Product Designer

Hybrid: London office, once per month | up to £55,000 | full time

Are you looking for a product designer role in a fast-growing business where people are at the heart of everything we do?

Would you like to work within a socially conscious organisation that is making a real impact in the education sector?

The company 

The Key is the country’s most trusted provider of knowledge and know-how to education leaders determined to make a difference. We provide authoritative, up-to-the-minute sector intelligence, tools, services and resources that give leaders the knowledge to act. 

The role

We are looking for a Product Designer to join our Product team. As a Product Designer at The Key, you will tackle user problems and shape intuitive, user-centred experiences across The Key, GovernorHub and Robin.

You'll be one of two designers covering the whole product suite, working across two empowered product squads and partnering closely with Principal Product Leads, Engineering Leads, Content Leads and engineers through discovery, delivery and iteration.

Responsibilities include:

Discovery & problem definition

• Partner with Principal Product Leads to frame problems clearly, identify user pain points and deliver product experience improvements
• Work in cross-functional teams to identify issues, evaluate solutions and improve outcomes

User research & insights

• Plan and run comprehensive qualitative and quantitative user research, including discovery interviews and usability testing
• Analyse user feedback, sector trends, and product usability metrics to make informed, evidence-led design decisions
• Turn raw research discoveries into clear user flows, journey maps, and behavioral personas to support and inform the wider product function

Interaction design & prototyping

• Construct interactive low-fidelity wireframes and rapid prototypes to quickly validate concepts and test usability hypotheses.
• Formulate high-fidelity UI mockups that support complex interactive behaviors and display information cleanly and clearly
• Use AI design and prototyping tools to support rapid prototyping, user testing and idea sharing
• Iterate continuously upon ideas, based on the results of rigorous hallway testing, formal research rounds, and engineering feedback.

Cross-functional collaboration

• Work closely with Engineering Leads and engineers on technical feasibility, scope and sensible trade-offs during the build, whilst championing the user need nd 
• Communicate design intent through whatever medium fits: written briefs, flows, wireframes, prototypes or working sessions.
• Present work confidently to internal audiences, then triage and act on the feedback you get.

Design system & accessibility

• Help uphold, evolve and maintain the design system, ensuring visual consistency and front-end efficiency across products and projects.
• Champion inclusive design, including - but not limited to - ensuring all user interfaces and experiences adhere to WCAG standards and accessibility best practices.

Must have:

• Minimum 5 years' experience as a Product Designer (UX/UI), with a strong portfolio showing end-to-end ownership from research to shipped experiences and outcomes.
• Strong, demonstrable visual/UI craft and fluency in Figma, and experience working within an established design system.
• Experience designing data-dense interfaces and multi-step workflows.
• Experience using AI prototyping/coding tools as part of your day-to-day workflow, and actively building on these skills.
• Confidence acting as an expert partner to Product, Content and Engineering colleagues in both discovery and delivery.
• Track record of planning and running user research (quant and qual) and translating findings into informed decisions and outcomes.
• Comfortable working independently and proactively in  a remote team.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills..

Nice to have:

• Experience designing for complex, regulated or compliance-related products and workflows
• Experience in designing for non-expert or casual users, especially where they're under time pressure or acting in a voluntary capacity
• Experience in the edtech or education sector
• Some front-end literacy (HTML/CSS/JS) to support communication and handover.

If you don’t meet all of the above but have a genuine interest in joining our team please get in touch - we’d be very happy to chat.

Why work for us

We place huge importance on caring for and developing our people. If you join us you can expect a good work-life balance and the training and support you need to succeed in your role and continue to progress. We are a socially conscious company, but one that also likes to have fun. We offer a generous holiday allowance, flexible hours, buying and selling holiday, enhanced maternity pay, free breakfast, fruit, and drinks, regular socials and much more.

How to apply

Please upload your CV, portfolio and cover letter. In your cover letter please explain why you think you would be right for this role, how your experience fits, and why you would like to work at The Key.