Location: Hybrid - 3 days at VHQ, Crawley
Hours: Full Time, 37.5 hours per week. Monday to Friday
Contract Type:
Salary: Competitive
Closing Date: 4th October 2026
We review applications on a rolling basis and may close the advert early if we receive a high volume of applications.
At Virgin Atlantic Airways, we believe that everyone can take on the world, and it's our vision to become the most loved travel company. As we embark on this next exciting stage of our journey, we’re harnessing our spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation to challenge the status quo.
In a nutshell
At Virgin Atlantic, great digital experiences don't happen by accident - they're designed with purpose. As Lead Digital Product Designer, you'll shape one of our most important customer journeys, creating intuitive, accessible and beautifully crafted experiences that make it easier for our customers to travel with us.
Alongside leading the design of a major digital product journey, you'll help shape the future of our design practice by exploring how AI can improve both the experiences we create and the way we work. Working closely with Product, Engineering, and Analytics, you'll bring together customer insight, creativity and technology to solve complex problems, while championing responsible, human-centred design.
This is a senior individual contributor role where you'll lead through expertise, influence and collaboration - raising the bar for design quality across Virgin Atlantic without direct line management responsibility.
Day to day
- Leading the end-to-end design of a major digital customer journey, from discovery and prototyping through to delivery and continuous improvement
- Partnering with Product Managers, Engineers, and Analysts to turn customer needs and business goals into simple, intuitive digital experiences
- Identifying where AI can genuinely improve customer experiences and design ways of working, ensuring every solution is responsible, trustworthy and adds real value
- Championing accessible, inclusive and consistent design by evolving our design system and maintaining high standards across products and platforms
- Using customer research, behavioural data and experimentation to validate ideas, measure success and continuously improve our digital experiences
- Coaching and supporting fellow designers, sharing best practice and helping grow capability across the wider design team
About you
You're a curious and creative product designer who enjoys solving complex problems, influencing others through evidence and bringing people together to create exceptional digital experiences. You'll be passionate about combining great design with emerging technology while always keeping the customer at the centre of every decision.
- Proven experience leading the design of complex digital products or customer journeys, with a strong portfolio showcasing web and app experiences from concept through to delivery
- Deep expertise in UX, UI, interaction design and accessible, inclusive design, with experience developing and evolving scalable design systems
- Strong collaboration and stakeholder management skills, confident working alongside Product, Engineering, and senior leaders to influence decisions through customer insight and design thinking
- Experience applying AI within product design, whether through AI-assisted design workflows or designing AI-enabled experiences, alongside sound judgement on where AI adds value—and where it doesn't
- A collaborative leadership style, with experience mentoring designers, raising design standards and helping teams embrace new tools, ways of working and continuous improvement
If you're excited by the opportunity to shape the future of Virgin Atlantic's digital experiences while helping evolve how design is practised through thoughtful use of AI, we'd love to hear from you.
Be yourself – Our differences make us stronger
Our customers come from all walks of life and so do our colleagues. That’s why we’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and actively encourage applications from all backgrounds. At Virgin Atlantic, we believe everyone can take on the world - no matter your age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, or beliefs. We celebrate difference and everything that makes our colleagues unique by upholding an inclusive environment in which we can all thrive. So that everyone at Virgin Atlantic can be themselves and know they belong.
To make your journey with us accessible and individual to you, we encourage you to let us know if you’d like a little extra help with your application, or if you have any individual requirements at any stage along your recruitment journey. We are here to support you, so please reach out to our team, ([email protected]) feeling confident that we’ve got your individual considerations covered.
Skills Required
- Proven experience leading the design of complex digital products or customer journeys
- A strong portfolio demonstrating web and app experiences from concept through delivery
- Deep expertise in UX, UI, and interaction design
- Experience with accessible and inclusive design
- Experience developing and evolving scalable design systems
- Strong collaboration and stakeholder management skills
- Experience working with Product, Engineering, and senior leaders
- Experience applying AI in product design or designing AI-enabled experiences
- Sound judgment regarding responsible and valuable applications of AI
- Experience mentoring designers and raising design standards
- Experience helping teams adopt new tools, working methods, and continuous improvement
What We Do
Virgin Atlantic first took to the skies in 1984 to shake things up, bringing a sparkle of red, a touch of wit and a passion for flying to the grey world of airlines. We fell in love with creating the best experience in the skies for our customers, and they fell in love with us right back. Since then we’ve become Britain’s second largest carrier, with non-stop transatlantic routes including New York, Orlando, the Caribbean, Delhi and Johannesburg. And thanks to our hugely successful joint venture with Delta, Air France and KLM, we can seamlessly connect our customers to over 350 cities across North America, Europe and the UK. Today, we want to empower everyone to take on the world. The customers we proudly fly and our people who go the extra mile. As we embark on a brand spanking new era of travel, it gives us more opportunities to do things differently and lead the way with fresh ideas. This means becoming more sustainable for our planet and our destinations, and working hard to make travel open to everyone, no matter who you are, who you love or where you go. And of course never, ever, forgetting the small stuff - like the clink of champagne glasses on a special occasion or a cheeky cream tea at 30,000 feet.
