Product Design Lead, Puzzles & Games in City of Westminster

Location: London, GB

Overview: Condé Nast’s New Yorker Puzzles & Games seeks a Product Design Lead to evolve and expand the digital puzzle and game offering. The role is senior, focusing on design quality, ecosystem thinking, and collaboration across design, engineering, product, editorial and analytics.

What you’ll be doing:

• Own the design quality of the Puzzles & Games portfolio, optimising existing games, concepting new ones and building a habit‑forming ecosystem.
• Apply sophisticated understanding of gameplay mechanics, reward cycles and moments of delight to create engaging experiences.
• Interrogate briefs, propose better framing, and push back when necessary to ensure a high‑ambition outcome.
• Master interaction, motion, micro‑interactions and timing to make games feel satisfying.
• Leverage data and research to understand players, run lightweight usability tests, and collaborate with UX research and analytics.
• Design a connected ecosystem covering onboarding, streaks, rewards, social moments and journeys that convert casual players into loyal users.
• Work closely with engineering to close the gap between design and delivery, using design tokens, Figma, GitHub and understanding front‑end constraints.
• Use AI tools for rapid prototyping, generative exploration and shaping the design process.
• Track outcomes via player data, retention metrics and qualitative feedback, and treat each experience as a product rather than a deliverable.
• Partner across disciplines, translating brand editorial personality into interaction systems.
• Champion design culture, mentor by example, and raise the collective bar across the organization.

You’ll thrive in this role if:

• You love puzzles and games and understand what makes them habitual.
• You care deeply about design’s role in building loyalty and emotional connection.
• You are an expert in interaction, motion, and feedback, with strong instincts for satisfying detail.
• You can balance individual moments with broader ecosystem thinking.
• You interrogate briefs and bring a point of view, not just execute.
• You are technically fluent in Figma, GitHub, design tokens, and front‑end constraints.
• You embrace AI tools and are curious about evolving practices.
• You are outcome‑oriented, focusing on engagement, retention, and habit formation.
• You communicate directly and openly, receiving feedback as well as giving it.
• You are a self‑starter capable of moving forward without a fully defined path.

What success looks like:

• In the first six months, establish a perspective on puzzle and game opportunities, build cross‑functional trust, and introduce AI‑assisted methods to raise pace and quality.
• By the end of the first year, launch at least one game, evolve others, and demonstrate impact through engagement numbers and loyalty metrics.

What we’d like to see in your portfolio:

• Interaction and motion craft – examples of gameplay, feedback states, transitions, and micro‑interactions that create delight.
• Ecosystem thinking – how you connect multiple features and moments to drive outcomes.
• Brand sensitivity – how you translate and express a brand’s identity and voice.
• Direct puzzles and games experience – preferred but not strictly required; demonstrate delightful interactive moments.
• Implementation quality – evidence that your design intent carried through to production with engineers.
• Visual judgement – clear hierarchy, rhythm, motion, and composition, showing a strong design voice.
• Curiosity and progression – signs you stay current, experiment with new tools (including AI), and push your craft forward.
• Experience – 5+ years in product or interaction design roles.

Benefits:

• 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays) with additional leave for relocation or volunteering.
• Competitive pension scheme and Bupa Private Healthcare.
• Season ticket loans, eye tests, corporate gym membership, cycle to work scheme.
• 30 remote days (10 remote days from home or a Condé Nast office location) and core hours for flexibility.
• Well‑being tools, Employee Assistance Programme, learning hub, disability support, diversity programmes and dog‑friendly office.

Equal Opportunity Employment: Condé Nast is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, age, familial status, or other legally protected characteristics.