Product Designer (Expert-Level) [AQ-23061]

Aquent is proud to partner with a leading financial institution, a titan in the industry renowned for its unwavering commitment to innovation and client-centric solutions. This organization is at the forefront of shaping the future of financial services, empowering millions to achieve their financial goals through intuitive and impactful digital experiences. This is your chance to profoundly influence how individuals manage their financial well-being and drive the evolution of digital finance.

About The Opportunity

Imagine a role where your strategic vision and hands-on expertise shape the digital experiences that empower countless clients to manage their investments. This exceptional opportunity calls for an expert individual contributor ready to provide thought leadership, strategic advice, and creative direction to senior stakeholders and design peers alike. You won’t just be crafting interfaces; you’ll be leading complex, cross-cutting projects that redefine client interaction with financial products and services, all while elevating overall design standards. Your contributions will directly influence business outcomes, champion a human-centric approach across the organization, and make a tangible difference in the lives of millions. This pivotal position seamlessly blends creative execution with business strategy, ensuring every design decision is linked to measurable organizational goals and success.

What You’ll Do

• Lead intricate design initiatives, fostering cross-functional alignment across diverse teams.
• Craft rich interactive prototypes and sophisticated user flows for web, mobile, and editorial platforms.
• Provide visionary thought leadership in iconography, information graphics, imagery, and data visualization.
• Oversee design documentation processes, governance, and sharing throughout its entire lifecycle.
• Develop brand-forward digital experiences that honor core brand values while pushing creative boundaries.
• Ensure all interactive patterns and visual displays rigorously adhere to accessibility and inclusive design principles.
• Execute advanced design testing and validation strategies aligned with strategic business objectives.
• Forge clear connections between design decisions and overarching business objectives, market positioning, and organizational strategy.
• Deliver expert design direction and oversight, ensuring a high level of craftsmanship consistent with established design systems.
• Articulate compelling design strategies to executive stakeholders and skillfully integrate feedback into iterative design cycles.
• Champion a human-centric design process, influencing business and product partners to embrace this philosophy.
• Identify critical knowledge gaps, propose research initiatives, and translate research insights into innovative design solutions.
• Define, establish, and meticulously track metrics that quantify design’s direct contribution to business outcomes, such as conversion rates, engagement, and customer satisfaction.
• Conduct in-depth research into UI behavior, visual-spatial strategies, and perform competitive design audits aligned with business goals.
• Deconstruct complex subjects, presenting them effectively to diverse audiences and senior stakeholders through clear storytelling and robust rationale.
• Skillfully balance client needs with business objectives, leveraging conceptual thinking and marketing principles to inform design decisions.
• Cultivate robust functional partnerships with Business, Product, and Research counterparts.
• Drive a unified vision across teams, proactively identifying and removing obstacles to team success.
• Continuously research emerging design strategies and technologies within the financial services landscape.
• Actively experiment with cutting-edge AI tools and methodologies to modernize design workflows and unlock new creative possibilities.
• Contribute innovative practice examples, breakthroughs, and proofs-of-concept derived from your research and experimentation.
• Develop scalable design patterns and standards that can be applied across multiple products.
• Share your expertise and industry thought leadership through both internal and external presentations.
• Contribute to the growth of the design team by assisting in sourcing, mentoring, and recruiting top-tier design talent.
  
  

Must-Have Qualifications

• Demonstrated mastery of interaction and visual design principles, supported by a portfolio showcasing expert-level work.
• Extensive experience leading complex design initiatives from initial concept through successful execution.
• Profound domain knowledge in financial services and direct investing, enabling you to navigate complexity and ambiguity with confidence.
• Proven capability in creating rich interactive prototypes and complex user flows for web, mobile, and editorial experiences.
• Expertise in establishing and tracking design metrics that clearly demonstrate business impact (e.g., conversion, engagement, customer satisfaction).
• A powerful blend of strategic thinking and operational excellence, allowing you to maintain hands-on design quality while influencing broader product vision.
• Exceptional executive presence and communication skills, with the ability to articulate design impact and business value persuasively to both design peers and executive leadership.
• Significant experience advocating for human-centric design processes and effectively influencing stakeholders to adopt them.
• Comprehensive familiarity with inclusive design principles and accessibility standards.
• A proactive approach to researching emerging technologies, including AI, and a track record of experimenting with new methodologies to enhance design workflows.
• A deeply collaborative mindset, evidenced by a proven history of building strong, effective partnerships across business, product, and research teams.
  
  

Client Description

Are you ready to join a distinguished financial institution that is committed to empowering clients and communities? Our client is a leading provider of banking and financial services, renowned for its customer-centric approach and innovative solutions. With a rich history of success and a strong focus on diversity and inclusion, our client is dedicated to building a better future for all. Join us in our mission to make a positive impact and drive meaningful change.