Product Design Lead at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Job Summary

• Product Design Lead (PDL) manages the day-to-day execution of one or several customer design projects in Absa while guiding and developing individual team members.
• PDL works directly with different business stakeholders and takes ownership of the overall project and the delivery of exceptional customer experience. She/he will make an important contribution to the design work of the team and work closely with the stakeholders to ensure the project delivery meets both the customer and the business needs.
• A successful PDL is a self-starter with passion for high quality customer design. She/He has a strong track record of delivering complex, creative and innovative design projects that elevate the customer experience.
• He/she can demonstrate strong communication capabilities and ability to influence and lead others in even high-pressure situations.

Job Description

Accountability: Project Management

• Engage with business stakeholders to clarify the needs and requirements of the business and, jointly with the Design director, establish a clear scope, creative brief and project plan for projects
• Manage the day-to-day delivery of the design output against the plan, continuously interrogating the design quality and customer experience to deliver high-quality output in each stage of the project
• Work closely together with the business and technical stakeholders to ensure the project aligns to their needs and requirements
• Take ownership of the customer experience within the project and constructively challenge business and technical decisions to ensure the best possible experience for the customers
• Lead the project team by aligning, managing and coaching the designers, prototype engineers, copywriters and other possible team members, supporting them in setting goals, overcoming obstacles and delivering outstanding outcomes, while ensuring a fully unified end product
• Develop and nurture relationships across teams and disciplines to promote collaboration and efficiency
• Actively seek ways to measure impact of the design to the customer and business, reporting the insights to the senior management and business stakeholders

Accountability: High quality design

• Create creative, innovative and high-quality design solutions to create a world-class customer experience across the projects in Absa
• Give a significant contribution to the design within the project, while providing thought leadership to the overall team and business
• Take ownership in applying design thinking and best practice standards in developing design options and narrowing down the final solution
• Leverage insight and data, such as market analysis, customer feedback, and user research analytics to ensure that products/services/solutions are truly designed around the customer and deliver improved experience; surface and share insights to the broader team
• Design scenarios, mock-ups and prototypes as necessary for each stage of the project, continuously iterating to achieve the optimal output
• Align the design to the design standards and brand guidelines to ensure consistent experience to the customer across the Absa ecosystem

Accountability: Building capabilities

• Coach and mentor designers in the project team and design office as a whole
• Foster a team environment in which designers feel engaged and motivated
• Continuously build your own expertise by, for example, actively seeking and incorporating feedback, and following external trends and best practices
• Contribute the knowledge building of the entire team by actively sharing insights and success stories; and providing feedback and ideas across different design projects

Education and experience required

• Degree or diploma in a Design discipline such as product, industrial, service, interaction, digital or visual design or equivalent qualification (NQF level 7)
• Minimum of 5 years of Technical experience
• Track record of delivering complex, high quality design projects, with strong customer impact
• Two years of experience conducting audience and usability research including benchmarking, heuristic reviews, surveys, analytics, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, contextual inquiry, and usability testing 
• Demonstrated experience in each of the usability and software engineering cycle phases (analysis,
• design, implementation, and deployment)
• Ability to create and use personas and produce illustrated customer journeys
• Ability to communicate ideas through drawing, digital tools, prototyping, model making etc.

Knowledge and skills: (Maximum of 6)

• Advanced understanding of the whole process of developing digital and service design solutions
• Great customer obsession – ability to tirelessly drive improvement in customer experience throughout the projects
• Strong skills in stakeholder management – ability to build strong relationships, communicate effectively and, when necessary, challenge constructively
• Problem-solving skills – ability to work tirelessly and think creatively in order to find solutions to problems/issues
• Understanding of the importance of data and insight in driving solutions and ability to use data in decision-making
• Awareness of new and emerging design trends and patterns in customer design space

Competencies: (Maximum of 8 competencies)

• Ability to provide creative and innovative ideas and concepts to push the thinking on customer experience
• Entrepreneurial mind-set with an ability to work independently and make quick decisions
• Meticulous attention for detail
• Ability to influence and lead others in all levels of the organisation
• Project management/planning skills to ensure projects are delivered on time and on budget
• Great communicator with strong written and oral communication skills

Education

• Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Physical, Mathematical, Computer and Life Sciences (Required)

End Date: January 30, 2026