Agentic Product Design Lead

As an Agentic Product Design Lead, you will be a hands-on senior design leader at the intersection of craft, systems thinking, and AI-native workflows. Reporting to the Head of Design, you will lead complex client engagements end-to-end — owning design quality across multi-product and multi-platform projects while actively designing alongside AI agents as a core part of how you work.

This is a role for a practitioner who leads by doing. You bring deep expertise in design systems — from token architecture and component governance to CMS integration and developer handoff — and you know how to operationalize that expertise within modern agentic workflows using tools like Claude for Design, Figma MCP, and BMAD. You are equally comfortable presenting design rationale to senior client stakeholders and rolling up your sleeves to build the systems and screens yourself.

You will mentor and guide designers at various levels, champion design system standards across your engagements, and contribute to evolving how Apply Digital designs and delivers in an AI-accelerated world.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Design Leadership & Quality:
• Set and uphold the bar for UI design quality across all client engagements, ensuring deliverables reflect APPLY's standards and each client's brand vision  from foundational token architecture and atomic component libraries through to polished, production-ready screen design.
• Lead and actively contribute to the creation of high-quality screen designs, prototypes, and design systems across multi-product and multi-platform projects, with deep hands-on expertise in foundations, tokens, and atomic design methodology.
• Define and govern design system standards including token naming conventions, tier structures (global, alias, component), theming strategies, and component documentation  ensuring systems are scalable, maintainable, and developer-ready.
• Establish and champion design frameworks, UX principles, and visual consistency practices across the team, embedding design system thinking at every stage of the project lifecycle.
• Drive design critique culture and create structured feedback loops that elevate the work, with a sharp eye for system integrity, component reuse, and cross-platform consistency.
• Champion the integration of agentic design workflows and AI-powered tooling including Claude for design to accelerate design system production, automate token management, and unlock new levels of craft and efficiency across the team.
Client & Stakeholder Partnership:
• Act as a senior design voice in client relationships, presenting concepts, rationale, and recommendations with confidence and clarity.
• Lead discovery, alignment, and design review sessions with senior client stakeholders.
• Build trusted relationships with clients, earning confidence as a strategic partner not just a delivery lead.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, strategy, and delivery teams to ensure design is integrated throughout the project lifecycle.
Practice & Strategic Growth:
• Define and evolve APPLY's UI and experience design practice, including tooling, process, and standards.
• Contribute to business development efforts by supporting proposals, pitches, and capability demonstrations.
• Represent APPLY's design perspective externally through thought leadership, community engagement, and industry participation.
• Stay ahead of design trends, emerging tools, and shifts in the Canadian and global digital landscape.

REQUIREMENTS

Must Haves:
• 8+ years of experience in UI/UX design, with at least 3 years in a leadership role.
• Experience working in Claude Design and any Agentic Workflow, e.g. BMAD.
• Proven track record leading UI Design and a team of UI designers on large Client Engagements.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating leadership across complex, multi-product, and multi-platform design engagements; Headless CMS Design Experience explicitly highlighted in the portfolio is preferred.
• Expert proficiency in Figma, Figma Make and Claude Design as well as industry-standard design tools; deep knowledge of design systems creation, governance, and implementation.
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain senior client relationships, with experience presenting to executive stakeholders.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and storytelling skills.
• Experience working in cross-functional environments alongside product managers, engineers, and strategists.
• Comfort with ambiguity, competing priorities, and the pace of a growing consultancy.
• Eligibility to work in Canada; based in or willing to work in Canadian time zones.

Nice to Haves:

Experience working with Canadian public sector, financial services, retail, or healthcare clients.

Familiarity with accessibility standards including WCAG 2.1/2.2 and AODA compliance.

Background in graphic design, product design or brand design.

Knowledge of front-end technologies and how design decisions affect implementation.

Active participation in Canadian design communities, conferences, or industry networks.

Bilingual (English/French) is an asset.