Open to new roles
I'm Alex — a design leader helping founders and product teams stop hedging and commit. Ten years across government, fintech and consumer. Now looking to do it at the level of a full design function, with the authority and the team to see it through.
Part one
Two tracks, two CVs — one for design leadership, one for operations leadership. Pick the one that fits.
By the numbers
The measures I'd take to a board. Quietly defended, repeatedly.
Experience
Built and led the infrastructure for a design practice that scaled from 18 to 50+ people, while running cross-functional UX teams on two major government contracts back to back. Currently UX Lead on Trader Support Service — Netcompany's largest contract. Previously 18 months as UCD Lead on Pillar 2, HMRC's international tax compliance platform.
Led creative and product direction on two high-stakes national projects, including a COVID-era logistics platform shipped on a fixed deadline with zero rollback. Led inclusive design on a nationwide government project — accessibility as a creative constraint that made the product better.
First creative hire. Built the in-house function from scratch, ended agency dependency, and delivered a confirmed 20% uplift in lead conversion through a strategic rebrand and funnel redesign across three consolidated brands.
Co-founded a subscription audio platform. Led creative and product direction from concept through full market validation and two strategic pivots. A harder-edged lesson in the difference between a strong creative instinct and the conviction to hold it under pressure.
Ongoing advisory work with founders across cosmetics, fashion, physical product, and skincare. Brand positioning, creative strategy, market differentiation. Several relationships running for years — the most honest measure of whether the work lands.
How I work
When a company comes to me with a creative problem they arrive with a long list: we could do this, or this, or what about this. My job is to knock down everything that is not genuinely theirs to own until what's left is the decider.
"The output is never a deck full of directions. It is one direction, clearly argued, with the rationale for why everything else was knocked down."
Part two
A handful of projects across government, consumer and founder-mode work — plus the full PDF if you'd rather sit with it.
Brand · Identity
A flexible identity for a North-East digital agency that wanted to feel human and rooted in place. Built off a 'creative compass' the team could steer with — not a static guideline doc.
Creative direction · Brand strategy
Read case study
Government · Service design
UCD Lead on the UK's implementation of the OECD's global minimum tax. A team of 8–10 across interaction, content, research and service design, shipping into one of the highest-complexity tax services in the world.
UCD Lead · Design systems
Read case study
Consumer · Brand & product
First creative hire. Built the in-house function from scratch, ended agency dependency, and tied a funnel redesign directly to a revenue number the CEO actually cared about.
Lead · Product & Brand
Read case study
Founder · Product
Co-founded a subscription audio platform. Designed end-to-end across mobile, web and content. Ran a 100+ participant research programme before a line of product code was written.
Co-founder · Head of Product & Creative
Read case studyWhat I believe
Engineering ships. Sales closes. Design too often explains. The fix isn't being louder — it's being so embedded that removing the work would break the thing.
If a team spends more time maintaining the process than doing the work, the process is wrong. A new starter should understand how we work within a week, without being told.
I run weekly crits in every team I lead. Fastest way to raise quality, build trust and surface problems before they get expensive. Honest, specific, never personal.
I set the bar, protect the space to reach it, and get out the way. A junior at OUB doubled her output and confidence in a year — that's the version of leadership I care about.
Contact
Roles, contracts, advice in either direction — pick a topic and I'll come back within a couple of days.
