Product Design Lead

The role

This role takes ownership of product design as a function the standard the system the process and the people starting with that designer This is a hands on role In a team of two the lead designs as much as they direct You will set the bar by doing the work review everything that ships and build the design system and practices that let the product move faster without losing coherence The role is built for the way product work is changing We are looking for a designer who can go from a problem to a working clickable version in days using AI design and prototyping tools alongside Figma and who is comfortable working directly with engineers on what actually gets built rather than handing over static screens

Every customer facing screen goes through you You define what good looks like for a regulated financial product used by people who are often investing for the first time clear calm trustworthy and simple where the underlying rules are not

One system across the mobile app the web and internal tools built and maintained in Figma and matched to what engineers implement You reduce the number of ways we do the same thing

Goals feedback growth and regular one to ones As the team grows you hire and shape it

Design is shared across the product function You decide how design work is requested prioritised and delivered so that product managers get what they need without design becoming the bottleneck

Before a specification a prototype You build clickable versions quickly test them with customers and with the team and let evidence not opinion settle design debates

Each quarter you remove something a redundant flow an inconsistent component a screen that exists for historical reasons Shipping less that works well is part of the role

Onboarding KYC disclosures risk warnings and consent are designed as product You work with compliance early and make the required feel effortless

Product and engineering at Malaa operate as one team under a single planning model Product managers are paired with small squads of engineers and design is a shared resource across squads Priorities and capacity are settled weekly across squads and every initiative is documented and designed before it is built The Design Lead sits in that weekly forum owns the design capacity across squads and is accountable for design being ready when engineering needs it

Show do not describe A prototype or a marked up screen beats a presentation about design principles Close to the build You review what engineers implement against what was designed and you resolve the gap in the room rather than in a ticket Written and visible Design decisions and the reasoning behind them are recorded so that the next person does not reopen them You hold the bar with product managers and engineers as well as with designers Close to the customer You talk to users regularly and you read the product data Mixpanel and session recordings are tools you use yourself You will define how a product that manages real money for a large customer base looks feels and behaves and you will build the design function from its first hire The team is small the standard is high and the impact of your decisions is visible to every customer who opens the app If you want to set the bar rather than inherit one this is that seat

• Three or more years in product design, with at least two years as the most senior designer on a live consumer product, ideally in financial services or another regulated domain.
• Evidence of all three: a product or flow you designed that shipped and moved a number, a design system you built or materially improved, and something you simplified or removed.
• Experience managing or formally mentoring at least one designer.
• Strong command of Figma and of current AI design and prototyping tools, with working prototypes you can show.
• Fluency in Arabic and English, and a strong sense of bilingual and right to left interface design.

• Experience in fintech, banking or investment products in Saudi Arabia or the Gulf.
• Enough front end understanding to read component code and discuss implementation trade offs with engineers.
• Experience running customer research and usability testing without a dedicated research team.