Design team

We've recently rebuilt our design system as part of our move to native, giving us a strong foundation for the future rather than a large legacy estate to untangle. This role is an opportunity to lead that next phase. You'll own the design system as a strategic platform, helping us scale delivery, improve consistency, strengthen governance and unlock new ways of working through AI-assisted design and development. You'll lead a small team and work closely with Product, Engineering and Design leaders to ensure the design system becomes a core enabler of how Zopa builds products in the years ahead.A day in the life:

• Lead and develop a team consisting of a Design Systems Designer and Motion Designer
• Define and evolve the governance, processes and operating model for Zopa's design system
• Partner closely with Mobile Engineering to ensure design and code systems remain aligned
• Collaborate with Product, Design and Brand stakeholders on system adoption and evolution
• Review and prioritise requests for new patterns, components and system enhancements
• Define and track measures of system health, adoption, consistency and impact
• Help product teams move faster by creating scalable, reusable foundations
• Balance hands-on design systems work with strategic leadership and organisational influence
• Shape how AI-enabled workflows can leverage the design system to improve delivery speed and quality
• Drive consistency across customer experiences while making thoughtful trade-offs where needed
  
  You've led a design system or platform design capability within a product organisation
• You bring strong systems thinking across tokens, components, patterns, documentation and governance
• You have experience partnering closely with Engineering and understand how design systems translate into code
• You're comfortable working across native mobile experiences
• You've managed and developed designers and enjoy building high-performing teams
• You use evidence and measurable outcomes to guide prioritisation and decision making
• You're confident setting boundaries, making trade-offs and influencing senior stakeholders
• You can balance technical depth with strong communication and stakeholder management
• You're able to bring clarity and direction in environments that contain ambiguity
• You combine strategic thinking with a pragmatic, delivery-focused mindset
Added bonus
• Familiarity with design-to-code pipelines and token architecture
• Experience embedding accessibility standards within design systems
• Practical experience using AI or automation to improve design workflows
• Experience with tools such as Figma MCP, Claude or ChatGPT
• Experience in scaling organisations that have grown through multiple stages of maturity
  
  At Zopa we value flexible ways of working.
We value face-to-face collaboration and a good work-life balance. This hybrid role requires you to come to our London office 2-3 days a week. You'll also have the option of working from abroad for up to 120 days a year!
• But no matter where you are, we'll make sure you've got everything you need to thrive, both in your work and home life, from day one.
• Subject to having the right to work in the country of choice
Diversity Statement Zopa is proud to offer a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds leads to better products for our customers and a unique company culture for our people. We are made up of nearly 50 nationalities, have a DE&I forum made up of Zopians wanting to make a difference and we are proud of our culture where everyone can bring their full self to work. Our approach to DE&I is reflected in our hiring process so please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.