UI Design Principal

We are looking for a UI Design Principal who is an expert in design and getting the best out of designers. Reporting into the Head of UI and Content, this is a role requiring someone with excellent leadership and design abilities, who is equally comfortable talking to conversion-led design principles and about Design Systems as they are at mentoring, developing and elevating the individuals within their Design Team.

As Principal UI Designer / Partner, you’ll also have had exposure to ensuring quality work is produced, helping to define WoW, solving problems, creating break-through work, and automating for efficiencies and scale.  

 Primary Responsibilities: 

 Managerial:

• Manage and take responsibility for a large team of talented Leads, UI designers and UX writers (mix of perm and contract, UK and near-shore) across a wide range of projects, with support from a Design Principal and Head of UI & Content
• You will oversee the career progression of permanent staff and proactively identify their skills gaps, arrange and implement training and development plans to address any skills gaps in the current team, regular check-ins with contractors to QA and course correct as well as instilling a culture of team collaboration (internally across perm and contractors, countries and the wider Business Servies team as well as with clients), proactive knowledge sharing and seamless alignment with Tech and UX. 
• Collaborate and represent UI in resource planning to allocate the right team members to the jobs.

Design excellence and leadership: 

• Demonstrable eCommerce experience
• Skilled in standard software: Figma, Adobe Creative Suite 
• Creative, yet meticulous. Detail oriented with a keen sense of craftsmanship. 
• Enjoys leading designers to help them create their best work
• Willing to adapt and take on new challenges and driven to continually improve
• Proven track record in adapting and taking on new challenges, driven to continually improve and make change happen
• Help to drive the evolution of our existing UI design & Content offer
• Able to estimate and plan work to support pitches, proposals and project set up

Brand and design systems 

• Experience creating, evolving and developing brand identities
• Understand and able to create and theme design systems for brands that we work with. 
• Systematic approach to work, anticipating future needs for clients and customers. 
• Keen collaborator with software engineering. 

Approach 

• Great attitude, strong work ethic, excellent communication skills. 
• Ability to manage own projects and to work quickly and accurately to tight deadlines. 
• Able to multi-task and perform well under pressure. 
• Excellent time management, people management and problem-solving abilities. 
• Strong leadership skills with developed financial and commercial acumen.
• Identifies opportunities to build pipeline for both UI & Content teams and wider business.
   

Presentation and pitching 

• Able to lead design conversations on key accounts with senior stakeholders, presents concepts and owns decisions. 
• Senior representative of the UI team within agency and outside. 
• Where necessary, comfortable leading pitches and offering counsel to senior client stakeholders. 
• Enthusiastic, self-confident and self-motivated. 
   

Experience 

• Significant line management and mentoring experience  
• Strong experience within a dedicated UI design role (client-side or agency). 
• Degree educated in Graphic design / UI or similar discipline. 
• Breadth of experience across sectors / audiences. 
• Compelling portfolio of high-quality distinctive UI, visual storytelling and brand related work, including eCommerce 
• Proven experience with motion design and animation tools. 
• Experience in building strong relationships with client stakeholders. 

What you need to be good at:

You see the big picture and identify what are the right questions to ask, the right skillsets needed and the right methodologies to apply to move the project/conversation forward efficiently.

You understand clients’ goals and constraints and sees industry and client context. Taylors the conversation and approach based on client context and goals. You showcase a track record of shaping end-to-end digital products and services across diverse industries, with measurable outcomes.

You are a talented, enthusiastic, focused, eye for detail, professional. Keen to learn and to challenge for smarter ways of doing things; a team player proud of their work who wants to share it. You like working in a fast-paced environment and are ready to inspire outstanding online shopper experiences for consumers and brands, no matter what product, service, sector, device or channel!

You will have a customer-first mindset, with the maturity and initiative to do what it takes keep our clients happy, including some working at client locations. When our clients win – we win!

If you know some of this even better!

·        eCommerce industry experience

·        Leading large scale customer experience design projects

What we’ll give you:

The opportunity to work with some of the most respected brands across the world. We will give you respect for who you are, allow you to be yourself, empower you to make a difference and give you opportunities to grow and develop your skills.

We offer a great benefits package including a competitive discretionary bonus scheme, hybrid working that works for everyone, social events, training opportunities, competitive pension, medical insurance, life assurance, opportunities to buy and sell holidays, family friendly policies, discounts with 100’s of leading retailers and much more!

VML Commerce & Technology inspire people to shop online through digital solutions, driving growth for world-leading brands and retailers.

How? We create, support, and improve digital shopper journeys, across leading channels including retailers, direct-to-consumer (D2C), marketplaces (Amazon and beyond), and social channels. And we work with some of the biggest and most exciting brands around, such as Calvin Klein, MAC, Nestlé, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges, Shell, Tiffany & Co. and Tommy Hilfiger.

Part creative agency, part consultancy and part technology company, VML Commerce & Technology is unique in its ability to connect world-class strategic thinking and creative insight with deep executional capability across technology and operations. Together, this enables us to deliver winning commerce solutions across all major digital routes to market worldwide.

We’re part of WPP, a creative transformation company who use the power of creativity to build better futures for people, planet, clients and communities and is recognised as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Commerce Services.

Tell me more! We are a diverse team of 1500+ commerce experts across more than 20 offices worldwide, including state-of-the-art offices in Watford, Central London and an eCommerce Centre of Excellence in Lisbon. We believe that growth through commerce begins with connected customer experiences that amplify the brand and drive business outcomes. We excel at orchestrating commerce touchpoints through intelligent deployment and integration of world class technology from strategic partners like Adobe, SAP, Salesforce, HCL, Shopify, BigCommerce and commerce tools, as well as driving sales from marketplaces and retailers like Harrods, Coke, Ford and Montblanc. We have recently expanded our capabilities to include Mobile App Commerce and Artificial Intelligence.

Our reputation is based on our people, and we believe we have some of the best in the business – people who are inspired, energetic and straight-talking, and who really want to understand both our clients and their customers. We are happiest when we are innovating and shaping the future of commerce. We live and breathe our values and take pride in what our people achieve, empowering and respecting every one of them.

As our business grows internationally, we’re looking for new people to join us on our journey to inspire and take a key role in shaping some of the best commerce solutions, services and websites in the world. Working as a team, no problem is insurmountable; we share in our client’ successes and believe that anyone can show creative bravery no matter what their role is in the team.

At VML Commerce & Technology, a WPP company, we are committed to actively building a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace where everyone feels welcomed, valued and heard, and is treated with dignity and respect. As leaders and creative partners across industries, it is our responsibility to cultivate an environment reflective of our greatest asset; our people. We believe that this commitment inspires growth and delivers equitable outcomes for everyone as well as the clients and communities we serve.