Lead Product Designer, Perth – Australia

Lead Product Designer – Perth, Australia 

Rio Tinto is building a world-class Digital Product capability. 

At Rio Tinto, we are finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs. For nearly 150 years, we’ve been looking for new and better ways of doing things. Today you will find our teams around the world doing just that: seeking opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint, partnering to develop new technologies to decarbonise steel and aluminium production, and creating new products from waste. 

As part of the commitment to our purpose, Rio Tinto continues to build a world-class software product development team. Sitting within our company-wide Information Systems & Technology function, our Digital Products team is focused on delivering high-value and strategic products for the digital transformation of Rio Tinto.  

We are excited by the challenging problems we have to solve, supported by a culture that is value-driven, diverse and inclusive, innovative, and fun. We think you might be surprised about what we are creating here at Rio Tinto. 

About the design team you’ll be joining 

We are committed to making a meaningful difference to the 49,000 people across Rio Tinto as they do their day-to-day jobs through our software. To do that well, and to deliver on our promises as a business, we know that user-centered design matters. Across the landscape of software products needed to support a business of our size, we need to grow our Product Design team to several times its current size. Make no mistake, this is a unique opportunity to grow personally along with helping to scale a team that is driving new product development. 

What you’ll do 

As the Product Design Lead, you will be responsible for leading our design efforts, crafting exceptional user experiences and providing strategic direction for our digital products. You will play a pivotal role in shaping our design culture and ensuring that user needs are at the core of our innovation. 

Key scope: 

• Design for Scale – Create intuitive experiences for products that leverage large-scale data models and process high volumes of complex data, ensuring usability and clarity. 

• AI-Enhanced Design – Explore and integrate AI-driven capabilities into existing and new products to augment functionality and uplift user experience. 

• Design Leadership – Lead and inspire a team of talented designers (UX, product, UI, content), fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and innovation. 

• User-Centered Design – Drive the creation of user-centered design solutions by conducting user research, creating user personas, and defining user journeys. 

• Design Ideation – Generate and iterate on design concepts, wireframes, prototypes, and mockups that align with project objectives and user needs. 

• Design Systems – Develop and maintain design systems, style guides, and UI components to ensure consistency and scalability across all digital products. 

• User Testing – Plan and conduct user testing sessions, gather feedback and iteratively improve designs based on user insights. 

• Cross-Functional Collaboration – Work closely with developers, engineers, and other cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of designs into development processes. 

• Quality Assurance – Oversee the quality assurance process, ensuring that design solutions meet high standards and are free from usability issues. 

What you will bring 

A Day in the Life: 

• Collaborate with product managers to understand project requirements and strategic goals. 

• Lead design brainstorming sessions and design reviews with the design team. 

• Create and iterate wireframes, prototypes and high-fidelity designs using industry-standard design tools. 

• Facilitate workshops, conduct user research activities, such as interviews, surveys and usability testing. 

• Provide guidance and mentorship to team members, helping them grow in their roles. 

• Review and provide feedback on design deliverables and ensure alignment with design principles and project goals. 

• Stay up to date with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in UX design, including AI-driven design tools and data visualisation techniques. 

• Champion user-centric design principles within the organization and advocate for the importance of UX in product development. 

Skills and Competencies:

If you don’t meet every requirement but have most of the skills and are passionate about this space, we encourage you to apply! 

• Proven experience developing UX Maturity and Advocacy in an enterprise environment. 

• Bachelor's degree in information technology, Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors, Computer Science, Visual Design, Communication Design, or other related discipline, or equivalent experience or training. 

• Strong portfolio that shows insights into your UX process and demonstrates creative problem-solving skills and conceptual thinking. 

• Demonstrable experience as a Senior or Lead Product Design practitioner with a background in user experience design, interaction design or similar. 

• Experience designing for products that handle large datasets or complex data models, ensuring clarity and usability. 

• Exposure to AI-powered design tools or integrating AI features into digital products. 

• Worked with a cross-functional team using agile methodology from inception to implementation to deliver impactful user experiences. 

• Strong skills in modern design and prototyping tools (Figma, Axure, Sketch, Zeplin, Adobe CC). 

Where you will be working

Rio Tinto Information Systems and Technology (IS&T) operates to enable better alignment with customer priorities, end-to-end accountability, and flexibility to prioritise critical work. The function provides solutions that are aligned with current and future business requirements through the development and ongoing delivery of IT strategy and solution roadmaps.

Through appropriate governance, consultative processes, and the use of industry best practices, IS&T also ensures that emerging technologies and innovative ideas are constantly evaluated, considered, and adopted, to provide easy-to-use, best-in-class solutions and services.

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