UI/UX Manager

About This Role

About Us:

DirectFN is a leading Capital Market Industry (CMI) Financial Technology software and Content provider, company (now owned by Saudi Tadawul Group / WAMID) specializes in providing brokerage, asset, and custody management solutions, along with market information screens - as productized services. Our innovative products, services, and solutions empower both financial institutions and individuals to optimize their operations and enhance client satisfaction

Job Summary

The UI/UX Manager at DirectFN leads the user experience and interface design function, owning the design vision, processes, and delivery of user-centered products across web and mobile platforms. This role combines people management, product design leadership, and cross-functional collaboration to ensure usable, accessible, and delightful experiences for customers in a FinTech environment.

Key Responsibilities

Design Leadership & Strategy

• Define and drive the UX/UI strategy and design principles that align with product and business goals.
• Translate product objectives and customer insights into cohesive design roadmaps and prioritized initiatives.
• Advocate for user-centered design across the organisation and represent design in strategic product discussions.

Team Management & Development

• Lead, coach, and grow a team of UI/UX designers (product designers, interaction designers, visual designers, UX researchers).
• Hire and onboard new design talent; run regular 1:1s, performance reviews and career development planning.
• Foster a collaborative, research-driven, and design-forward culture focused on continuous learning.

User Research & Insights

• Own user research strategy: qualitative and quantitative methods (interviews, usability testing, surveys, analytics reviews).
• Synthesize research into actionable insights, personas, journey maps, and opportunity areas.
• Ensure user validation is embedded throughout the product development lifecycle.

Interaction & Visual Design

• Oversee the creation of user flows, wireframes, high-fidelity mockups, prototypes, and design specifications.
• Ensure visual designs align with brand, accessibility standards, and responsive product requirements.
• Maintain and evolve a scalable design system (components, patterns, tokens) used by product and engineering teams.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Delivery

• Work closely with Product Managers, Tech Leads, Engineers, QA and Customer Success to scope, plan, and deliver design-driven features.
• Participate in sprint planning, design reviews, and acceptance criteria to ensure design intent is implemented correctly.
• Balance user needs, business priorities, and technical constraints to make pragmatic design trade-offs.

Design Operations & Quality

• Establish processes, tools, and workflows for efficient collaboration (handoffs, version control, design reviews).
• Define and track UX metrics (task success, SUS, NPS, conversion, engagement) and use them to drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure accessibility (WCAG) and usability standards are met across products.

Stakeholder Engagement & Evangelism

• Present design rationale, research findings, and prototypes to stakeholders and executives.
• Support presales and customer conversations with UX examples, prototypes, and usability data where needed.
• Promote design thinking across the organisation through workshops and training.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in UX Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Graphic Design, Psychology, or a related field; advanced degree a plus.
• Experience: 8+ years in product design with at least 3 years in a people-management or leadership role; demonstrable experience shipping consumer or enterprise SaaS/FinTech products.
• Portfolio: Strong portfolio demonstrating user-centered design, interaction design, visual design, and end-to-end product work.
• Leadership: Proven ability to lead, mentor and scale a design team.
• Research Skills: Deep experience with user research methods and turning insights into product direction.
• Tools: Proficiency with modern design and prototyping tools (Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, InVision, Framer, etc.) and collaboration tools (Miro, Confluence, Jira).
• Design Systems: Experience building and maintaining component-based design systems and working closely with engineering on implementation.
• Accessibility & Usability: Practical knowledge of accessibility standards (WCAG) and inclusive design practices.
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication; ability to present to senior stakeholders and customers.
• Domain Experience: FinTech, trading, or enterprise SaaS experience is strongly preferred.
• Language: Fluent in English (spoken and written).

Core Competencies

• User-Centered Thinking: Strong empathy for users and ability to translate needs into clear design solutions.
• Strategic Mindset: Ability to align design work with business objectives and measure impact.
• Leadership & Mentorship: Coach and develop designers, fostering a high-performing team.
• Collaboration: Works effectively across Product, Engineering, QA and Customer teams.
• Attention to Detail: High standards for interaction, visual polish, and accessibility.
• Data-Informed: Uses qualitative and quantitative data to guide design decisions.

Key Result Areas (KRAs)

• User Experience Quality: High usability scores, reduced user friction, and positive qualitative feedback.
• Design Delivery: Timely delivery of design assets and prototypes that meet product milestones.
• Adoption of Design System: Increased reuse of components and reduced design/implementation inconsistencies.
• Research Impact: Clear incorporation of research insights into product decisions and reduced post-release usability issues.
• Team Growth & Engagement: Improved design team capability, retention, and positive engagement scores.
• Business Metrics: Measurable improvements in product KPIs linked to UX (conversion, task completion, retention, NPS).

Optional / Nice-to-Have

• Experience with analytics platforms (Mixpanel, Amplitude, Google Analytics) to support UX measurement.
• Familiarity with front-end technologies (HTML/CSS/React) to improve designer-engineer collaboration.
• Prior experience in highly regulated domains or working with strict security and compliance requirements.