Director of UX Design, Global Relay · London
Design leader with 17+ years of experience shaping enterprise-grade digital products across financial services and regulated industries. Currently directing a 70-person UX organisation across London, Vancouver, and New York.
Recognition: Banking Tech Awards winner · Webby Awards nominee · US Patent co-inventor · Published in ACM
What I bring
Hired, grew, and led a 70-person organisation across UX, UI, Research, Design Systems, and DesignOps. Set up design orgs for startups, scaleups, and enterprises working with MDs, CDOs, and CEOs.
Building career frameworks, running critique processes, and creating the conditions where designers do their best work. People I've managed have gone on to lead their own teams.
Raised the organisation's UX maturity by a full level on the NN Group scale at Global Relay. Strategy, governance, and influence that gives design a seat at the table and credibility to shape product decisions.
Tooling, processes, design systems, documentation standards, and cross-site collaboration across London, Vancouver, and New York. The infrastructure that lets a design team scale without losing quality.
Research-driven design at every fidelity, from guerrilla tests to structured studies. HSBC Kinetic achieved 4.8/5.0 from 22,000+ app store reviews.
I hold a high bar for quality and can go deep on the work when it matters. But my job is building the team, the standards, and the conditions that make great work the default.
Author of the design organisation's AI integration strategy at Global Relay: pilot programme, tooling rollout and licensing across the team, and adoption scorecards covering design systems, accessibility, and AI usage. I treat AI as an operational capability that has to be led properly.
Credentials
Experience
Each role sharpened a different edge: building teams, embedding research, influencing strategy, and shipping products in complex, regulated environments.
Director of UX Design · 2022–Present
Directing a 70-person UX organisation across London, Vancouver, and New York. Grew the London studio from 5 to 40, achieving 93% retention across the scale-up years. Drove a UX maturity programme that raised the organisation a full level on the NN Group scale.
UX & Design Lead → Head of User Experience · 2017–2022
Joined to lead UX for international customer onboarding in Personal Banking; promoted to Head of User Experience for Commercial Banking in 2018. Led design direction of HSBC Kinetic from concept to market launch across iOS, Android, and Web, building a multidisciplinary design team of 20–25. Kinetic achieved 4.8/5.0 from 22,000+ reviews and won Best Mobile Initiative for Business at the Banking Tech Awards.
Earlier roles
Senior Interaction Designer · 2014–2016
Led experience design for the Eikon trading platform's core applications. Spearheaded responsive design standards using analytics and behavioural data. Delivered the flagship redesign to strong institutional client feedback.
Senior UX Consultant · 2013–2014
Managed teams and led UX engagements across finance, government, and energy sectors. Scoped, pitched, and won seven-figure UX programmes for high-profile enterprise clients.
Senior UX Architect · 2012–2013
Joined via RedKite acquisition as part of the product leadership team. Led UX design for compliance and case management products, embedding user-centred design principles into the development process.
UX Researcher · 2012
Conducted user research for consumer electronics, informing product and interaction strategy across European markets.
Beyond work
iOS apps built with AI-assisted development, music released as Dimitris Kontaris, and photography from a travelling visual diary. Making things outside of work keeps my instincts sharp.
View Creative PracticeSectors I've worked across: banking and finance, risk and compliance, health and fitness, education, gaming, energy, pharmaceutical.
How I lead
I put process, governance, and clear ownership in place before I grow a team. When structure is missing, every new hire adds to the confusion.
Designers work embedded in product teams, inside the software development lifecycle. That is where product decisions happen, and design has to be in the room for them.
The team runs two career tracks, one for craft and one for people leadership. Designers can reach senior roles while staying close to the work.
I expect research, analytics, or testing behind every significant design decision. It keeps the discussion about the work honest, whoever is in the room.
I like work that holds up under close inspection. When the products are good, the team doesn't have to argue for its place.