Lead UI Designer D2C

We are seeking a Lead UI Designer to own and evolve the design of user interfaces across our suite of financial products and platforms. Reporting into our Head of UX (D2C) this is a hands-on senior role, ideal for a strategic thinker who can guide visual design excellence while ensuring our digital experiences are intuitive, compliant, and scalable.

As a lead designer, you’ll collaborate closely with teams across the business within D2C to craft interfaces that bring clarity to complexity, increase user trust, and drive business outcomes.
 

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the UI design strategy for our financial platforms, ensuring consistency, accessibility, and modern aesthetics across all touchpoints.
• Design elegant, high-fidelity interfaces for web and mobile products used by retail and institutional users.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with UX designers, researchers, product managers, and engineers to deliver cohesive and usable designs.
• Own and evolve our design system, working to maintain a scalable, component-based approach to UI design.
• Mentor and guide other designers, providing design critiques, direction, and fostering a culture of craft and curiosity.
• Ensure all designs comply with financial regulations, accessibility standards, and best practices (e.g., WCAG, responsive design).
• Stay up to date with UI trends, design tools, and FinTech innovations, bringing fresh ideas to the table.

About you:

Experience & Skills

• 7+ years of experience in UI/visual/product design with at least 2 years in a lead or principal role.
• Proven track record designing complex digital products, ideally in financial services, FinTech, banking, or regulated environments.
• Deep expertise in Figma and design system management.
• Strong understanding of information architecture, layout, visual hierarchy, and interaction patterns.
• Experience working with or contributing to design systems in cross-functional teams.
• Confident presenting and articulating design rationale to stakeholders and executives.
• Highly collaborative with excellent communication skills.
• Detail-oriented but pragmatic; you know when to aim for perfection and when to ship.
• Comfortable balancing business, user, and technical needs.
• Able to mentor and inspire junior and mid-level designers.

Nice to Have

• Experience in wealth management, trading platforms, payments, or financial dashboards.
• Familiarity with data visualization, charting libraries, or designing with live financial data.
• Knowledge of front-end development concepts (HTML, CSS, React components).
• Background in accessibility design and/or inclusive design practices.
   

About us

AJ Bell is one of the fastest-growing investment platform businesses in the UK offering an award-winning range of solutions that caters for everyone, from professional financial advisers, to DIY investors with little to no experience. We have over 620,000 customers using our award-winning platform propositions to manage assets totalling more than £96.1billion. Our customers trust us with their investments, and by continuously striving to make investing easier, we aim to help even more people take control of their financial futures.

Having listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2018, AJ Bell is now a FTSE 250 company.

Headquartered in Manchester with offices in central London and Bristol, we now have over 1,500 employees and have been named one of the UK's 'Best 100 Companies to Work For’ for six consecutive years and in 2024 named a Great Place to Work®.

Our perks and benefits

• Competitive salary
• Starting holiday entitlement of 26 days, increasing up to 31 days with length of service
• Holiday buy and sell scheme
• A choice of pension schemes with matched contributions up to 7%
• Discretionary bonus scheme
• Annual free share awards scheme
• Buy As You Earn (BAYE) Scheme
• Health Cash Plan – provided by Medicash
• Discounted private healthcare scheme and dental plan
• Free gym membership
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Bike loan scheme
• Sick pay+ pledge
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave
• Loans for travel season tickets
• Death in service scheme
• Dedicated time for proof-of-concepts and assessing new tech
• Support to attend conferences, events, and meet-ups
• Paid time off for volunteer work
• Charitable giving opportunities through salary sacrifice
• Calendar of social events, including monthly payday drinks, annual Christmas party, summer party and much more
• Personal development programmes built around you and your career goals, including access to personal skills workshops
• Ongoing technical training
• Professional qualification support
• Talent management programmes
• Peer recognition scheme, with rewards including restaurant and shopping vouchers or time off
• Monthly leadership breakfasts and lunches
• Casual dress code
• Access to a range of benefits from our sponsorship deals

Hybrid working

At AJ Bell, our people are the heart of our culture. We believe in building strong connections by working together. That's why we offer a hybrid working model, where you’ll spend a minimum of 50% of your working time per month in the office. For new team members, an initial period will be full-time in the office to help you immerse yourself in our business and build valuable relationships with your colleagues.

AJ Bell is committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and all employees are empowered to bring their whole self to work.

We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy, religion, physical and mental disability, marital status and any other characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010. All decisions to hire are based on qualifications, merit and business need.

If you like the sound of the above, or just want to know more about the company and the role, we'd love to speak to you.