At a Glance
- Tasks: Design engaging audio player experiences for families, blending hardware and software seamlessly.
- Company: Join Yoto, a fast-growing tech company creating screen-free audio adventures for kids.
- Benefits: Enjoy flexible working, competitive salary, health perks, and generous holiday leave.
- Other info: Be part of a diverse team committed to creativity and inclusion.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on childhood experiences through innovative product design.
- Qualifications: Experience in connected product design and strong collaboration skills required.
The predicted salary is between 75000 - 85000 £ per year.
We’re looking for Senior Product Designers to join our Product Design team, helping shape how families discover, set up, and enjoy Yoto every day, across software and hardware experiences.
About Yoto
Yoto is a screen-free interactive audio platform for kids. We make carefully connected audio players that kids control, with no microphones, cameras or ads. We have a catalogue of audio that inspires creative play and learning with 1,000+ titles in our card store from top creators, publishers and labels - think Disney, Marvel, Roald Dahl and Universal Music. We also create Yoto Originals like BrainBots.
We’re on a mission to be the soundtrack of childhood, and help families on their own unique adventures. By creating products that inspire independent play, we help families discover and grow with an inspiring world of audio - and we would like you to help us achieve it!
The Product Design team at Yoto shapes how families experience our audio players and the digital ecosystem around them.
As a Senior Product Designer for Connected Products, you'll take ownership of how Yoto players come to life in families' homes — designing the player setup and management experience that spans hardware, firmware and app. You'll partner closely with Product, Engineering, Hardware, Firmware, Research, and Brand teams to turn ambiguous problems into clear, well-crafted solutions. This role is hands-on, with a strong focus on delivering high-quality design work while collaborating effectively across disciplines.
What you’ll be doing:
- Own and champion the player setup experience - the first-time journey from unboxing to a child happily listening - designing the digital interfaces in the Yoto app that bring the hardware to life for families.
- Work at the intersection of hardware, firmware, app and packaging - making sure the setup journey works and feels like one coherent product.
- Bring proven connected-product instinct to the design conversation, so the digital and physical interactions tessellate, complement, and elevate one another.
- Drive cross-cutting work - pairing, error recovery, firmware updates, multi-player households, device-app handoffs - that elevates the experience across every touchpoint where the player meets the app.
- Own design for complex, high-impact areas of the connected experience from early discovery through to shipped outcomes, with clear links to customer behaviour and business impact.
- Work closely with Product, Engineering and Hardware to design within real-world constraints, making pragmatic trade-offs without compromising quality.
- Use research and real-world observation (e.g. at home, during routines) to understand how families interact with Yoto and turn insights into meaningful improvements.
- Align stakeholders across product, hardware, marketing, and brand, bringing clarity where priorities or opinions differ.
- Make confident decisions in ambiguity, balancing user needs, technical constraints, and business goals to move work forward.
- Communicate your work clearly and persuasively, using storytelling and artefacts to build alignment.
- Contribute to critique and team discussions, helping raise the bar for quality and execution.
What you’ll bring:
Essential
- Experience designing for connected products, IoT, or hardware-adjacent ecosystems.
- A portfolio demonstrating end-to-end ownership of complex connected-product work, and a deep understanding of how to make hardware and software feel like one product.
- Strong native app design skills (iOS and Android), since this is where you'll spend most of your day-to-day, even as the work spans device and firmware.
- Demonstrable experience designing onboarding, setup, pairing or first-time-use journeys, where clarity and ease of use are critical.
- A high bar for craft, including interaction design, attention to detail, and strong physical-digital coherence.
- Experience working in ambiguous or evolving problem spaces, with the ability to frame problems and drive to clear outcomes.
- Strong collaboration with cross-functional partners (Product, Engineering, and especially Hardware and Firmware), influencing decisions beyond design.
- Invest in the design team itself - you show up as a strong peer, partner and advocate, and are at your best designing alongside others.
- Clear communication skills, able to articulate rationale, trade-offs, and decisions in a way that builds trust and alignment.
Nice to have
- Experience designing for connected products, hardware-adjacent experiences, or ecosystems spanning physical and digital interactions.
- Experience working on consumer products used daily by families or children.
- Experience working on onboarding, setup, or early lifecycle journeys where clarity and ease of use are critical.
Salary: £75,000 - £85,000 based on experience. We never want to miss out on great candidates, so don’t let our banding put you off reaching out - there’s sometimes flexibility for the right fit!
What you can expect from Yoto:
Flexibility:
- Hybrid working - expectation of 1 day a week on average in our London office, but you are welcome to come in more than this.
- Take advantage of our ‘work from anywhere’ policy to work from a different location for up to 6 weeks every year.
