If I'm involved, it gets done. Tell me your goal. I'll work out what it takes - the people, the decisions, the ways of working - and get you there.
Vanessa Kirby
Design leader. Business builder.
Product-led design leadership at scale
+ GTM strategy
+ Team-building and operations
Ex M&S · Argos · BT Financial
CORE EXPERIENCE
Strategic Capabilities
I can walk into any mess: unclear strategy, too many priorities, weak decision-making, fragmented teams and diagnose what’s really going on. I bring customer evidence into senior conversations, not as “research theatre” but as a way to force better trade-offs. I've operated at serious scale — Argos, M&S, BT Financial Group with measurable commercial outcomes, not just prettier experiences. I can work without formal authority, aligning product, design, engineering, marketing, sales, CX and execs around a new way of working.
AI-enabled ways of working
I've changed how my teams work so AI is part of delivery, not a side project. Designers prototype with AI. Product managers own evals. Stories are written to be agent-readable. I create the space and the structure for it to happen.
CURRENT POSITIONS
Director of UX Design & Product Ops
April 2022 - Present
SeedLegals London
LegalTech SaaS scale-up · ~160 people · consolidation and growth phase
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Member of the Extended Exco leadership team - translating strategy into meaningful planning for the employees
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Built out the UX and product design practice, embedding design into every product & engineering team; shifting to company wide, collaborative discovery & ideation to ensure the best solution
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Drove Service Design methods (blueprinting) to identify opportunities for design and manual processes we could automate on platform.
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Switched reliance on Figma to AI prototypes alongside stories written to inform agents (as well as engineers) for speed of delivery
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Introduced strategic planning cadence, cross-functional GTM process, and delivery rhythm across product, engineering, marketing and CX; operating without formal authority over most functions
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Designed and launched, leading cross-functional delivery from concept through GTM
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new market entry into the USA
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a regulated investor marketplace product (deal flow to portfolio management)
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Co-sponsored exco-level AI-driven streamlining of internal service capabilities reshaping engineering, product and CX
Member Board of Trustees
Wimbledon Windmill Museum
November 2022 - Present
Strategic oversight focusing on digital content, website, and social media. Redesigned and refitted museum shop, doubling income for windmill maintenance. Introduced Bloomberg Connects app for remote exhibitions. Working with local business community to raise awareness and drive events.
Digital Advisor
Conduct Change
January 2017 - Present
Ongoing advisor for digital resources and online communications to support campaign-based mental health and anti-bullying initiatives.
Advisory Board Member
Mitos Relocation
January 2026 - Present
Board advisor to founder of retirement relocation consultancy.
Current focus: brand repositioning and driving AI adoption into the business.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Executive Leadership Experience
UX & Design Consultant
VExD Ltd London
Freelance consulting · maternity leave cover · global retail and edtech clients
August 2020 - April 2022
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Director of Service Design (Mat leave cover) - Modern Human Design
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UX Design - Altruistiq, a SaaS startup focused on ESG metrics, in creating a prototype for fundraising and kickstarting UX team
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UX Designer - Harvard Medical for a Mental Health App in the USA
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UX Research Lead - global bank on expat money transfer behaviours and required services.
Head of Experience Design
Marks & Spencer London
FTSE 100 retailer · omnichannel digital transformation · team of 26+
October 2017 - July 2020
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Led a team of 26+ across omnichannel digital experience, operating inside a complex matrix organisation with multiple senior stakeholders and competing priorities
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Led the research and design work behind the furniture conversion redesign: new PDP pattern, and interaction design allowing a primarily offline shopping behaviour to be fulfilled online
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+16% furniture conversion (~£3m annual lift)
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Sparks loyalty revamp: +1M app downloads, +8% NPS
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CFTO redesign: +300-450% YoY growth
Head of UX
Argos London
Major UK retailer · £4.25bn revenue · digital-first transformation · team of 26+
August 2015 - October 2017
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Led the delivery of the full selling journey redesign: homepage, category, product, and checkout plus finance integration and taxonomy coordinating across engineering, trading, and commercial teams
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Central to Argos's transformation from physical to digital-first: shift from 30% to 66% online business, hitting the £250m stretch revenue target, one of the most significant retail digital transformations of its period in the UK
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Structured the team operating model to deliver at speed and scale inside a large, fast-moving retail organisation
Head of UX
BT Financial Group Sydney
Investment bank · digital wealth platform transformation · team of 30+
January 2013 - July 2015
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Led digital transformation of the wealth management platform: introduced design systems, experience-led strategy, and modular pattern libraries that reduced time-to-market and enabled consistent deployment at scaleBusiness sponsor for the introduction of Agile into a large traditional waterfall organisation — accountable for change adoption, not just design execution
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Managed a team of 30+ through sustained organisational change in an investment banking environment
Earlier career
Head of UX - SEEK.com - Melbourne
Group Manager – Experience Design — Avanade (Microsoft Technology) London [consultancy]
Creative Director - SapientNitro London [consultancy]
Director of User Experience - Flow Interactive London [consultancy]
Senior Director – Product Interface Design & Testing - LexisNexis Dayton, USA
Prior positions across UK, Asia, Australia and USA - details available on request.
My footprint
International, in country experience
Who I have worked with
'If you can make things easy to use, then the world will love you'.
Making Websites Win, Karl Blanks & Ben Jesson
Conferences
2019 ECommerce Digital conference - Journey Mapping
2019 UX Roundabout, London - Agile & UX
2015 Interact, London - UX Unicorns -fables or legends?
2014 Digital Delivery - Wealth Management
2012 OzChi - Agile & UX
2012 Agile UX - Sydney