Product Designer

Whitespace was established in 1985 as a software development company specialising in the insurance market. We are a privately owned company and with over 30 years of experience providing carefully designed IT solutions and platforms to our customers in the insurance and reinsurance markets we are in an excellent position to understand our customers, their processes, their challenges and their needs.

We have developed systems that we continue to support proactively for Members’ Agents, Delegated Authority Brokers and Claims Managers.

However, the entire global financial services industry is striving to be more efficient. One obvious way to do this is by digitising and streamlining processes end to end. The insurance market is a prime candidate; moving risks through the distribution chain is expensive and burdened by inefficiencies. Digitisation promises huge benefits to all parties.

In 2016, anticipating this desire for efficiency, Whitespace embarked on a project to introduce fully digital insurance contract placing into the Lloyd’s of London market. An incumbent system has been trying to do the same thing for years but has struggled to win the hearts and minds of market practitioners. By using new technologies, specifically NoSQL databases and iPads / iPhones, Whitespace has established itself as a strong competitor. The Whitespace Platform launched in August 2019 and has proved extraordinarily popular and successful.

In March 2021 Sequel, a Verisk business, acquired a majority investment in Whitespace. The partnership with Sequel brings an increased set of opportunities for us as an organisation and for our customers. We are excited to be able to fast forward the digital ambition that both Sequel and Whitespace customers desire, and this will see us achieve our seven year ambition in three.

Summary and Purpose

The Whitespace Platform went live in August 2019. It is a truly digital platform used by brokers and underwriters in the London market to agree the terms of insurance contracts, including writing and signing lines and issuing endorsements.

Using a good understanding of the underlying platform functionality, client feedback and identified requirements as well as the Company’s plans for future iterations, the Product Designer will work collaboratively with all internal and external stakeholders to develop innovative design solutions for the platform as it develops and evolves.

They will also collaborate with other teams in the business making best use of broader design skills and experience such as written and digital communications.

This role has a salary range of £30,000-£40,000 per annum.

Main Duties

• Collaborate with Business Analysts/Head of Customer Experience to validate business requirements and ensure a full understanding of what any solution must support
• Present design ideas using sitemaps, wireframes, prototypes and defined user flows to internal/external stakeholders
• Communicate scenarios, end-to-end experiences and screen designs to other people working on the Platform
• Enhance user experience by creating seamless navigation through the Platform browser and iOS interfaces
• Collaborate with developers in order to reach the best design solution in the required timings
• Investigate ways in which we can assess user experience and ease of design
• Design graphic user interface elements that are consistent with the overall look of the platform
• Develop a technical understanding of the underlying Platform functionality such that future solution designs can build on and re-use existing structures and conventions
• Develop a design library of components that can easily be re-used
• Conduct layout adjustments based on user feedback
• Define and adhere to style standards on fonts, colours and images

Other Responsibilities

• When requested, involvement in the preparation of:
  • Graphics required by other teams within the Whitespace organisation for the purposes of marketing and communication
  • Design work for other Whitespace or customer specific interfaces on a project basis
  • Collaborating on designs for the iOS application to ensure consistency between the iOS App and the Browser implementations

Compliance & Training

• Adhere to all company & regulatory policies and procedures as instructed
• Carry out all training provided to deadlines prescribed
• Work with compliance on IT relevant areas such as Data Security and Financial Crime
• Execute the responsibilities of a company employee acting in a lawful and ethical manner in accordance with your contract of employment and company staff handbook
• Work with department manager for own professional development, including performance appraisal and identifying and meeting training needs in order to ensure competence and compliance with current regulations

Experience Required

• Proven prior experience within a similar role
• Portfolio of product design projects
• Experience in using design software such as Figma

Knowledge / Skills / Attributes required

• Knowledge of UX/UI principles
• Strong design sense
• Ability to develop innovative solutions that are user friendly from both a visual and a user interaction perspective.
• Attention to detail is key, as is the ability to work collaboratively
• Self starter
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent listening, negotiating and presentation skills
• Understanding of client needs and ability to react to those
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Solid experience with MS Office
• Willingness to learn and be agile in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to listen and retain new information quickly to disseminate to relevant internal stakeholders

Knowledge / Skills / Attributes desirable

• An understanding of the London Insurance industry and Insurance acronyms and terminology
• An interest in technological advances in Insuretech

Education / Training / Qualifications required

• Degree desirable but not essential

Verisk Analytics is an equal opportunity employer.

All members of the Verisk Analytics family of companies are equal opportunity employers. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, veteran's status, age or disability.

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