Lead Design Engineer, Design System

Condé Nast is a global media company producing the highest quality content with a footprint of more than 1 billion consumers in 32 territories through print, digital, video and social platforms. The company’s portfolio includes many of the world’s most respected and influential media properties including Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Self, GQ, The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler/Traveller, Allure, AD, Bon Appétit and Wired, among others.Job Description

Location:

London, GB

About Condé Nast Technology
At Condé Nast Technology, our mission is to fuel the success of our brands in both business and creativity by crafting the next-generation of content publishing, loyalty, and commerce experiences. We are a collective of product managers, designers, engineers, strategists, and researchers united in our dedication to building innovative, user-centric products. 

As a part of our dynamic team, you will collaborate with international colleagues spanning the globe, engaging with stakeholders in our US and UK headquarters, as well as across our 10 other markets. Our commitment to cross-functional collaboration is paramount; you will work closely with our functional pillars in CNT, covering Product, Engineering, Architecture, Design, UX, and Data. Additionally, you will collaborate with our business partners in Consumer Marketing, Commercial, Licensing, Editorial, and Brand, embodying our emphasis on seamless teamwork and holistic innovation.

About Our Design Team
Within CNT, our team comprises seasoned designers with a wealth of expertise in crafting exceptional customer experiences through product design, brand identity, visual design, UX content design, and research. We firmly believe that cultivating a robust design culture is not just a priority but a necessity for the delivery of outstanding products. 

In our pursuit of excellence, we recognise that each facet of design plays a pivotal role in shaping user interactions and perceptions. Our designers bring a wealth of experience and a diverse skill set to the table, seamlessly integrating customer insights, aesthetics, and functionality. By embracing a holistic approach to design, we ensure that every product we create not only meets but exceeds the expectations of our users. 

At the core of our philosophy is the understanding that a well-formed design culture transcends individual projects; it is a foundation upon which we build a legacy of innovation and user-centric solutions. Through collaboration, creativity, and a commitment to continuous improvement, our design team is dedicated to shaping the future of digital experiences, one thoughtful design at a time.

About the role
In the role of Engineering Lead for the Verso Design System, you play a critical role in steering the continual evolution and maintenance of our sophisticated design system, shaping the visual identity, and enhancing user experiences across multiple brands. Operating at the nexus of design and engineering, your leadership is pivotal in seamlessly integrating our design principles into a mature and comprehensive system. 

Managing a small, highly skilled team, you champion the continuous improvement and expansion of our design system. Providing mentorship and guidance, you cultivate a collaborative and high-performance team culture, ensuring that individual goals align with broader organizational objectives. 

Overseeing the extensive library of design tokens, you ensure they encapsulate the essence of our visual identity. Collaborating closely with designers, you integrate new tokens, maintain consistency, and optimize for efficiency in the design workflow. Your leadership extends to envisioning and creating new design system features, exploring innovative solutions that elevate capabilities and ensuring the system performs to a high standard.

What will you be doing?

• Manage a small, highly skilled team focused on the continuous improvement and expansion of our design system. Provide mentorship, guidance, and support to foster a collaborative and high-performance team culture.

• Collaborate with team members to align individual goals with broader team and organisational objectives. Encourage professional development and skill enhancement within the team.

• Oversee the extensive library of design tokens, ensuring they encapsulate the essence of our visual identity. Collaborate closely with designers to integrate new tokens, maintain consistency, and optimize for efficiency in the design workflow.

• Lead the envisioning and creation of new design system features. Collaborate with the team to explore innovative solutions and improvements that elevate the design system's capabilities.

• Take ownership of comprehensive documentation for the design system. Create clear, accessible, and up-to-date documentation that serves as a valuable resource for designers, developers, and other stakeholders. Your meticulous documentation ensures a smooth onboarding process and fosters a deep understanding of system capabilities.

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including designers, product managers, and developers, to gather insights into evolving design needs. Your ability to bridge the gap between design and engineering facilitates effective communication and ensures the alignment of the design system with broader business objectives.

• Work in harmony with the Associate Design Director to ensure the design system aligns with the overall design vision and strategy. Foster a collaborative relationship to drive successful outcomes and maintain a cohesive design language across multiple brands.

