Lead Digital Product Designer

We're on a quest to find an exceptional design leader to help bring world class product design to the civil engineering industry. You'd take the lead on the design of a major transformation programme, broad in scale and complexity, helping a large organisation in the sector rethink how it works. You'd set the design direction, earn the trust of senior stakeholders, and help shape how the industry starts to adopt design, product and AI.

Mettle is a design and development studio formed of a close-knit team of engineers, designers, developers and technologists. We go further than just ideas and concepts, delivering live products at pace and with technical excellence.

The civil engineering industry is going through one of the biggest changes in its history - transforming the delivery of transport networks, water systems, energy infrastructure and cities that millions of people rely on every day. The way this vital infrastructure gets planned, designed and built is being rethought, with the use of digital tools and explorations of AI increasingly driving this. Defining what "digital" really means within infrastructure is just beginning, offering a wealth of compelling and exciting design opportunities.

As a Lead Digital Product Designer, you will:

• Set and own the design direction for the programme, keeping quality and consistency high as it grows.
• Lead deep-dive UX and UI design sprints from the front: championing appropriate process, discovery, framing the problem, generating ideas, prototyping, testing with users, and seeing designs through to detailed delivery and beyond.
• Be the senior design partner to clients and their stakeholders, advocating for design and product thinking, building trusted relationships, shaping the conversation, and using your experience to steer projects confidently towards the right outcome.
• Bring the kind of judgement that only comes with experience: knowing what matters most, when to push and when to bend, and how to keep an ambitious product focused and deliverable.
• Collaborate closely with software development teams to bring products to life.
• Champion users and their needs across collaborative, multi-disciplinary teams.
• Set the standard for how we use AI in our design work, trying new tools and approaches, and helping the rest of the team get the most from them.
• Mentor and develop other designers, and help raise the standard of work across the team.
• Drive continuous improvement to process and expertise, both within Mettle and our clients.
• Contribute to thought leadership on the topics you care about.

We are looking for:

• Core Design Expertise and Portfolio (7+ years): Significant digital product design experience leading complex technical products, demonstrated through an outstanding portfolio showing deep UX/UI mastery, a command of the entire product development process (from needs mapping to detailed UI delivery), and deep experience with comprehensive UI design systems.
• Collaborative Team Leadership: Experience leading within collaborative, multi-disciplinary teams alongside product managers and software developers.
• Stakeholder Presence: The presence to hold a room, being clear, persuasive, and calm under pressure, with a strong record of guiding senior clients through well-reasoned discussions.
• Confident Leadership and Self-Direction: A self-directed leader with the confidence to form and back a clear point of view, quickly earning trust and making the team better.
• Technical Acumen: Ability to navigate complexity, engage with technical detail, and possess a curiosity about how things are built (comfort reading or tinkering with code is a plus, but not required).
• Interest in AI: A deep interest in AI and a thoughtful, hands‑on approach to using it effectively, and to helping others do the same.
• Tool Proficiency: Strong proficiency in digital design and prototyping software (eg. Figma, Cursor, Claude etc.).
• Location: A UK-based designer with an existing right to work in the UK.

This is a senior leadership role, and we'll build the package around the right person, so we'd love to hear what you're looking for. It comes with our profit‑sharing bonus scheme. We're an independent studio that punches above its weight, and we'd rather stay that way: small enough that everyone's work matters, ambitious enough to take on projects most studios our size wouldn't. The atmosphere is friendly, supportive and collaborative, and we want a lead who'll help keep it that way.

This is a hybrid role. We have an office in Somerset House, London, and you're welcome there as often as you like. Due to requirements of the client this role would be engaging with, we'd expect you to come into London roughly once a fortnight. Beyond that we're flexible about where you work. We're open to applications from contractors and those looking for a permanent role. For permanent roles, we offer 25 days annual leave and we're also closed between Christmas and New Year. There's an annual company conference where the whole business gets together, and we host several social events throughout the year to have fun and pursue passions. We're also committed to investing in your training and development, with a plan tailored to you. Together and apart, we respect our time outside work and the importance of caring for our minds, bodies and our collective wellbeing. We provide access to professional support, including trained Mental Health First Aiders, should you ever find yourself in need.