Lead UX / UI Designer

Opportunity Spotlight: Lead UX/UI Designer at Barclays – Driving Digital Innovation in Financial Services

For seasoned design professionals looking to make a significant impact within a leading global financial institution, the Lead UX/UI Designer role at Barclays presents a compelling opportunity. This position is crafted for those who thrive on solving complex problems, shaping intuitive digital banking products, and operating at a strategic level within a dynamic, hybrid work environment in Glasgow.

This review highlights the advantages and key considerations for potential candidates, guiding you in assessing if this role aligns with your career aspirations.

Why This Opportunity Shines: Advantages for Your Career Path

• Strategic Influence & Leadership at VP Level: As a Vice President (VP), this role goes beyond execution. You'll be instrumental in contributing to or even setting strategy, driving requirements, and making recommendations that directly impact digital product direction. Whether you're leading a team or operating as a subject matter expert, you'll guide technical direction, mentor less experienced specialists, and advise senior stakeholders, positioning you at the forefront of innovation.
• Holistic & End-to-End Design Practice: The job description outlines a comprehensive design remit. You will engage in the full spectrum of UX/UI activities, from deep user research to understand customer needs, through prototyping and interaction design, to meticulous visual design with a strong emphasis on accessibility. This ensures you're not just creating interfaces but truly shaping user experiences from conception to iterative improvement.
• Impact in a Regulated & Complex Environment: Working within financial services at Barclays offers a unique and challenging landscape. You'll gain invaluable experience navigating the complexities of heavily regulated environments, focusing on ethical design practices, privacy, and security implications. This specialized knowledge is highly sought after and can significantly bolster your professional profile.
• Collaborative & Cross-Functional Engagement: The role emphasizes working collaboratively with diverse cross-functional product teams, including product managers and developers. This fosters strong communication, negotiation, and alignment skills, crucial for launching and enhancing products and features effectively.
• Commitment to Innovation & User-Centricity: Barclays is clearly focused on crafting "intuitive digital products" and "creating user-centred and visually appealing designs." Your accountabilities include monitoring industry trends, design best practices, and emerging technologies, ensuring you remain at the cutting edge of design and continuously improve product quality.
• Strong Foundations & Values: Barclays promotes a culture built on values such as Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence, and Stewardship, alongside a mindset of Empower, Challenge, and Drive. For candidates who resonate with these principles, it offers a supportive and purposeful working environment.

Key Considerations for Candidates: Is This Role Right for You?

• Senior-Level Expectations (VP): The "Vice President Expectations" section clearly indicates this is a senior position requiring strategic thinking, business acumen, and strong leadership capabilities. Candidates must demonstrate not just design proficiency but also the ability to influence, manage risks, and contribute to organizational goals.
• Portfolio is Paramount: A "proven prior experience as a UX/UI or Product Designer, with a portfolio demonstrating relevant design work" is an essential skill. Your portfolio will be your primary testament to your capabilities and impact.
• Experience in Regulated Environments (Highly Desirable): While not strictly essential, prior work in heavily regulated environments, preferably financial services, is explicitly listed as a desirable skill. Candidates without this background should be prepared to articulate how their experience translates to understanding and navigating complex constraints.
• Balancing Creativity with Constraints: You will be tasked with meeting user needs, business requirements, and technical constraints within a regulated industry. This requires a designer who is adept at problem-solving, compromise, and creating innovative solutions within defined boundaries.
• Focus on Risk & Controls: Risk and controls are key assessment areas and accountabilities. A designer in this role needs to be mindful of and actively contribute to managing and mitigating risks associated with digital product delivery.
• Technical Acumen is a Plus: Knowledge of HTML/CSS and front-end development concepts is a desirable skill, suggesting a preference for designers who can bridge the gap between design and technical implementation, fostering better collaboration with engineering teams.

Guiding Your Career Path: Who Should Apply?

This Lead UX/UI Designer role at Barclays is ideal for an experienced designer who is ready to step into a strategic leadership position (either as a team lead or a highly influential individual contributor). If you possess a robust portfolio showcasing your ability to conduct thorough user research, craft intuitive and accessible interfaces, and drive design excellence from concept to launch, this could be your next significant career move.

Candidates with a background in financial services or other heavily regulated industries will find their experience particularly valued. However, talented designers from diverse sectors who can demonstrate an ability to adapt to complex environments and uphold high standards of ethical design are also encouraged to consider this challenging yet rewarding opportunity.