The decisions that matter in AI sit below the UI. That's where I lead.
Design leader, 15+ years. I work on what an AI product remembers, does and refuses: the behaviour, context, trade-offs and evaluation beneath the interface. I do it alongside ML and product partners, not by handing them a finished screen.
$136M ARR year at Cleo · £1M+ government pipeline unblocked · first agent-generated WCAG VPAT · rebrand shipped in 10 days.
What I keep getting hired for
Across every roleDesigning model behaviour, context and evaluation, not just screens.
Turning "we don't know what this is yet" into shipped product.
Getting expert, sceptical users to rely on AI for high-stakes work, while quality goes up.
Scaling design quality with agentic systems and teams, not more manual review.
CV
2010 - NowMultiverse - Director of Experience
- AI upskilling courses for working adults - applied on the job, with their manager, so the learning sticks and people don't get left behind.
- Built Multiverse's Design function from the ground up inside the Tech org - hiring 8 very strong candidates (incl. a Research Manager from Meta and a Product Design Manager from Carta and to Staff from Meta + Wise) and growing to a team of 20 across Product Design, Research, Brand, Design Systems and Accessibility.
- Built an AI-native design culture: Claude Code 101 sessions, Figma Make jams, hybrid designer-developer roles, AI-assisted design system prototyping workflow.
- Deployed the first known agentic VPAT accessibility programme - 1 engineer, 13 PRs, 22 production fixes, 50% of WCAG 2.1 AA backlog cleared with zero squad capacity (vs. industry standard 4–6 people at $10k+).
- Led a full AI first brand refresh using an AI-readable design system with semantic tokens, AGENTS.md rules and self-serve tooling. SLAs dropped from 5 days to under 2 hours. Set to launch end of year.
- Established Multiverse's first Voice of User function and CSAT audit programme - a continuous insight loop into senior leadership for the first time.
- Established first ever fully staffed Agentic Design System Team. Published the company's first AI led competency framework across Design & UXR.
Cleo - Interim Head of Design
- AI-powered financial assistant app helping Gen Z manage their money.
- Scaled the design team from 8 to 20. Pitched and won budget for the company's first ever Design Systems squad. Led the IA redesign that cut the app's tabs from six to four, and rolled out CSAT & UX Quality standards across 17 squads.
Reality Prototyping - Founder & Coach
- My own coaching practice for designers and design leaders.
- A self-coaching syllabus built on lean loops and continuous delivery - helping designers find their voice, grow influence, and prototype their careers like they would a product.
- Coachees have landed roles at Amazon and Meta, won pay rises from £20K to £60K, fielded multiple offers, earned promotions, and in one case nearly doubled their total comp. 100+ coached, from Amazon, Monzo, Figma, Google, Meta, IDEO, IKEA and Lloyds. Read more →
Mattereum - Head of Design
- Web3 infrastructure for trading physical assets on the blockchain with legal certainty.
- Led the design direction with a team of 5 for a breakthrough Web3 legal innovation: digital passports for physical assets. Directed pitch deck and fundraise narrative - a 4,700% increase in follow-up VC calls and a £550K bridge round. Found product-market fit with B2B high-value assets and tripled the enterprise pipeline.
GfK - Interim Head of Design
- Global consumer intelligence and market measurement company.
- Scaled the design team from 5 to 15. Established the first ever UXR team. Trained 30+ PMs and 15 designers in hypothesis-driven design and seeded product trios across the org. Shipped gfknewron 1.1 - the first paying client in two years.
Playdeo - Product Design Manager
- Interactive video studio creating playable stories on mobile.
- Contract role leading product design and managing a team of four on an interactive video platform.
Meta - Senior Product Designer
- Social technology company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
- One of the first 50 designers in Meta's London office.
- Built and launched Creative Hub - a WhatsApp / Instagram / Facebook advertising mockup tool - from alpha to acquisition by Ads Manager over three years. Improved Ad ROI by 30%.
Ustwo - Senior Product Designer
- Independent digital product studio - creators of Monument Valley.
- Contract role launching the Barclays Mobile Banking design guidelines.
Belua - Co-founder and first designer
- Early Web3 consumer product, covered by TechCrunch.
- Running design end-to-end across brand, product, and pitches for the first attention economics platform paying people fairly for their data and attention on chain.
Barclays - Senior Visual Designer
- British multinational bank.
- Contract role on the Barclays Mobile Banking app.
Pentagram NYC - Product Designer
- The world’s largest independent design consultancy.
- Contract role at Pentagram's New York studio across product and brand engagements.
A little more human
Off the CVThe short version.
Fifteen years leading design, most of it out where a product isn't a product yet: an AI money coach, a commerce layer, a trust layer for physical things. That turns out to be exactly where I do my best work, in the part nobody's quite sure about. I like making the hard call, then showing my reasoning so other people can trust it too.
I coach designers and design leaders as well, and most of that comes down to one thing: helping good people make hard calls with less second-guessing. When I'm not doing any of it, you'll find me in the garden or the art studio.