Head of Design in London

Head of Design in London

London Full-Time 10500 - 150000 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
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At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead design transformation for private markets, shaping user experiences and brand identity.
  • Company: Odin, a forward-thinking company revolutionising private market infrastructure.
  • Benefits: Competitive salary, equity options, health insurance, wellness budget, and generous leave policies.
  • Other info: Collaborative office environment with excellent career growth opportunities.
  • Why this job: Join us to redefine design standards and make a real impact in the financial sector.
  • Qualifications: Deep product design expertise, strong visual craft, and user-centric approach required.

The predicted salary is between 10500 - 150000 £ per year.

About Odin

Private markets are overdue a design transformation, and there is still no design-led company setting the standard for the category. Most products in the space look and feel like a bank statement from 2009. We’re looking for someone to help us change that.

Odin is building infrastructure for the future of private markets. We believe capital is one of the most powerful tools for shaping the world - and more people should be putting it to work. Our mission is to make it radically easier to raise and deploy capital, so that anyone, anywhere, can back the companies and ideas they believe in.

Our first product is a full-stack platform for launching and running private investment firms - think Shopify for VC and PE. We handle all the infrastructure: from legals and investor onboarding to KYC/AML, payments, tax, reporting, and exits.

We’re already trusted by over 10,000 angels, VCs, and founders. We administer over $500m in assets, covering investments from pre-seed to series E. This includes household names like ElevenLabs, OpenAI, SpaceX, xAI, Anduril, etc. but also new companies creating everything from synthetic brains to small nuclear reactors.

Mission

We’re looking for a senior design leader who combines exceptional visual craft with systems-level product thinking. You’ll play a central role in defining and elevating the customer experience at Odin as we prepare for a major US launch.

The scope here is intentionally broad. Your remit spans across product and visual brand identity. You’ll help evolve our brand identity alongside the founders, expressing the philosophy, ambition and cultural stance of a company that is rethinking what progress means and how we get there.

Working with our existing designer, our Head of Product and the wider product team, you’ll help set the design direction for the company, raise the quality bar and shape how design operates as we grow. You’ll bring experience and conviction to make strong design decisions quickly, while creating the systems, practices and feedback loops that allow consistently excellent work to scale.

You’ll remain close to the work: exploring complex problems, building and testing prototypes, speaking directly with customers and translating what you learn into polished, production-ready experiences. You won’t be stepping into a finished structure. You’ll be helping to shape the next stage of it.

Your remit spans both product and brand. You’ll turn complex, regulation-heavy workflows and dense interfaces into experiences that feel clear, intuitive and inevitable.

Your Must-Have Qualities

  • Deeply user-centric: You advocate for the customer and care about how people experience the product. You use interviews, data and observation to understand real behaviour—not just what users say.
  • Exceptional in your craft: You have a highly developed eye for composition, hierarchy, interaction and detail. You create polished, cohesive experiences and hold the shipped product to a very high standard.
  • Reasoned and curious: You challenge assumptions, ask sharp questions and look for root causes rather than applying surface-level fixes.
  • Decisive with strong judgment: You make thoughtful trade-offs between speed, quality, complexity and compliance. You explore enough to make an informed decision, form a clear point of view and move quickly.
  • High agency: You don’t wait for perfect information or detailed direction. You identify what needs to happen, bring others with you and take responsibility for moving the work forward.
  • Systematic about discovery: You build repeatable ways of learning from customers, test assumptions early and establish regular feedback loops rather than treating research as a one-off stage.
  • Clear and collaborative: You articulate your thinking simply, write clearly and give engineers the context and detail needed to build what was intended. You debate constructively, respond well to feedback and operate with conviction without ego.
  • Comfortable with complexity and ambiguity: You create structure from incomplete information and navigate technical, regulatory and operational constraints without losing momentum.
  • Outcome-driven: You care about what happens after something ships. You measure impact and ensure your work genuinely improves the customer experience, business outcomes or operational efficiency.

Your Experience

  • Deep product design expertise and exceptional judgment, with a proven track record of shaping complex products end to end.
  • In-house experience, with ownership of complete customer journeys rather than isolated screens.
  • A portfolio demonstrating exceptional visual design, polished production-ready UI and measurable business or customer impact.
  • Strong information architecture, interaction design and prototyping skills.
  • The ability to produce high-quality work at pace, make confident visual decisions and maintain a consistently high bar across the product.
  • Strong systems thinking, with experience designing complete workflows spanning user actions, communications, automations, permissions, operational processes and technical constraints.
  • Experience designing complex, multi-party products or working within regulated environments.
  • The ability to independently lead discovery, including customer interviews, assumption validation, prototyping, usability testing and iteration.
  • Experience establishing structured, repeatable customer-research and feedback practices.

