Principal Product Designer

About the role

Wise is seeking a Group Design Lead to spearhead the Global KYC Onboarding squad in London, a role critical to defining the strategic direction of the platform that facilitates secure and scalable onboarding for a diverse international customer base. The successful hire will own the end-to-end design vision for the KYC onboarding ecosystem, ensuring that complex financial regulations are translated into coherent, user-friendly digital experiences. This position requires ownership of both the macro strategy and the micro interactions that allow regional teams to rapidly assemble localized onboarding journeys without sacrificing compliance or brand consistency. The hire will act as the central design authority for the Global KYC Onboarding squad, bridging the gap between regulatory demands and user expectations to build trust and efficiency. You will be responsible for crafting the foundational design language that empowers other teams to build upon a robust and tested set of components and patterns. Collaboration with cross-functional leaders across Europe, APAC, and the Americas will be essential to ensure that global platform components are adaptable to distinct local needs and regulations. Ultimately, this role will shape the first impression millions of users have with Wise's most critical financial processes, directly impacting the company's ability to serve its global customer base effectively.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Conduct deep research into regional KYC regulations and translate intricate compliance requirements into intuitive, scalable design patterns for the onboarding platform.
• Architect and maintain a comprehensive design system that serves as the backbone for all Global KYC Onboarding experiences, ensuring consistency and reusability across markets.
• Partner closely with the Group Product Manager to translate business objectives and compliance mandates into clear product requirements and user journey maps.
• Liaise with the Engineering Lead to ensure design proposals are technically feasible and aligned with the platform's architecture and performance goals.
• Collaborate with the Analytics Lead to define key behavioral metrics and establish feedback loops that validate the effectiveness of onboarding flows.
• Mentor and guide a team of designers, providing expert direction on best practices for regulatory compliance, user experience, and visual design.
• Facilitate cross-regional design reviews with leaders in Europe, APAC, and the Americas to synthesize diverse perspectives into unified global components.
• Break down high-level business strategies into detailed interaction designs that simplify complexity for users while meeting strict regulatory standards.
• Drive the creation of prototypes and high-fidelity mockups that communicate the intended user flows and interface states to stakeholders.
• Champion accessibility and inclusive design principles to ensure the onboarding process is usable for a wide range of individuals across different regions.
• Identify opportunities to streamline operational workflows through design innovation, reducing manual effort for both users and internal teams.
• Establish clear documentation for design decisions and component usage to support the long-term maintenance and evolution of the platform.
• Proactively identify risks and dependencies within the onboarding pipeline and collaborate with stakeholders to mitigate them through design.
• Act as the definitive design authority for the Global KYC Onboarding squad, ensuring all output adheres to the established standards and vision.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience leading design teams within complex, multi-stakeholder organizations, managing both strategic direction and tactical execution.
• A proven track record of managing high-level strategic vision alongside detailed interaction design and visual execution simultaneously.
• A portfolio that prominently features strategic design work and user experience projects, particularly within B2B platforms or highly regulated industries.
• Hands-on experience creating and maintaining design systems or reusable component libraries that have empowered multiple teams to build consistently.
• Clear evidence of successfully balancing user experience quality with business constraints and regulatory compliance in past projects.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, capable of articulating design rationale to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience working with agile development methodologies and collaborating effectively within cross-functional Scrum teams.
• A deep understanding of the financial services or fintech landscape, including familiarity with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) concepts.

Skills & tools

Platform design

UX strategy

Regulatory compliance design

Cross-functional leadership

Design systems

Practical notes

Wise promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment. You can learn more about our culture and mission at Wise.Jobs.