At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead and shape the design vision for innovative AI products that enhance customer experiences.
- Company: Join a pioneering tech company transforming customer service with AI-driven voice assistants.
- Benefits: Enjoy flexible working, generous holidays, and a supportive health programme.
- Other info: Be part of a diverse culture that values excellence, ownership, and continuous improvement.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in the AI space while leading a talented design team.
- Qualifications: 8+ years in Product Design with leadership experience in fast-paced tech environments.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
PolyAI automates customer service through lifelike voice assistants that let customers lead a conversation. Our voice assistants make it possible for businesses to deliver outstanding customer service that rivals their human agents. Our customers, which include the world’s leading logos, are expanding how they use our platform, driving automation of critical customer service operations and integrating PolyAI into their daily customer service workflows.
This is a critical leadership role responsible for defining and scaling PolyAI's design vision across our entire product ecosystem. You will lead the Product Design function, shaping how millions of users interact with PolyAI across Voice, Webchat, WhatsApp, Email, SMS, and future AI-native experiences. You'll be responsible for building a world-class design organisation, establishing a clear design strategy, raising the quality bar across every customer touchpoint, and ensuring design is a strategic partner to Product, Engineering and the wider business. You'll balance hands-on leadership with developing people, evolving design practices, and creating an environment where exceptional design can thrive.
Key Responsibilities- Lead, coach and grow a high-performing Product Design team, developing designers at all levels.
- Build an inclusive, high-performance design culture focused on craft, impact and continuous improvement.
- Own hiring, organisational design, performance management and succession planning for the Product Design function.
- Set the long-term vision for Product Design and ensure it aligns with company strategy.
- Partner closely with Product, Engineering and Executive Leadership to influence company priorities and product direction.
- Ensure design is represented early in strategic decision making and product planning.
- Drive exceptional design quality across every customer experience.
- Establish clear standards for UX, interaction design, visual design, content and accessibility.
- Champion a cohesive design language and evolve the company-wide design system.
- Shape the future of conversational and AI-first product experiences.
- Champion AI-native design workflows and introduce tooling that increases team effectiveness.
- Help define emerging interaction patterns for agentic AI products.
- Build a strong user-centred culture across the organisation.
- Ensure product decisions are informed by customer research, experimentation and data.
- Balance user needs with commercial objectives and technical constraints.
- Establish scalable design processes that enable teams to move quickly without compromising quality.
- Strengthen collaboration between Design, Product and Engineering.
- Define how design contributes to planning, prioritisation and product delivery across the company.
- Minimum of 8+ years of Product Design experience with several years leading high-performing design teams in fast-moving technology companies.
- Experience building and scaling design organisations through periods of rapid growth.
- Strategic Thinker comfortable operating at both company strategy and execution levels.
- Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and shape product direction.
- Exceptional Product Sense with deep expertise across UX, UI, interaction and systems thinking.
- Strong judgement for creating intuitive, elegant experiences for complex products.
- People Leader passionate about coaching, mentoring and developing designers.
- Experience creating high-performing teams with clear career frameworks and strong design culture.
- Excited by AI and emerging interaction paradigms.
- Proven experience leveraging AI throughout the design process and introducing AI-native workflows.
- Uses research, experimentation and product metrics to guide decisions and measure success.
- Comfortable creating clarity in fast-changing environments.
- Able to balance long-term vision with pragmatic execution.
- Outstanding communicator who builds trust across Engineering, Product and Executive Leadership.
- Excellent facilitator who brings diverse perspectives together to make better decisions.
- Experience designing complex SaaS, enterprise platforms or AI products.
- Familiarity with conversational AI is a strong advantage.
- Experienced in being deeply embedded within a development team, working with a light touch from the Product Manager to deliver high-quality outcomes.
- Participation in the company’s employee share options plan.
- Tenure-Based PTO: You will receive 25 holidays when you join and will gain an additional 1 day after 2 years of service, then 1 day each year until capped at 32 holidays.
- Flexible working from home policy.
- Work from outside of the UK for up to 6 months each year.
- TELUS Health EAP 24/7 - offers you and your chosen family confidential, judgment-free support for any work, health, or life challenge.
- Enhanced parental leave.
- Bike2Work scheme.
- Annual learning and development allowance.
- We’re all about making WFH work for you - that’s why we offer a one-off WFH allowance when you join.
- Company-funded fertility and family-forming programmes.
- Menopause care programme with Maven.
- Private healthcare and dental cover, discounts on gym members and relaxation apps, and access to a range of mental health programs.
- Sabbatical Program: 5-week paid sabbatical available after 5 years of employment.
At PolyAI, we take great pride in our values - they guide everything we do. We believe that a strong culture leads to meaningful work and lasting impact. Our core values are:
- Only the best: We expect the best from our people, we hire people that expect the best from themselves, and we nurture this drive for excellence.
- Ownership: We care deeply about what we do. We take ownership of our initiatives, decisions and outcomes.
- Relentlessly improve: We demand more from ourselves and are always evolving. Continuous, obsessive improvement is the only way we will transform the world of conversational AI.
- Bias for action: Our world moves quickly and so do we. We take calculated risks and we deliver impact fast.
- Disagree and commit: We are all working toward the same goal. If we don’t agree with something, we work hard to understand it and when a decision is made, we accept it and give it our all.
- Build for people: We want the world to enjoy the experiences they have with us. We are building for a future that prefers automation.
PolyAI is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All employment decisions at PolyAI will be based on the business needs without attention to ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, family or parental status, national origin, neurodiversity status or disability status.
Head of Product Design in London employer: PolyAI
At PolyAI, we pride ourselves on fostering a vibrant and inclusive work culture that champions creativity and innovation. As the Head of Product Design in London, you'll enjoy a wealth of employee growth opportunities, including mentorship and a generous learning allowance, all while working in a flexible environment that supports your well-being. With unique benefits like a sabbatical program and company-funded family-forming initiatives, we are committed to ensuring our team members thrive both personally and professionally.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Head of Product 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 PolyAI for a Head of Product 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 PolyAI before they go live!
We think you need these skills to ace Head of Product Design in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Showcase Your Design Process:When you're applying for a UX/UI Design role like Head of Product Design at PolyAI, 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 PolyAI 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 PolyAI. 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 PolyAI.
How to prepare for a job interview at PolyAI
✨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 PolyAI, 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. PolyAI 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 PolyAI!
✨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 PolyAI is looking for.
