UX Design Team Lead

As User Experience (UX) Design Lead you will be accountable for the user experience design across all YBS group digital channels. You will lead a team of 12 UX Designers within an Agile delivery environment and work in partnership with Product Owners, Developers, Content Designers and SMEs to deliver an outstanding experience design capability. This is a strategic leadership role that combines creative hands-on design expertise with people leadership.

This is a hybrid role with remote working and regular onsite presence in our central Leeds and Bradford offices. Fixed Term Contract 6 months.

About the role:

• You will have a deep understanding of good experience design and how to mature and modernise capability in your team.
• You will work alongside other design leads in Content Design, User Research and Service Design to build a modern, creative, responsive and influential design practice that improves outcomes for our customers.
• Lead, coach, mentor and develop a team of 12 UX designers to build their practice, maturity, strategic thinking skills and confidence.
• Act as a role model, demonstrating exceptional levels of skill in collaboration, constructive challenge and strategic thinking.
• Support the team in developing a more collaborative product design culture.
• Work closely with the Design Squad lead and Delivery Manager to plan project resource and solve design problems.
• Act as a primary advocate for user-centered design and support designers in effective communication of design rationale to developers and business stakeholders.
• Partner closely with Product Management and Engineering to ensure UX practice is fit for purpose by proactively identifying future capacity and capability needs.
• Further develop and maintain high standards of usability, accessibility and design quality.
• Facilitate design thinking workshops, ideation sessions, and strategic alignment activities and coach your team in these areas.

About you:

• You'll be an experienced Senior or UX Lead with demonstrable experience in leading and mentoring Designers.
• Demonstrable experience of leading a team through transformative change.
• Proven experience leading design strategy across multiple products, platforms, or product portfolios.
• Passion for innovation, continuous improvement, and building high-performing teams.
• Proven experience of coaching, developing, maturity and building advanced skills in a design team.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive strategic decisions through evidence-based design practices.
• Excellent communication, facilitation and stakeholder management skills.
• Expertise in design systems and scalable UX frameworks.
• Strong knowledge of accessibility standards, inclusive design principles and regulatory compliance.
• Advanced proficiency with modern design systems, prototyping software, and design tools (Figma preferred).

About our Benefits:

Everyone's different. That's why we offer a wide range of benefits and rewards that we think you'll love, whatever's important to you, and whatever stage of life you're at. Such as:

• Our pension scheme (where you can get up to 11% from us).
• On target bonus of 7% (with the opportunity to earn up to a maximum 15%).
• Access to brilliant health benefits.
• Life assurance at 6 times your salary.
• 25 days holiday (and the option to buy more).
• Cycle to work or an interest-free loan for an annual ticket.
• Wellbeing resources and tools.
• Retail and Leisure discounts.