Product Design Lead

About Airwallex
Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 200,000 businesses worldwide - including Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more - with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale.
Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,000 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$8 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you're ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us.
Attributes We Value
We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you're motivated by our mission and operating principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor.
You're humble and collaborative; turn zero-to-one ideas into real products, and you "get stuff done" end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you'll tackle complex, high-visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let's build what's next.
Role Summary
We are seeking an exceptional Design Lead to manage and empower our design team responsible for a critical division of the company
Primary Responsibilities
Project Leadership

• Collaborate with product managers to define and scope design requirements for upcoming projects.
• Develop lean design project plans to identify challenges, estimate effort, and ensure that there's time for all needed phases of high quality design work, like research, brainstorming, and user testing.
• Manage project timelines and performance to ensure high-quality, timely deliverables.
• Conduct retrospectives to optimize team performance continuously.
• Work closely with engineers and engineering leaders to make sure they are involved in critical moments of the design process, then ensure a smooth handoff.

Design Craft

• Research, understand, and advocate for user needs in all stages of product development.
• Partner with cross-functional teams (product managers, engineers, design system team) to explore and deliver innovative design solutions.
• Lead end-to-end user experience design across desktop, mobile web, and apps.
• Collaborate hands-on with your designers throughout their projects, contributing your expertise in UX methodologies to every aspect of their work.
• Develop in-depth domain knowledge of spend management in order to see the big picture and unite the work your team is doing.

People Management

• Lead a team of product designers and provide mentorship to help them grow their skills.
• Provide concrete, actionable feedback to your team members, helping them navigate stakeholder feedback to achieve the highest quality results.
• Support growth in their craft through coaching

Requirements

• Experience: Minimum 6 years as a UX/Product designer with expertise in desktop web, mobile web, and native app experiences.
• Leadership: Demonstrated success in managing and mentoring designers (2+ years).
• Portfolio: Strong work demonstrating complex systems, multi-channel user journeys, and intricate object relationships.
• Skills: Proficiency in UX methods (generative research, information architecture, interaction design, user testing) and system-level thinking.
• Communication: Excellent communicator capable of articulating design rationale to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Project Management: Proven track record of project management and delivery in fast-paced environments.
• Adaptability: Thrives in startup environments with ambiguous project scopes.

Nice to Haves

• Experience in the financial industry.
• Degree in Design, HCI, or related field.

Applicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party Recruiters
To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page.
Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary.
Equal opportunity
Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don't regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
#BI-Hybrid