Product Designer

At AKQA, we believe in the imaginative application of art and science to create beautiful ideas, products and services. With an entrepreneurial and collaborative approach, we design adaptive digital services and experiences that capture the imagination, delivering impressive returns for our clients.

Experience/Product/UI Designers at AKQA apply digital design and motion craft to web and app, systems thinking, and scalability — designing groundbreaking solutions to human problems. Adept storytellers and fearless innovators, they create interactive experiences, products and services that move the world.

Our Designers are endlessly curious, exceptional at their craft, obsessed with the latest design, visual and conceptual trends of app and web, and armed with a product mindset. They demonstrate passion, empathy, excellent listening skills, intelligence and are the human-centric glue that binds together UX, creative, and technology into a harmonious collaboration, working with multi-disciplinary teams to deliver positive impact for brands, people and their environment.

Working within an integrated product team you’ll have the opportunity to imagine and inform the design for products, services, platforms and experiences that improve the lives of millions of people. Your work will require skills across research and strategy, concept and ideation, prototyping and product design. You will be in front of senior stakeholders at all times and trusted to deliver high priority projects at a rapid pace.

You will report to the Creative Director, Experience in Amsterdam, but day to day be part of the South African studio in a hybrid remote capacity. You will be working for a big automotive client, love and have a natural passion for the automotive industry.

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

• A minimum 3 years’ experience designing stand-out digital products and services from strategy to concept to delivery
• A compelling portfolio of outstanding work across different platforms that has created a real-world impact
• Exceptional design, prototyping and design system skills in Figma.
• Knows that design is not static pursuit and curious to motion design in either After Effects, Jitter, or the like.
• Likes working alongside designers and developers in complex, ecosystems, in Agile processes, with a product and SCRUM mindset
• Understanding and executing core UI deliverables from user research to strategy to design (experienced working with user research, personas, user journeys, ecosystem maps, prototypes, service blueprints)
• Promotes collaborative work practices with teams and clients, and identifies opportunities to improve quality and increase efficiency through collaborative design

QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS

• You have exceptional visual, verbal and written communication skills, fluent in English with a strong command of the language
• You have an insatiable curiosity and are able to observe and identify patterns, trends and insights, bringing a strong point of view to any project you work on
• You have a compelling portfolio of unique work that spans various touchpoints
• You embrace challenges, and new ways of thinking
• You enjoy getting into the nitty-gritty of a problem and have a sharp eye for detail.
• You are a lateral and creative thinker with the ability to understand and make complex topics understandable
• You are obsessed with your field, up to date with new techniques and trends in UX/UI, tech, and business
• You’re comfortable confidently presenting your point of view or your work
• You have a “can-do” attitude and approach to collaboration and leadership, embracing challenges and inspiring new ways of thinking
• You have experience working in a product design environment.
• You are driven to iterate and improve a digital experience.
• Dedicated to a single account, obsessing about their business to create the future.
• You will guide and mentor junior team members’ in their progression.

AKQA is committed to developing wellbeing and supporting life choices for our team. We provide an extensive range of benefits. To find out more click here.

AKQA is an Equal Opportunities Employer, we believe that diversity is vital to AKQA’s ability to provide our clients with the best recommendations and are committed to fostering a varied and inclusive work environment. Your race, colour, ancestry, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability or veteran status have no bearing on our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.