Design products that have a real world impact
SkyBound is growing quickly, and we’re looking for a UX/UI Designer to join our team and help shape the next generation of products behind our autonomous drone operations.
This is a great opportunity for a designer who enjoys working across the full design process, from understanding a problem and shaping user journeys through to creating polished interfaces and seeing their work brought to life.
While UX/UI will be at the heart of the role, we’re looking for someone with a broad design mindset. You’ll have the opportunity to work across digital product design, visual design, data visualisation, graphics and, where useful, 3D, giving you plenty of variety in your day to day work.
You’ll be joining a growing team where design is still evolving, meaning your ideas, approach and attention to detail can have a genuine influence on the products we build.
About SkyBound
SkyBound delivers automated drone operations for critical national infrastructure, providing real time aerial intelligence to support safety, security and faster decision making.
We combine software, AI and remote operations, with systems managed from our Southampton based 24/7 control centre and deployed across the UK in some of the most complex airspaces.
We’re at an exciting stage of our growth. The business has moved from building the foundations to delivering at scale, with major customer projects underway and ambitious plans for the future of autonomous operations.
Our products bring together complex technology, real time information and operational workflows. Good design plays an important role in making all of that simple, intuitive and useful for the people who rely on it.
What you'll be doing
You’ll work closely with Product, Engineering, AI and Operations to turn complex problems into simple, intuitive experiences.
Your work could include:
UX & Product Design
- Designing user experiences across our software platform
- Creating user journeys, wireframes, prototypes and high fidelity designs
- Understanding user needs and translating them into practical product solutions
- Designing clear experiences for complex workflows and operational environments
- Working closely with developers to ensure designs are implemented effectively
- Contributing to and developing our design system
- Using feedback and user insight to continually improve the product
UI & Visual Design
- Creating clean, considered and consistent interfaces
- Applying strong principles of typography, layout, hierarchy and visual communication
- Designing dashboards and information rich interfaces
- Helping develop the visual language of our digital products
- Creating supporting graphics and visual assets where required
Beyond the Product
The role has scope to go beyond traditional UX/UI work.
Depending on your interests and experience, you may also get involved in:
- Data visualisation and communicating complex information clearly
- Presentations, graphics and customer facing materials
- Print and physical design
- Visualising drones, hardware and environments
- 3D design and modelling
- Exploring animation or motion design
We’re not expecting you to be an expert in all of these areas. UX/UI will be the core of the role, but we value designers who are curious, have a broad skill set and enjoy learning new things.
AI and new ways of working
We’re interested in how designers are using AI to improve the way they work.
That could mean using AI for research, ideation, prototyping, generating concepts, exploring different approaches or speeding up parts of your workflow.
You don’t need to be an AI expert. What matters is that you’re curious about new technology and open to finding better ways of working.
Experience with AI assisted design tools or generative AI would be a bonus.
What we're looking for
We’re looking for a designer with strong UX/UI fundamentals and a genuine interest in solving problems through design.
You’ll ideally have:
- Experience working in UX/UI, Product Design or a similar role
- Strong UX fundamentals and a user centred approach
- Confident UI and visual design skills
- Experience using Figma
- A good understanding of typography, layout, hierarchy and interaction design
- Experience designing digital products and responsive interfaces
- The ability to turn complex requirements into simple, intuitive experiences
- Experience working closely with developers and product teams
- An understanding of design systems and component based design
- Strong communication skills and the ability to explain your design decisions
- An interest in areas such as data visualisation, graphic design, 3D or motion
- Curious, adaptable and comfortable with ambiguity
- Team player with collaborative mindset
You don’t need to have followed a particular career path or have experience in the drone industry. We care more about how you think, the quality of your work and your willingness to learn.
Your portfolio is essential: A portfolio is required as part of your application. We want to see how you approach problems rather than just the finished product.
Where possible, show us a few projects and explain:
- What problem were you trying to solve?
- What was your role?
- How did you approach the problem?
- What decisions did you make and why?
- How did you work with others?
- What was the outcome?
We’d particularly like to see examples of real digital products and interfaces, alongside any broader design work you’re proud of.
What you'll get
- £45,000 to £50,000 salary, depending on experience
- Remote first working (One day per month in Southampton)
- Direct access to senior leadership and key decision makers
- The opportunity to work closely with Product, Engineering, AI and Operations
- Exposure to software, AI, autonomous systems and real world operations
- The freedom to experiment with new tools and approaches
- The opportunity to influence how design develops across a growing technology business
Why SkyBound?
This is an opportunity to join at a point where there is still plenty to build.
You won’t be joining a huge design department with everything already figured out. You’ll have the opportunity to contribute to the product, influence how we approach design and work on technology that operates in the real world.
If that sounds like the kind of challenge you’d enjoy, we’d love to see your portfolio.