Communication jobs in Großbritannien

Job Title: Senior UX/UI DesignerCompany: RowdenLocation: Bristol, UKJob Type: Permanent - Full TimeCategory: UX/UI Design & Product DevelopmentDate Posted: 2026-02-13T15:52:16Experience Level: 5-10 YearsRemote Status: Hybrid (Average 3 days in office)

• Lead the design of end-to-end user experiences for secure, classified, and mission-critical applications, ensuring high usability and reliability in critical operations.
• Frame and solve complex problems by integrating user research, operational insights, domain knowledge, and stakeholder input to drive product strategy.
• Establish and evolve a comprehensive design system from the ground up, ensuring consistency, scalability, and accessibility across multiple products and programs.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders to balance user needs with security, performance, and compliance requirements within regulated environments.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is critical for Rowden's mission to build next-generation engineering technology for national security. The Senior UX/UI Designer will play a pivotal role in establishing design foundations for complex, mission-critical systems, requiring a strong understanding of user needs in high-stakes, regulated environments. Eligibility for SC Clearance is a mandatory requirement due to the nature of the work.

• Spearhead the design of intuitive and effective user experiences for secure, classified, and mission-critical applications and systems, from concept to implementation.
• Conduct comprehensive user research, including qualitative and quantitative methods, adapting approaches to work within constrained or classified environments with limited user access and sensitive data.
• Synthesize research findings into actionable insights that inform design direction, product strategy, and advocate for evidence-based design decisions.
• Create and manage high-fidelity design outputs, including user journeys, personas, task flows, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and polished UI designs, ready for development.
• Ensure designed experiences are consistent, accessible, inclusive, and scalable by effectively utilizing and evolving design systems, adhering to accessibility regulations such as EAA.
• Partner with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders to meticulously balance usability, security, performance, and compliance throughout the entire product development lifecycle.
• Clearly articulate design rationale, facilitate workshops and design reviews, and mentor junior designers, contributing to the development of shared design standards and best practices within the team.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "constrained or classified environments" and "limited user access and sensitive data" suggests that traditional user research methods may need adaptation. Candidates should be prepared to discuss how they would approach user research and validation under such conditions, potentially involving simulations, expert reviews, or working with proxy users.

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio demonstrating relevant skills and experience is paramount. Candidates with degrees in Human-Computer Interaction, Design, Computer Science, or related fields may have a foundational advantage.

Experience: Significant experience (typically 5-10 years) as a UX Designer, Product Designer, or UX/UI Designer delivering complex digital products. Proven track record of operating effectively in a senior design role with demonstrated ownership of end-to-end design work, from discovery through implementation.

Required Skills:

• Proven ability to lead the design of end-to-end user experiences for complex digital products.
• Strong portfolio showcasing problem framing, interaction design, UI craft, and research-informed decision-making.
• Experience conducting or supporting user research and usability evaluations, particularly in challenging or constrained environments.
• Solid understanding of human-centred design principles, usability heuristics, and accessibility standards (e.g., EAA).
• Experience working with or contributing to the development and maintenance of design systems.
• Proficiency with modern design and prototyping tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or equivalent.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively within secure, regulated, or restricted environments.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to present design rationale clearly and facilitate stakeholder workshops.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience conducting and analyzing user research using a variety of industry-recognized methods.
• Experience designing for defence, aerospace, government, critical infrastructure, or similarly regulated domains.
• Experience working on long-lifecycle systems with complex technical dependencies and integration challenges.
• Ability to influence product and design decisions in high-stakes, ambiguity-heavy contexts.
• Experience mentoring junior designers or leading design efforts across multiple product teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "5-10 Years" experience level is inferred from the "Senior" title and the expectation of leading design efforts, establishing design systems, and mentoring. The emphasis on "SC Clearance" suggests a need for candidates with experience in highly regulated or secure environments, which often aligns with defence or government sectors.

• Showcase end-to-end design projects that clearly articulate the problem, user needs, and your role in solving them.
• Include examples of user research methodologies employed, detailing how insights were gathered and translated into design decisions.
• Demonstrate proficiency in interaction design, wireframing, prototyping, and high-fidelity UI design, with a focus on clarity and usability.
• Feature examples of how design systems were utilized, contributed to, or established, highlighting consistency and scalability.
• Present case studies that illustrate your ability to frame complex problems and deliver impactful solutions in challenging environments.

Process Documentation:

• Provide evidence of your process for conducting user research, including how you adapt methods for constrained environments.
• Detail your approach to translating research findings into actionable design strategies and product roadmaps.
• Illustrate your workflow for creating and managing design system components and guidelines.
• Show examples of how you collaborate with engineering and product teams to ensure design feasibility and successful implementation.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Senior UX/UI Designer role, particularly in a mission-critical context, the portfolio is crucial. It needs to go beyond just aesthetics and demonstrate strategic thinking, problem-solving skills, research acumen, and the ability to deliver tangible results within complex constraints. Highlighting contributions to design systems and experience in regulated industries will be particularly valuable.

