Product Design Lead

Product Design Lead
Central Government (Payments Infrastructure Programme)
London or Leeds | 2 days onsite per week
£650 per day | Inside IR35
Active SC clearance required

Overview

A senior Product Design Lead is required to support a major national payments infrastructure transformation within a central government environment. This role sits at the front end of a high profile programme focused on shaping the next generation of RTGS capability.

You will operate at strategic level, leading discovery and early stage design work that will directly influence policy, technical direction, and long term delivery roadmaps. This is not a delivery role. It is about defining what should be built, why it should exist, and how it should be shaped before it enters build.

The environment is complex, heavily stakeholder driven, and sits at the intersection of policy, financial systems, and large scale technology change.

Key Responsibilities

Lead discovery and high level design for a new RTGS capability

Translate policy intent, user needs, and external industry insight into clear product direction

Develop structured outputs including business cases, option analysis, and high level requirements

Shape roadmap thinking and prioritisation through engagement with senior stakeholders

Support external engagement activity including consultations and discussion papers

Ensure concepts are feasible, aligned, and ready for transition into delivery teams

Skills and Experience

Strong background in product strategy, discovery, or early stage product shaping

Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and define strategic direction in complex environments

Comfort operating with ambiguity and structuring unclear problems into clear, actionable outputs

Experience working across business, policy, and technology functions

Payments, financial services, or regulated infrastructure experience highly desirable

What this role really needs

This is not a hands on UX or delivery design position. It requires someone who can operate upstream, challenge assumptions, and turn political, technical, and operational complexity into a coherent product direction.

Candidates who only operate at squad level delivery will not be suitable. This role needs someone who is comfortable shaping at system level, not just feature level.