Creative Lead – Shopify Plus, Digital Experience

Visualsoft Ltd

. Set and uphold the visual design, user experience and creative delivery standard across the Shopify practice .

Posted 10/23/2026full-timeStockton-on-Tees • United KingdomSeniorWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in visual design and user experience within Shopify, focusing on creating scalable design systems, leading design teams, and implementing AI-assisted workflows. Proven ability to manage complex design projects, ensuring alignment with business objectives and accessibility standards.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Shopify Theme DesignDesign System ImplementationAI-Assisted Design WorkflowsUser Research and Usability TestingFigma Advanced Skills

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Visual DesignMobile UXComponent LibrariesResponsive DesignHTMLCSSJSONLiquidAccessibility StandardsEcommerce Design

Soft Skills

Creative DirectionTeam LeadershipClient CommunicationMentoringStakeholder Management

Tools & Technologies

FigmaAdobe Creative SuiteGA4Microsoft ClarityHotjar

Industry Keywords

Shopify PlusTheme App ExtensionsHeadless StorefrontsConversion OptimisationWCAG AA Standards

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Set and uphold the visual design, user experience and creative delivery standard across the Shopify practice
Lead the design discipline across delivery pods and collaborate with Project Managers, Development Leads, Frontend Developers, Solutions Consultants and Product Owners
Lead discovery, research, creative direction, prototyping, development handoff, production design assurance and ongoing optimisation
Create distinctive brand experiences within Shopify themes, including Dawn, Horizon, premium themes and the proprietary theme
Own design architecture and partner with Development Leads on technical implementation
Establish actively used design systems and implement AI-assisted workflows
Support winning standalone UX/UI and design engagements
Provide hands-on design leadership for selected enterprise or strategically important projects
Conduct design critiques and quality reviews, give feedback and approve key outputs
Define customer journeys, user needs, business objectives, content requirements and measurable success criteria
Lead customer research, usability testing and behavioural-data analysis
Facilitate workshops, manage client feedback and support complex enterprise discussions and escalations
Maintain Figma libraries mapped to Shopify theme capabilities and implementation patterns
Define native theme capabilities, configurable adaptations and bespoke development requirements
Design mobile and desktop customer journeys and practical merchant-maintainable experiences
Build and maintain scalable Figma design systems with tokens, variables, components, documentation, governance and versioning
Align design and code libraries with developers and integrate systems into estimation, backlog refinement, handoff, implementation and QA
Specify responsive behaviour, interaction states, validation, loading, empty and error states, accessibility and content guidance
Support Theme App Extensions, checkout extensibility and headless storefront design when required
Implement, evaluate, document and measure AI-assisted design and prototyping workflows with human review and safeguards
Train the team and measure AI adoption, time savings, output quality, rework and tool costs
Scope and estimate design work, plan resources, monitor budgets and manage change control
Support standalone design proposals, pitches, portfolio presentations and case studies
Embed accessibility toward WCAG AA standards and review implemented websites across devices
Resolve design discrepancies before launch and use post-launch feedback, usability findings and analytics to optimise experiences
Line-manage and develop designers through one-to-ones, coaching, critiques and presentation practice
Set competency expectations and progression paths, support recruitment and onboarding, and monitor team capacity and capability

Requirements

What you’ll need

Proven portfolio of live enterprise-level Shopify and Shopify Plus websites demonstrating exceptional visual design, strong mobile UX and commercially effective customer journeys
Ability to explain personal contribution, delivery constraints and evidenced outcomes on implemented websites
Proven experience designing against Shopify base themes, including Dawn, Horizon and premium themes
Experience creating component libraries matching Shopify theme sections, blocks, templates, settings and responsive behaviours
Proven experience implementing scalable design systems used by designers and developers, including tokens, reusable components, documentation, versioning, governance, adoption and planning, implementation and QA integration
Proven track record of winning standalone UX/UI and design projects, including qualification, proposals, pitching, commercial positioning, scope and delivery
Proven implementation of AI assistance in professional design processes, with team adoption and measurable improvements in speed, quality, consistency or cost
Extensive eCommerce design experience in an agency or comparable delivery environment
Experience combining hands-on creative direction with line management, mentoring and quality ownership
Practical experience using customer research, usability testing and behavioural evidence to validate design decisions
Experience facilitating discovery, presenting to senior stakeholders, managing competing requirements and coaching designers in client communication
Experience estimating and scoping design engagements, managing feedback and change, and delivering within agreed budgets and timelines
Experience collaborating with Project Managers, Solutions Consultants and developers through implementation, production design assurance and post-launch improvement
Advanced Figma skills, including auto-layout, variables, component sets, component properties, prototyping and library management
Strong knowledge of Shopify theme architecture, section and block models, theme configuration, checkout design constraints and mobile eCommerce patterns
Working understanding of HTML, CSS, JSON and Liquid
Practical knowledge of accessibility, responsive behaviour and Core Web Vitals
Experience with professional asset creation and editing tools such as Adobe Creative Suite
Expertise with AI-assisted design and prototyping tools such as Lovable, v0 or equivalent
Ability to interpret analytics, session recordings and usability findings using GA4, Microsoft Clarity, Hotjar or equivalents
Familiarity with iterative delivery, backlog management and documented design-to-development handoffs
Desirable: multi-brand and international Shopify experiences, checkout extensibility, Theme App Extensions, headless storefronts, experimentation and conversion optimisation, search, subscriptions, loyalty, personalisation or third-party services

Benefits

Comp & perks

Unlimited paid holidays
Hybrid working (remote working is considered for this role)
Medicash Cash Plan with medical support, massages, optical, dental, discounts platform, SkinVision and digital physiotherapy; cashback up to £995 per year, fully paid by the employer
Employee Assistance Programme with mental health support, financial and legal guidance, and wellbeing resources
Dog-friendly Stockton-on-Tees and Manchester workspaces
High-performance MacBook
Free breakfast, fruit, hot and cold drinks, and protein shakes
Pension scheme
Cycle to work scheme
EV car scheme through The Electric Car Scheme or Octopus
Discounts across company brands
Training and development
£500 Talent Hunter Referral Bounty