Senior Product Designer (Design Systems)

At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better. 

We believe in a future of work in schools where being challenged doesn’t mean being burnt out and overworked. Where data guides progress without overwhelming staff. And where everyone working in a school is reminded why they got into education every day. 

Our School Management Suite is already making a difference in over 12,500 schools and trusts. Giving time and power back to staff, turning data into clear, actionable insights, and supporting happier working days. 

At the heart of our brand is a recognition that the challenges schools face today aren’t just about efficiency, outputs and productivity - but about creating happier working lives for the people who drive education everyday: the staff. We want to make schools more joyful places to work, as well as learn. 

We're a growing, central design team embedded within a wider product and engineering organisation. As we scale our impact, we're seeking a Senior Product Designer to own and evolve our Design System while establishing the frameworks and processes that enable our design team to do their best work. This role focuses on building the foundations for consistent, high-quality design at scale. You will play a key role in shaping how design operates across the organisation and ensuring our users experience a coherent, intuitive product suite.

Core responsibilities

• Own the strategic direction and governance of the design system, including roadmap planning, contribution frameworks, and driving adoption across product teams.
• Lead, mentor, and manage designers within the team, setting quality standards and supporting their professional growth.
• Explore AI-enhanced tooling to accelerate design exploration to rapidly generate and test ideas.
• Design and prototype wireframes, user flows, and high-fidelity UI mockups to communicate design ideas effectively.
• Create intuitive, visually appealing, and accessible user interfaces for our users.
• Develop and maintain a deep understanding of user needs, business objectives, and the education sector to create impactful design solutions.
• Plan, conduct and analyse both quantitative and qualitative user research to make data-driven design decisions.
• Translate complex workflows and requirements into simple, effective, and scalable user experiences.
• Effectively communicate design rationale, process, and decisions to stakeholders and cross-functional teams.
• Understanding how AI-powered tools will help extend Design capabilities beyond traditional boundaries.

We’re looking for a practical and proactive Designer who has experience turning complex requirements into intuitive, elegant solutions that solve real user problems. Beyond that, we’d love to see:

• Strong experience in user-centered design, from research to final execution.
• Extensive experience building, scaling, and maintaining a design system. From foundational tokens and components through to team enablement.
• Proven experience leading and managing designers, with a track record of developing team capabilities and maintaining high design standards.
• Experience working in agile environments with cross-functional teams including engineering, product management, and marketing.
• Strong decision-making skills, adaptability, and the ability to influence teams.
• A proactive approach to learning and applying new design methodologies.
• A curious and collaborative mindset, able to think on your feet, likes to move fast.

The chance to work alongside a team of hard-working, passionate people in a role where you’ll see the impact of your work everyday. We also offer:

• A dedicated wellbeing team who champion initiatives such as mindfulness, lunch n learns, manager training, mental health first aid training and much more!
• 32 days holiday (plus Bank Holidays). This is made up of 25 days annual leave plus 7 extra company wide days given over Easter, Summer & Christmas
• Life Assurance paid out at 3x annual salary
• Comprehensive wellness benefit provided by AIG Smart Health, which provides a 24/7 virtual GP service, Mental health support, Counselling, and personalised Health Checks 
• Private Dental Insurance with Bupa 
• Salary sacrifice Pension provided by Scottish Widows
• Enhanced maternity and adoption leave (20 weeks full pay) and paternity (6 weeks full pay) pay
• 5 free return to work maternity coaching sessions, helping you adapt to this new exciting time of life!
• Access to services such as Calm and Bippit (financial wellbeing coaching) 
• All of our roles champion flexible working and we are happy to discuss what this means to you
• Social committees that plan team, office and company wide events to bring people together and celebrate success
• Dedicated professional development training budget (CPD courses, upskilling resources, professional memberships etc)
• Volunteer with a charity of your choice for a day each year
• Dog friendly offices!

1. Phone screen
2. 1st stage - portfolio walkthrough
3. 2nd stage with white boarding session

We are committed to a fair and comfortable recruitment process, so if you require any reasonable adjustments during your application or interview process, please reach out to a member of the team at [email protected].

Our commitment is also backed by our partnership with Neurodiversity Consultancy, Lexxic who provide us with training, support and advice. 

Our goal is for Arbor to be a workplace which represents, celebrates and supports people from all backgrounds, and which gives them the tools they need to thrive - whatever their ambitions may be so we support and promote diversity and equality, and actively  encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. 

Know someone else who would be good for this role? You can refer a friend, family member or colleague, if they are offered a role with Arbor, we will say thank you with a voucher valued up to £200! Simply email: [email protected] 

Please note: We are unable to provide visa sponsorship at this time.