Senior Design Systems Designer I

As a Senior Designer on the Design System at Careem, you will help drive the evolution of the company's design language, ensuring seamless, scalable, and user-centred experiences across digital platforms. This role requires an expert in design systems who can work as part of a cross-functional team, define and implement standards, and manage the development and maintenance of a comprehensive design system that supports Careem's strategic goals. You will be instrumental in aligning the design system with business objectives, ensuring accessibility, fostering innovation, and mentoring a team of designers.

Key Responsibilities & Competencies

Design System Evolution

• Own and contribute to the development and iteration of Careem's design system, ensuring alignment with both business goals and user needs.
• Define and implement scalable design standards, guidelines, and best practices that enhance consistency and user experience across platforms.
• Demonstrate a high level of expertise in Careem's product space, guiding design decisions and influencing product strategies.
• Advocate for the design system's value, promoting efficiency, consistency, and quality throughout the organisation.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

• Partner closely with product management, engineering, and other designers to align design solutions with broader business strategies.
• Actively manage stakeholder relationships, including executives, ensuring clear communication, alignment on priorities, and transparency throughout the design process.
• Actively lead guilds, gathering input across product areas to shape a viable and scalable design system.
• Handle high volumes of feedback, using it effectively to refine system components and maintain alignment with stakeholder needs.

Component Ownership & System Implementation

• Own the full lifecycle of design system components, from inception to shipping and iteration, ensuring they are optimised for scalability and usability.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation for the design system, ensuring accessibility for product managers, designers, and engineers.
• Work with engineering teams to transform design patterns into deployable components, ensuring technical feasibility and high-quality execution.
• Advocate for accessibility best practices (WCAG), partnering with the digital accessibility team to ensure an inclusive design system.

Strategic Product & Project Management

• Work with Product teams to align on the Design system backlog and roadmap of design system components, balancing immediate functionality with long-term scalability.
• Facilitate decision-making to define the scope and timing of implementation.
• Proactively identify opportunities for system improvement, driving initiatives that deliver high-impact outcomes for Careem.
• Define and track success metrics for the design system adoption and effectiveness
• Establish governance models and contribution processes for the design system
• Build and manage relationships with external design system communities and vendors

Driving Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Stay ahead of industry trends, regularly introducing new patterns, tools, and design approaches to the team.
• Establish and direct ongoing reviews and critique sessions to ensure the design system maintains its quality, consistency, and usefulness.
• Lead by example in adopting an innovative mindset, pushing the boundaries of design where appropriate, whilst respecting established standards.

Mentorship & Team Development

• Contribute to evolving the visual direction for Careem, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.
• Serve as a mentor, offering guidance to both immediate team members and other designers across Careem, helping them navigate complex design challenges and develop their skills.
• Inspire and motivate the team by setting a clear vision for design initiatives and supporting strategy across the organisation.

Communication & System Advocacy

• Serve as an advocate of the design system within Careem, effectively communicating its purpose and benefits to diverse audiences across the organisation.
• Regularly gather feedback from design, product, and engineering teams to continuously improve the design system.
• Synthesise insights from stakeholders into actionable system improvements, ensuring ongoing alignment with business objectives.

Quality, Precision & Thought Leadership

• Ensure that all design work reflects a high degree of accuracy, with edge cases and potential risks fully considered and documented.
• Encourage simplification and unification of design patterns to manage complexity, whilst justifying and explaining any necessary exceptions to the system.
• Produce high-quality prototypes, using them strategically to help teams make informed business decisions.

Cross-Functional Influence & Strategic Vision

• Represent the Design organisation at Careem, advocating for design system initiatives and influencing decision-making at the highest levels of the company.
• Align design system processes with Careem's overarching vision, driving organisational change and promoting innovation.
• Leverage data, storytelling, and visual design skills to build consensus and inspire stakeholders at all levels.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in product design, with at least 3-4 years focused on design systems
• Proven track record of successfully implementing and scaling design systems in complex organisations
• Strong experience with the ability to articulate your system thinking and component design expertise

Technical Skills

• Proficiency in modern design tools (Figma, etc.) and version control systems
• Understanding of front-end technologies and their impact on design system implementation
• Experience with design tokens and systematic approaches to design