Salary Range: £40,000 - £50,000 per year.

• Hybrid working model with an average of 3 days in the office per week, offering flexibility.
• Opportunity to work on critical technology that strengthens national security and resilience.
• Contribution to establishing a design system from the ground up, impacting multiple products.
• Collaborative work environment with designers, engineers, and product partners.
• Commitment to building a flexible, inclusive, and enabling company culture.
• Rowden is a Disability Confident Committed company, actively supporting applicants with disabilities.
• Opportunities for workplace adjustments and flexible working arrangements (e.g., part-time, discussing flexibility needs).

Working Hours: Typically 40 hours per week, with a flexible hybrid working model.

📝 Enhancement Note: The specified salary range of £40,000 - £50,000 per year for a Senior UX/UI Designer in Bristol, UK, aligns with industry benchmarks for experienced professionals in this field. Bristol is a strong tech hub, and while competitive, this range is appropriate for a specialist role within a company focused on national security, where security clearance requirements can sometimes influence compensation. The hybrid model with 3 days in-office is also a common offering.

Industry: Engineering, Technology, National Security, Defence, Critical Infrastructure. Rowden operates at the intersection of modern engineering methods and cutting-edge commercial technology to deliver advanced systems for challenging environments.Company Size: The job description doesn't explicitly state company size, but the mention of a "growing team" and establishing a "design system from the ground up" suggests a company that is scaling and has a significant engineering department, likely falling into the mid-size to large enterprise category (e.g., 50-500+ employees).Founded: The founding date is not provided, but the company's focus on "UK's next generation engineering powerhouse" implies a forward-looking, innovative organization with a strong mission.

Team Structure:

• The Senior UX/UI Designer will join a growing Engineering department.
• The role involves close collaboration with product managers, engineers, and other designers.
• There's an expectation of mentoring junior designers, indicating a potential for a small but developing design team.
• Cross-functional collaboration is central to balancing technical constraints with user needs.

Methodology:

• Focus on modern engineering methods and cutting-edge commercial technology.
• Emphasis on intelligent automation to enhance speed and efficiency.
• Design approach grounded in human-centred principles, user research, and operational insight.
• Commitment to reliability, adaptability, and straightforward system design for critical operations.
• Iterative development, likely incorporating agile methodologies, with a focus on delivering mission-critical tools.

📝 Enhancement Note: Rowden's positioning as a provider of "critical technology that strengthens national security and resilience" and "mission-critical systems" indicates a culture that values precision, reliability, security, and a strong sense of purpose. The mention of "solving the tough challenges that others overlook" suggests an innovative and problem-solving-oriented environment.

Operations Career Level: This is a Senior UX/UI Designer role, implying a mid-to-senior level position. It requires significant experience, the ability to lead design initiatives, mentor others, and contribute to strategic product decisions. The role is not entry-level nor executive management but a key individual contributor with leadership potential within the design function.

Reporting Structure: The role is within the "Engineering" department. While not explicitly stated, a Senior UX/UI Designer typically reports to a Head of Design, Design Lead, Product Lead, or Engineering Manager, depending on the organizational structure. The mention of mentoring suggests they will be part of a team where reporting lines are clear.

Operations Impact: The designs created will directly impact the usability and effectiveness of mission-critical tools used by professionals in high-stakes situations. This means the impact is tangible and directly tied to operational success, reliability, and potentially safety within national security contexts. The design work influences how users interact with complex systems, directly affecting their efficiency and decision-making capabilities.

• Design System Leadership: Opportunity to significantly shape and lead the development of a foundational design system, establishing standards and best practices for the company.
• Skill Specialization: Deepen expertise in UX for regulated industries, secure environments, and mission-critical systems, a niche but highly valuable skill set.
• Mentorship and Team Development: Grow leadership capabilities by mentoring junior designers and contributing to the growth of the design function within Rowden.
• Strategic Influence: Influence product strategy and direction through evidence-based design and research, playing a key role in defining the user experience of future Rowden products.
• Career Progression: Potential to move into roles like Lead UX/UI Designer, Design Manager, or Product Design Lead as the design team and company expand.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Senior" designation, coupled with responsibilities like establishing a design system and mentoring, points towards significant growth potential. Candidates should look for opportunities to expand their leadership scope and influence within the organization’s strategic direction.

Office Type: Hybrid working model, with an average of 3 days in the office per week. This suggests a modern office environment designed for collaboration. The company is headquartered in Bristol, UK.