Salary

The salary band for this role is £105,000 - £150,000 + equity options. During the hiring process, we'll assess your experience and capabilities to determine your starting salary.

Working at Odin

We’re a London-based team. This is a role where being in the office - working closely with the founders and wider teams - makes a real difference. The speed and intensity we operate at make in-person collaboration crucial, and we expect at least three days per week in the office.

Benefits

  • Health: Private health insurance (Vitality), paid sick leave including support for pregnancy loss and fertility treatments, and access to Spill for mental health support.
  • Wellness: £1,000 annual budget for health, therapy or fitness.
  • Parental Leave: Enhanced maternity, adoption, paternity and partner leave.
  • Pension: 4% employer contribution with salary sacrifice options.
  • Time Off: 25 days annual leave, 2 wellness days and flexible bank holidays (33 days total).
  • Work From Anywhere: Up to 6 weeks per year working from anywhere globally.
  • Birthday Leave: An additional day of leave.

Head of Design in London employer: Odin

Odin is an exceptional employer that fosters a dynamic and collaborative work culture, where employees are empowered to shape the future of private markets. With a strong focus on personal and professional growth, team members benefit from generous wellness budgets, flexible working arrangements, and a commitment to mental health support. Located in London, the role of Founding Senior Talent Partner offers the unique opportunity to work closely with founders and leadership, making a significant impact on the company's hiring strategy and employer brand.

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Contact Details:

Odin Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Head of Design in London

Show Off Your Portfolio

In the world of UX/UI design, your portfolio speaks volumes! Make sure it's packed with your best work and showcases your process, not just the final product. We want to see how you tackle design challenges, so consider adding case studies that reflect your thought process and user-centric approach.

Get Involved in Design Communities

Jump into local or online design meetups and workshops! Places like UXPA or local design events can be goldmines for networking and learning. Plus, mingling with fellow designers can introduce you to potential job openings that might not be listed elsewhere.

Tailor Your Applications

When you find a role that excites you, like the one at Odin for a Head of Design, make your application count! Highlight specific projects and skills that directly relate to the job description. Hiring managers are looking for candidates who fit into their specific team, so show them you’re the one!

Leverage Social Media

Don't underestimate the power of social media in finding a UX/UI design job! Follow design leaders on platforms like Twitter or Instagram, share your work, and engage in conversations. It’s a great way to get noticed by recruiters and even catch wind of openings at companies like Odin before they go live!

We think you need these skills to ace Head of Design in London

User-Centric Design
Visual Design
Information Architecture
Interaction Design
Prototyping
Customer Research
Usability Testing

Some tips for your application 🫡

Showcase Your Design Process:When you're applying for a UX/UI Design role like Head of Design at Odin, make sure to include examples that clearly highlight your design process. We want to see not just the final product but also the journey that led you there—wireframes, user personas, and iterations demonstrate your thought process and user-centric approach!

Tailor Your Portfolio:A tailor-made portfolio is crucial for a full-time design role! Curate your best projects that align with the kind of work Odin does. We suggest including 3-5 case studies that showcase a variety of skills such as wireframing, prototyping, and user testing to really make your application pop.

Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter should not just be a summary of your CV. Use it to express why you’re excited about UX/UI Design and what draws you specifically to Odin. Mention any relevant experience, tools you’re proficient in (like Sketch or Figma), and how you can contribute to their projects.

Highlight Collaboration Skills:In the world of UX/UI Design, teamwork is crucial. Make sure to highlight any past experiences where you worked in cross-functional teams. Illustrate how you communicated design decisions and listened to feedback, as this will resonate well with the culture at Odin.

How to prepare for a job interview at Odin

Show Off Your Portfolio

When you're gunning for a full-time UX/UI design role, your portfolio is your best friend! Make sure you've got a solid selection of your work, showcasing not just the final designs, but the process behind them—think wireframes, user flows, and any user research you've conducted. During the interview with Odin, be prepared to discuss your design decisions and how they solve specific user problems.

Prepare for Design Challenges

Expect to face some practical design tasks during your interview. Odin might ask you to tackle a quick design challenge or critique an existing interface. Brush up on your problem-solving skills and try to articulate your thought process as you work through these scenarios. Showing how you approach a design problem is just as important as the final output!

Know the Tools of the Trade

Familiarise yourself with the tools commonly used in the industry—figma, Adobe XD, or Sketch should be second nature to you. Be ready to discuss your preferred tools during the interview and how they've shaped your design process at previous positions. This knowledge could give you an edge at Odin!

Show Passion for User Experience

In a full-time UX/UI design role, having a genuine passion for improving user interactions can set you apart. Be prepared to share instances when you went above and beyond to ensure a great user experience in your previous projects. This will demonstrate that you’re not just a designer, but a user advocate, which is exactly what Odin is looking for.