FreeAgent is hiringProduct Design Manager

FreeAgent 🚀

FreeAgent is:

• one of the UK's most popular small business finance apps with over 100,000 customers. We help small businesses sort out the mess and the stress of managing their business finances
• loved and adored by customers. We have an NPS of 70 (which is considered "exceptional")
• rated ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ on Trustpilot. See what customers say

This is your chance to come and shape the future of small business banking and accounting!

Make a difference 💫

It's an exciting time at FreeAgent. We're seeing a revolution in the FinTech industry, and new government initiatives such as Making Tax Digital and Open Banking are opening up new features and products and experiences for our customers.

The technology in this space is changing rapidly and at FreeAgent we're working on the cutting edge. We're focused on designing the best possible experience for our growing customer base.

The role 👷

People Management

You’ll directly manage a small team of up to 3 product designers, supporting their career development, providing direction, conducting performance reviews and 1:1s.

Group responsibilities

You’ll work closely with your Product Management and Engineering counterparts to ensure alignment across the three product teams in your group. You’ll coordinate, prioritise and provide design direction and guidance where necessary, while also ensuring your group adheres to wider departmental and company strategies.

You’ll report into, and work closely with the Product Design Team Lead to ensure a consistent design approach and user experience is delivered across the groups and product teams. You’ll work with the Product Design Team Lead, and the rest of design leadership to roll out design strategy, processes, and frameworks that help to improve our culture and ways of working.

Product designer

Alongside your management role, you’ll be in the driving seat designing our product(s). As a member of our product design team, you will use your skills as a UX and UI designer to create user journeys, interfaces, and experiences for the core FreeAgent application. You’ll work with our UX Research team to fully understand our users. You’ll facilitate team workshops and create low fi and hi-fi prototypes whilst also working alongside our engineers to implement features and push our design system forward.

You 🙌

This would be a great role for you if you have worked as a senior product designer in an agency, as a successful freelancer or as an in-house designer and have experience mentoring or managing designers.

You’ll be able to demonstrate:

• A track record of designing user interfaces for complex applications, translating user requirements into elegant, usable solutions.
• Knowledge of best practices with regard to web standards, usability and accessibility.
• Knowledge of fundamental UX Design techniques including user testing, wireframing, prototyping, interaction flows and information architecture.
• Strong visual design skills
• Experience facilitating and leading collaborative team workshops
• Experience working with developers and product managers
• Experience managing or mentoring other designers

FreeAgent’s product designers form part of a wider design team that also includes communications designers and UX researchers. We work closely together, share work often and collaborate across teams. As a product designer at FreeAgent you’ll be expected to champion your work and be prepared to explain and promote your ideas.

Front and centre to our work, we strive tirelessly to create the very best experience for our customers. We'll encourage you to be brave, take risks and fail without fear, because we believe in the value of the journey and in learning by making. It’s fast-paced at times, but it’s always fun!

Extra kudos / Bonus points🏆

• We’re looking for a player/manager so people management experience is a plus. However, we’ll also consider applications from product designers who want to take the next step in their career, and who have a genuine interest in managing and developing others.

Benefits 🎁

Circa £55,000 per annum depending on experience, plus we provide a comprehensive package of employee benefits, which have been carefully selected to protect you, to promote healthy lifestyles, and to give you peace of mind. You can read more about these on our website.

Creating the best place to work 👩🏽‍💻

We want people to be productive, to have career opportunities, to be focused on meaningful work and to have an excellent work/life balance. We value a diverse team, and we believe the variety of experiences and backgrounds in our team make us stronger. We believe in a learning culture and encourage self-development. We like to think we work smarter, not harder, which is why we stick to a 35-hour working week and still Get Things Done.

Normally, we’re based in our amazing office in central Edinburgh and our work environment is light and bright, with inspiring spaces and quiet places. This role will be based in the office most of the week, once we're able to return. Find out more about life at HQ here!

Currently the whole team is working remotely. We're well equipped to support this, as 20% of the team normally works from home on a permanent basis. We’re continuing our hiring and onboarding activity during this time and we're finding alternative ways to stay connected and enjoy activities together, from our virtual art club to exercise challenges and cake decorating competitions. See how we’ve been getting on!

We really care about building an inclusive and diverse team and we welcome applications from people with varied backgrounds and perspectives. We want to make sure that the people who build FreeAgent not only reflect our diverse customer base but also bring with them a range of ideas and experiences. What unites us is an openness to suggestions and a drive to solve problems in the best way possible.

Applying for the role ✍

Our application process is simple; please include:

• Your CV
• A design portfolio is a must have, and we like ones that feature case studies. We’d love to hear about your work, not just see it.
• Details of your people management experience. What ways of working and processes have you implemented to support career development? How do you provide design direction whilst also ensuring designers feel motivated?

Our selection process includes a phone call with a member of our Talent Team, followed by two interviews and a presentation. We work hard to make the process as straightforward, transparent and enjoyable as possible.

Don’t forget to tell us about why you think FreeAgent is the right place for you to make a difference!