Office Location(s): Bristol, UK (Specific address provided is BS34 6FE, which is near Bristol Airport).

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The hybrid model and emphasis on collaboration with designers, engineers, and product partners indicate an environment where open communication and teamwork are valued.
• Technology Focus: As a technology company building advanced systems, expect a modern tech stack and a focus on digital tools for design and development.
• High-Trust Environment: Working on classified and secure systems implies a culture of trust, discretion, and adherence to robust security protocols.
• Mission-Driven Atmosphere: The nature of the work (national security, critical infrastructure) likely fosters a sense of purpose and dedication among employees.

Work Schedule: Standard full-time working hours (approx. 40 hours/week) with flexibility inherent in the hybrid model. This allows for focused work periods both in the office and remotely, supporting deep design work and collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The Bristol location places Rowden within a thriving tech ecosystem in the UK. The hybrid nature of the work suggests a balance between focused individual work and collaborative team sessions, typical of modern design and engineering environments.

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Review of CV and portfolio to assess experience, skills, and alignment with role requirements, particularly SC Clearance eligibility.
• Portfolio Presentation/Review: A dedicated session where candidates present their portfolio, detailing their design process, problem-solving approach, research methodologies, and impact. This is a critical stage for a Senior UX/UI role.
• Technical/Design Challenge: Potentially a practical exercise or case study to assess design thinking, problem-solving skills, and ability to work within specified constraints, possibly simulating aspects of the mission-critical environment.
• Stakeholder Interviews: Meetings with product managers, engineers, and potentially other senior stakeholders to assess collaboration style, communication skills, and strategic thinking.
• Cultural Fit Interview: Discussion to gauge alignment with Rowden's values, mission, and collaborative approach, especially regarding working in secure environments.
• Final Interview: Likely with a senior leader to discuss overall fit, career aspirations, and confirm suitability for the role and security requirements.
• Storytelling: Structure your portfolio around compelling narratives for each project, clearly outlining the problem, your process, and the outcomes.
• Process Focus: Emphasize your design methodology, user research techniques (especially adaptations for challenging environments), and how you translated insights into solutions.
• Impact & Metrics: Quantify the impact of your designs where possible (e.g., improved efficiency, reduced errors, user satisfaction improvements), even if qualitative insights are primary.
• UI Craft & Design Systems: Showcase your visual design skills and your understanding of how to build and maintain consistent, scalable user interfaces, ideally with examples of design system contributions.
• SC Clearance Context: Be prepared to discuss your understanding of working in secure environments and how your design approach considers security and compliance.
• Problem Framing: Practice breaking down complex, ambiguous problems into manageable parts.
• User-Centricity: Demonstrate how you would approach understanding user needs, even with limited direct access.
• Constraint Management: Show how you can design effectively within technical, security, and regulatory limitations.
• Communication: Prepare to articulate your design decisions and rationale clearly and concisely to diverse audiences.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on SC Clearance and working in "secure, classified, and mission-critical applications" means interviewers will scrutinize the candidate's ability to handle sensitive information and design for high-reliability, high-consequence scenarios. The portfolio review will be a key differentiator.

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Proficiency with modern design and prototyping tools is essential. Figma is explicitly mentioned as an example, so strong skills in Figma are expected. Other equivalents like Sketch, Adobe XD, InVision would also be relevant.
• Design System Tools: Experience with tools or platforms used for managing and distributing design system components and guidelines.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not explicitly mentioned, experience with user analytics platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, Amplitude, Hotjar) and data visualization tools could be beneficial for understanding user behavior and informing design decisions, especially post-launch.

CRM & Automation:

• Not directly applicable to the UX/UI Designer role's core responsibilities, but an understanding of how design integrates with broader product development workflows, including potentially CRM or project management tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence), would be advantageous.

📝 Enhancement Note: The primary focus for this role will be on design and prototyping tools. Proficiency in Figma is a strong signal, and familiarity with associated tools for design system management and potentially collaborative workflows (like Jira) would be beneficial for seamless integration with engineering teams.

Operations Values:

• Purpose-Driven: A strong commitment to contributing to national security and resilience through impactful technology.
• Excellence & Reliability: A dedication to high-quality design, ensuring systems are reliable, robust, and performant in critical situations.
• Collaboration: Valuing teamwork and open communication between design, engineering, and product teams to achieve shared goals.
• Innovation: Encouraging the use of modern engineering methods and cutting-edge technology to solve complex challenges.
• User Focus: A commitment to understanding and serving the needs of users in high-stakes environments, prioritizing clarity, usability, and accessibility.
• Cross-Functional Integration: Seamless collaboration with product managers and engineers is essential to balance user needs with technical feasibility, security, and compliance.
• Evidence-Based Decision Making: A culture that values research and data to inform design decisions, encouraging constructive debate and synthesis of diverse inputs.
• Mentorship and Knowledge Sharing: An environment where senior members are expected to mentor junior colleagues and where best practices are shared and refined collectively.
• Adaptability: Willingness to adapt design processes and solutions to meet the unique challenges of working in secure, regulated, or constrained environments.

