Lead UX Designer

TechPods is a UK-based technology co-sourcing company with offices in Bulgaria. Unlike traditional IT outsourcing companies, TechPods’ fully transparent model enables companies to scale quicker, while mitigating risk and reducing costs. We strongly believe that traditional outsourcing is dead, and the key to long-term success lies within partnering, as opposed to vendoring.

We’re seeking a Lead UX Designer to join a collaborative, fast-moving team at the intersection of Product and Technology, where design has a seat at the table – from strategy to delivery. We value quality, curiosity, and candor, working in short iterations, shipping frequently, and building solid foundations without cutting corners.
We’re crafting a brand-new platform from the ground up, with design at its heart. As Lead UX Designer, you’ll own the end-to-end experience: leading discovery, user research, and production-ready interfaces. You’ll serve as the design authority, ensuring every touchpoint is coherent, accessible, and truly user-centered.

What you’ll be doing

Platform Design & Product Collaboration

• Lead the UX and UI design of a new, greenfield platform from concept through to launch and beyond
• Partner closely with Product Managers to translate roadmap priorities into clear design briefs and user-centred solutions
• Collaborate with Engineering to ensure designs are feasible, well-specified, and implemented faithfully
• Facilitate design sprints, workshops, and ideation sessions with cross-functional stakeholders
• Conduct and synthesise user research, usability testing, and data-informed analysis to drive design decisions

Design Systems & Component Libraries

• Establish and own a scalable, well-documented design system from the ground up
• Build and maintain a comprehensive component library in Figma, covering foundations (colour, typography, spacing, iconography) through to complex, interactive patterns
• Define and enforce design tokens, ensuring consistency across light/dark modes, responsive breakpoints, and future product areas
• Work with Frontend Engineers to ensure the design system maps cleanly to a coded component library, minimising design-to-development drift
• Evangelise the design system internally, producing documentation and running enablement sessions so the whole team adopts it effectively

AI-Powered Design Workflows

• Champion the use of Figma Make and other AI-assisted tooling to accelerate the design process, from rapid prototyping to generating and iterating on component variants
• Explore, evaluate, and embed emerging AI design tools, sharing learnings across the team to raise the overall quality and pace of output
• Use AI-generated concepts as a starting point for iteration, always anchoring outputs in user needs and business objectives

People Leadership

• Line manage one UX Designer: setting clear objectives, running regular 1-to-1s, providing meaningful feedback, and supporting their professional growth.
• Create a psychologically safe environment where creative risk-taking and honest critique are both welcomed.
• Develop team rituals (design reviews, critiques, retrospectives) that continuously raise the quality bar.
• Act as a design ambassador across the wider business, advocating for user-centred thinking at every level.

What we’ll expect from you

• 5+ years in product/UX design, including proven lead experience
• A strong portfolio demonstrating end-to-end design process across complex digital products, from research and wireframes to high-fidelity UI and shipped product
• Expert-level Figma skills, including components, variants, auto-layout, prototyping, and collaborative workflows
• Proven experience building or significantly contributing to a design system and component library
• Solid understanding of interaction design, information architecture, and responsive/adaptive design principles
• Experience working in an Agile environment alongside Product Managers, Engineers, and QA
• Strong communication skills, able to present design rationale clearly and influence decisions at all levels
• Experience managing or mentoring junior designers

Nice to have

• Familiarity with design token workflows and tool integration (e.g. Style Dictionary, Theo)
• Understanding of frontend technologies (HTML, CSS, React or similar) sufficient to design accurately for engineering constraints
• Experience designing platforms or B2B SaaS products
• Knowledge of WCAG 2.1/2.2 accessibility standards and inclusive design practice
• Background in user research methodologies: interviews, contextual enquiry, usability testing, card sorting

Why us?

• Excellent opportunity to work with leading-edge technologies
• Additional private health and dental care
• Flexible working hours, either from our new modern office, from home, or even remotely
• Co-funded MultiSport Card to enjoy hundreds of indoor, outdoor, and wellness activities
• Co-funded Transportation card
• Having the great opportunity to work with passionate, knowledgeable, and experienced people, where your opinion is highly valued
• High team autonomy to make a significant impact on the company
• Part of a strong local tech community with lots of technology events
• Keep up-to-date with weekly company clubs, initiatives & regular teambuildings
• Self-development annual budget to spend on books, courses, and events

To apply for this role, please send your CV in English.

All applications will be treated in a timely and confidential manner.