- Summer Hours policy to use between the months of June and August.
Financial:
- Receive Income Protection, covering long term sickness for up to 2 years and company sick pay that increases with length of service.
- Life Assurance cover from day one of your service.
- Workplace Pension offering up to 3% employer contributions, following probation.
- Generous employee referral bonus scheme.
Health & Wellness:
- Private Medical Insurance via Aviva, or a Wellbeing Allowance to be used for memberships, subscriptions, treatment or therapy.
- Access to 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) through WeCare and unlimited access to Dental advice and guidance via Toothfairy.
- Bike to work scheme to promote healthier lifestyles.
Time Off:
- 25 days of holiday per year, plus bank holidays.
- On top of this, you also receive your birthday off, plus 1 extra day of holiday for every year worked after you hit your 2 year anniversary, up to 5 extra days.
- After 4 years of service, you are also eligible for our sabbatical policy offering up to 3 months' of unpaid sabbatical.
Helping Families:
- Variety of family-friendly leave, including enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption, fertility, pregnancy loss and carers leave.
- Unlock savings with our workplace nursery scheme, designed to support parents of preschool-aged children.
People & Planet:
- Up to 2 volunteer days a year.
- A Book Allowance of up to £50 a year to contribute to your professional development.
Fun Perks:
- You receive your very own Yoto player and starter pack of cards!
- Regular company socials and celebrations, including our annual YotoFest!
Equity and Diversity
At Yoto, we love creating a world where childhood is rich with discovery and joy. We’re also passionate about building a workplace where everyone can thrive both professionally and personally. We value flexibility and give our team the freedom to balance life and work in ways that suit them. We're committed to fostering a safe, diverse, and inclusive environment where all individuals, regardless of their background, feel valued and supported. Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion group holds bi-monthly forums to elevate diverse voices and perspectives, ensuring everyone at Yoto feels heard, respected, and appreciated. We don’t just embrace differences - we celebrate them. We share audio content from a vibrant and diverse community of creators, and we are building a team that reflects that same diversity. We invite candidates from all walks of life to explore opportunities with us and join a company that champions flexibility, equity, and inclusion.
Please only apply or engage with Yoto jobs posted on our careers page. All correspondence from our Talent team will only come through Teamtailor, our application tracking system.
Senior Product Designer (Connected Devices) in London employer: Yoto
Contact Detail:
Yoto Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Product Designer (Connected Devices) in London
✨Tip Number 1
Get to know Yoto and its products inside out! Familiarise yourself with the audio players and the app. This way, when you get that interview, you can show off your passion and understanding of how families interact with Yoto's offerings.
✨Tip Number 2
Network like a pro! Connect with current employees on LinkedIn or attend industry events. Building relationships can give you insider info about the company culture and even lead to referrals, which can be a game-changer in landing that job.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for your interview by practising common design challenges and scenarios related to connected products. Think about how you'd approach the setup experience for families and be ready to share your thought process. We love seeing how you tackle real-world problems!
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re serious about joining the Yoto family and contributing to our mission of creating magical experiences for kids.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Product Designer (Connected Devices) in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Portfolio: Make sure to include a portfolio that highlights your experience with connected products. We want to see how you've tackled complex design challenges and made hardware and software feel like one seamless experience.
Tailor Your Application: When applying, tailor your application to reflect the specific skills and experiences mentioned in the job description. We love seeing candidates who can connect their past work to what we do at Yoto!
Be Clear and Concise: In your written application, clarity is key! Make your points easy to understand and avoid jargon. We appreciate straightforward communication that gets to the heart of your experience and ideas.
Apply Through Our Website: Don’t forget to apply through our careers page! It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. We can’t wait to see what you bring to the table!
How to prepare for a job interview at Yoto
✨Know Your Product Inside Out
Before the interview, make sure you understand Yoto's products and their unique selling points. Familiarise yourself with how families interact with the audio players and the app. This will help you speak confidently about how your design experience can enhance these user journeys.
✨Showcase Your Portfolio Effectively
Prepare to present your portfolio in a way that highlights your end-to-end design process for connected products. Focus on projects that demonstrate your ability to create seamless interactions between hardware and software, as this is crucial for the role.
✨Prepare for Cross-Functional Collaboration Questions
Expect questions about how you've worked with cross-functional teams in the past. Be ready to share specific examples of how you’ve influenced product decisions and collaborated with engineers and product managers to achieve successful outcomes.
✨Emphasise User-Centric Design
Yoto values user experience, so be prepared to discuss how you incorporate user research and feedback into your design process. Share examples of how your designs have improved user engagement or satisfaction, especially in onboarding and setup experiences.