Senior Manager, Lead UX Strategist and Product Manager, IXD, Belfast or Derry, Londonderry

Job Description

At EY, we’re all in to shape your future with confidence.

We’ll help you succeed in a globally connected powerhouse of diverse teams and take your career wherever you want it to go.

Join EY and help to build a better working world.

The Team and the Opportunity

At EY Studio+, the work we do cuts across every sector and reaches deep into the interactions, choices and experiences people encounter every day. We want to help people make better, more effective choices and solve their most pressing problems. We work with organisations to create transformative services, products and experiences that will make the world an easier, more meaningful, and sustainable place to live and work.

Our aim is to help clients transform their customer-facing commercial functions and business outcomes through developing and implementing Customer & UX strategies, digital solutions, user-centric services, operating models, and optimised products, experiences, marketing, and sales.

What we are looking for:

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced UX Strategist & Product Manager to join our Business Consulting – Customer Transformation Team. This is a hybrid position that seeks an expert capable of bringing clarity to client solutions and effectively implementing those solutions. This role requires strong communication and human-centred design skills to build confidence in clients as they advance their growth strategies.

Your role will be to lead and grow a team of UX Strategist & product managers while aligning market, business and customer needs to develop validated, innovative solutions that help our clients push their growth agenda forward with confidence.

The ideal candidate passionate about using human-centred design methods to solve complex client challenges, validate solutions through prototyping and effectively communicate the rationale behind those solutions to clients and stakeholders to drive optimal business decisions and outcomes.

Your key responsibilities

Product Strategy Development:

• Collaborate with clients to understand the market and customer needs, and business objectives.
• Define the product vision and strategy, aligning it with business goals and customer needs.

Product Conceptualisation and Testing

• Utilise human-centred design methodologies to ideate, co-design and conceptualise innovative product solutions.
• Create user journey maps to identify customer pain points and opportunities.
• Design prototypes to validate solutions.
• Facilitate workshops to engage and inspire stakeholders in the value of a design-led process.
• Conduct user testing to gather feedback and turn them into actionable steps to refine product solutions.

Requirements Development and Implementation

• Collaborate with clients to identify customer needs, conceptualise innovative product solutions, and guide the implementation of these solutions.
• Collect, prioritise, and translate comprehensive product requirements into features and user stories.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams, including UX designers, developers, and business analysts, to ensure alignment on project goals and successful product delivery.
• Proficient in project management methodologies, including Agile and Waterfall, with the ability to adapt these approaches to project needs.
• Skilled in creating and maintaining product roadmaps, managing budgets, identifying risks, and developing mitigation strategies.

Creative Communication & Stakeholder Engagement

• Clearly articulate complex ideas, present product strategies, and design concepts, using storytelling to engage stakeholders and convey solution value.
• Foster open dialogue, active listening, and a culture of innovation to create a collaborative environment, co-designing solutions to drive successful outcomes.
• Facilitate various client workshops, discussions and effectively present concepts and solutions to multiple stakeholders.
• Build strong relationships and advocate for user-centred design principles, ensuring that the product meets user needs and provides a positive experience.

Skills, Qualifications and attributes for success

• UX Design: proficient in creating prototypes that communicate user requirements effectively, and test prototypes to enhance user satisfaction.
• Strategic Thinking and Business Acumen: ability to develop and implement strategies and expertise in leveraging strategic thinking to identify opportunities and drive business growth. Strong strategic planning and execution skills.
• Product Management: ability to manage and deliver products and implementation projects across the entire lifecycle. Strong organisational and time management skills.
• Strong understanding of user-centred design principles, design thinking methodology. Familiarity with project management methodologies (Agile, Waterfall) and experience in leading cross-functional teams.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and creative thinking abilities, with a focus on delivering outcomes and results. A passion for innovation and a relentless drive to deliver exceptional client outcomes.
• Leverage data to provide companies with fresh insights, empowering the creation of personalised customer experiences.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, expertise in developing and facilitating client workshops. Ability to create future visions for products and services that inspire and meet service user needs.
• Stakeholder and Client Engagement and Management: Ability to engage directly with senior client stakeholders. Strong relationship-building and interpersonal skills.

To qualify for the role, you must have

• Extensive experience in a customer practice.

• Degree in Business augmented by a qualification in STEM (e.g. Computer Science, UX Design, Product Design, Human Factors Engineering) or a related field.

• If only one qualification, then proven experience in an augmented or related field e.g., a business degree with a background in technology delivery or UX design

• Proven track record of designing and delivering successful products or delivering digital transformation projects from strategy to implementation.

• Experience in working with developers, designers, business analysts, and testers to deliver customer-centred technology solutions, digital transformations, and design-led innovation.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Understanding of CMS platforms (e.g. AEM, Sitefinity), CRM platforms (e.g. Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce), digital and emerging technologies, AI, and data & analytics. Experience with using Figma and Microsoft Azure.

Inclusion & Diversity

We hold a collective commitment to foster an environment where all differences are valued and respected, practices are equitable and everyone experiences a sense of belonging: Inclusion, diversity, and equity are part of who we are at EY. We believe that the highest-performing teams maximize the power of different perspectives and backgrounds. These teams are both diverse and inclusive and are willing to invite and learn from other perspectives. Our ability to include various viewpoints into our mindsets, behaviours and operations is fundamental to driving innovation, building strong relationships, and delivering the best solutions for our clients.

We recognise the strength that comes from having a diverse workforce and building a culture where we support all our people to achieve their potential. You’ll be embraced for who you are and empowered to use your voice to help others find theirs. As an equal opportunities’ employer, we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. Reasonable accommodations are offered at every stage of our recruitment process.

If you can confidently demonstrate that you meet the criteria above, please contact us as soon as possible.

EY | Building a better working world

EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multi-disciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.