conduct user research and usability testing with internal operational users to gather insights, identify pain points, and validate design solutions.

• Create detailed user flows, wireframes, and interactive prototypes using tools like Figma, including AI-assisted tools, to effectively communicate design concepts and workflows.

• Design clear, consistent, and accessible user interfaces for complex, data-rich internal platforms, ensuring a unified user experience.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Product Managers, Developers, Architects, and Data Specialists, throughout the entire product development lifecycle, from discovery to implementation and go-live.

• Define and communicate how information, system states, errors, and complex dependencies are presented to users within the internal systems for clarity and ease of use.

• Present design thinking, recommendations, and the value of proposed concepts clearly to stakeholders, leveraging prototypes and evidence-based insights.

• Contribute to and maintain shared design patterns, component libraries, and design systems to ensure consistency and scalability across the Product Systems programme.

• Review delivered user experiences to identify usability issues, inconsistencies, and opportunities for continuous improvement and optimization.

• Manage design ownership from initial discovery and concept development through to implementation and post-launch analysis.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strong emphasis on translating complex internal processes and data into user-friendly interfaces. This includes a significant degree of user research, prototyping, and cross-functional collaboration, common in roles focused on enterprise software and internal tool development. The mention of AI-assisted tools indicates an expectation for modern design practices.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Design (e.g., Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction), Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience: 2-5 years of experience in UX/UI design, with a proven track record of designing complex digital products or enterprise-level software.

Required Skills:

• A strong background in UX and UI design, with a portfolio demonstrating expertise in solving complex problems through design.

• High proficiency in industry-standard design tools such as Figma, including the ability to create rapid interactive prototypes that effectively communicate workflows and micro-interactions.

• Strong information architecture and interaction design skills, with the ability to simplify complex systems and make them feel manageable for users.

• Experience working with design systems and reusable component libraries to ensure design consistency and efficiency.

• A user-centered approach to problem-solving, coupled with the curiosity to understand unfamiliar systems, processes, and user needs.

• A good understanding of responsive design principles and accessibility standards, including WCAG compliance.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to present ideas and articulate the reasoning behind design decisions.

• The ability to use research, data, and user feedback to make evidence-based design decisions.

• Confidence in working with technical teams and discussing requirements, dependencies, and implementation considerations.

• The ability to work at pace, manage multiple priorities effectively, and maintain a high level of attention to detail.

• A proactive and collaborative approach, capable of independently driving work forward while maintaining alignment with project goals and team objectives. Preferred Skills:

• Experience designing software platforms, enterprise tools, internal tools, product information systems (PLM), or other complex digital services.

• Experience simplifying complex customer or operational journeys within an e-commerce context.

• Experience using AI-assisted tools for prototyping,