• Uphold the integrity of the design system by conducting regular quality assurance checks. Identify and rectify any discrepancies, inconsistencies, or potential issues that may arise, ensuring the reliability and stability of the system.

• Facilitate peer code review amongst the team. Offer pragmatic suggestions and help ensure team velocity.

• Contribute to overall engineering culture at Condé Nast Technology by delivering product demos. 

The ideal candidate has:

• Showcase a portfolio that exemplifies your mastery in systems thinking, coupled with advanced front-end development and a keen understanding of visual design. Highlight projects that vividly demonstrate your prowess in crafting clear, elegant solutions.

• Demonstrate a profound understanding of the design systems landscape, underscored by your experience in both building and contributing to design systems that significantly enhance product development.

• Exhibit a track record marked by the successful development and delivery of web or mobile products. Emphasize your unwavering commitment to craftsmanship, consistently delivering solutions that embody elegance and excellence.

• Illustrate your established approach to framing and solving challenging problems, emphasizing a rich understanding of a diverse array of engineering methodologies. Share instances where your problem-solving skills led to innovative and effective solutions.

• Deep understanding of JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and the fundamentals of web development.

• Expertise in modern web technologies such as React and TypeScript. GraphQL experience is a plus. Highlight your depth of knowledge in leveraging these technologies to create cutting-edge digital experiences.

• Strong understanding of coding standards and best practices in web development, accessibility, and design system governance.

• If you have experience with Figma, especially in the development of plugins, highlight this as a distinctive part of your skillset. Showcase how your proficiency in Figma enhances the design workflow and contributes to the overall efficiency of the team.

• Showcase your familiarity and hands-on experience with hypothesis-driven design, complemented by your proficiency in qualitative and quantitative testing. Illustrate how you adeptly leverage data to inform and enhance your design decisions.

• Emphasize your confidence and enthusiasm as a collaborator and communicator. Showcase instances where your effective communication with peers and management played a pivotal role in driving successful outcomes.

• Communicate your experience with, or express a strong desire to learn, working within a globally distributed team. Underscore your adaptability and versatility in diverse working environments, reflecting your capability to thrive in varied professional settings.

• Communicate complex software architecture to a non-engineering group. 

• Experience building web APIs and integrating APIs into client facing applications.

What we’d like to see:

• Your hands-on experience in creating and evolving design systems utilised by multiple brands and teams within a globalised company is highly anticipated. Showcase the depth of your involvement in shaping cohesive and scalable design infrastructures.

• Present examples of your strategic prowess in system optimisation, evolution, and improvement, substantiated with clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Return on Investment (ROI) metrics. Demonstrate your ability to not just evolve systems but to elevate them strategically.

• Provide insightful narratives into your experience navigating intricate, systems-wide solutions. Offer a glimpse into your adeptness in contributing to complex design challenges, showcasing your ability to dissect and solve intricate problems at a systemic level.

• Articulate how you approach challenges, iterate through solutions, and collaborate with stakeholders to achieve design outcomes that are not just effective but transformative. Highlight instances where your collaborative efforts resulted in solutions that exceeded expectations.

• Illustrate your artistry in crafting clear and thoughtful user experiences, emphasizing your meticulous attention to design craft, typography, and information design. Share instances where your design choices contributed to enhancing the overall user experience.

• Narrate your experience in the creation and implementation of a design system or a design system element. Offer a comprehensive understanding of the benefits derived from your approach, as well as an honest exploration of any pitfalls encountered and the lessons learned.

What benefits do we offer?

• 25 days holiday and extra days of annual leave for life events 

• Core hours 

• Competitive pension scheme 

• Bupa Private Healthcare 

• Enhanced maternity leave and family leave 

• Season ticket loans 

• Cycle to work scheme 

• Employee Assistance programme 

• Bring your dog to work 

• A wide variety of wellness benefits including gym discounts 

• Discounts and Magazine Subscriptions

• Employee Resource Groups to provide a platform for employees to identify shared objectives, exchange ideas, and work on community priorities for our global workforce 

• Condé Nast Learning Hub where you’ll find all Condé Nast-developed learning courses and training, and over 16,000+ courses in seven local languages

What happens next?

If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply below, and we will review your application as soon as possible. You can update your resume or upload a cover letter at any time by accessing your candidate profile.

Condé Nast is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, familial status and other legally protected characteristics.