📝 Enhancement Note: Rowden's mission-critical focus implies a culture that values precision, responsibility, and a strong sense of purpose. Candidates should demonstrate an appreciation for these values and a collaborative spirit that can navigate complex technical and security requirements.

• Designing for High-Stakes Environments: Creating intuitive and reliable user experiences for applications used in national security and critical operations where errors can have significant consequences.
• Navigating Security & Classification: Designing within strict security protocols and potentially classified environments, which may limit research access and design freedom.
• Balancing Conflicting Requirements: Juggling the demands of usability, security, performance, and regulatory compliance in complex technical systems.
• Establishing a New Design System: Building a design system from the ground up requires significant strategic thinking, collaboration, and a long-term vision.
• Niche Domain Expertise: Gaining deep experience in UX for defence, aerospace, and critical infrastructure sectors, a highly specialized and valuable area.
• Advanced Design System Development: Leading the creation and evolution of a critical design system, which can be a significant career highlight.
• Mentorship & Leadership: Developing leadership skills through mentoring junior designers and potentially influencing the growth of the design team.
• Complex Technical Systems: Working with cutting-edge technology and complex engineering challenges, broadening technical understanding.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges in this role are directly tied to its unique context: high-stakes, secure environments. The growth opportunities stem from mastering these challenges and contributing to foundational elements like a design system.

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to design for a user group with extremely specific or unusual needs. How did you approach understanding and meeting those needs?" (Focus on research adaptation and empathy).
• "How would you approach designing a critical alert system where clarity, immediacy, and reliability are paramount, given potential constraints on UI complexity?" (Focus on interaction design, hierarchy, and error prevention).
• "Walk us through your process for contributing to or establishing a design system. What are the key considerations for scalability and adoption?" (Focus on design system strategy and component design).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What attracts you to working on mission-critical systems within the national security sector?" (Assess motivation and understanding of the domain).
• "How do you ensure your design process remains user-centric when working within strict security protocols or with limited user access?" (Assess adaptability and problem-solving in constrained environments).
• "Describe your experience working with engineers and product managers. How do you foster effective collaboration and manage differing priorities?" (Assess collaboration and stakeholder management skills).
• Project Deep Dive: Select 2-3 strong projects that showcase end-to-end design, research, and problem-solving. For each, clearly articulate the challenge, your role, your process, and the impact.
• Focus on Process: Highlight how you gathered insights, made decisions, and iterated. For Rowden, emphasize any experience with constrained environments, security considerations, or complex systems.
• Design System Examples: If applicable, clearly show contributions to design systems, wireframes, prototypes, and final UI.
• SC Clearance Preparedness: Be ready to discuss your understanding of security protocols and how design is integrated into secure development lifecycles, without revealing classified information from previous roles.
• Problem Framing: Practice breaking down complex, ambiguous problems into manageable parts.
• User-Centricity: Demonstrate how you would approach understanding user needs, even with limited direct access.
• Constraint Management: Show how you can design effectively within technical, security, and regulatory limitations.
• Communication: Prepare to articulate your design decisions and rationale clearly and concisely to diverse audiences.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should heavily emphasize the candidate's ability to adapt design principles to the unique constraints of secure, mission-critical environments. Portfolio examples demonstrating research in difficult contexts or design for high-reliability systems will be highly valued.

To apply for this Senior UX/UI Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Pinpoint.
• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight projects demonstrating end-to-end design ownership, user research in complex environments, design system contributions, and UI craft. Emphasize any experience relevant to defence, government, or critical infrastructure sectors.
• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your years of experience, senior-level responsibilities, proficiency with design tools (especially Figma), and any experience with SC Clearance or secure environments. Use keywords from the job description.
• SC Clearance Readiness: Be prepared to discuss your eligibility for SC Clearance and your understanding of working in secure environments.
• Company Research: Familiarize yourself with Rowden's mission, values, and the types of systems they develop. Understand the significance of their work in national security and resilience.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.

Candidates must have significant experience as a UX/UI or Product Designer delivering complex digital products, demonstrating ownership from discovery through implementation with a strong portfolio. Essential requirements include experience with user research in constrained environments, a solid understanding of human-centered design and accessibility standards, and the ability to work effectively in secure settings, requiring SC Clearance eligibility.