Design Systems Lead Designer  ·  A blend of strategy, craft and vibes
williampaul.me
2williampaul@gmail.com
+971 558 550 686
 Dubai, UAE
Pullout Recommendations
KA
Kristin Agnarsdottir
Group Creative Director, Huge | x R/GA
April 2023  ·  Kristin managed Billy directly
"Billy Paul is a superb product designer. Adding value from minute one. Always scrutinising patterns and looking for ways to improve the work. Would trust him with systems of any complexity. Highly organised and collaborative, and a joy to work with to boot."
AB
Aran Burtenshaw
Creative Director, Digitas (Publicis)
August 2019  ·  Aran managed Billy directly
"Billy worked with Digitas as lead designer on the HSBC Banking App — central to the governance team that developed the UI design language, defined design patterns and maintained the toolkit for designers and developers. Fantastic knowledge of tools and creating systematic toolkits. A master craftsman and an asset in any creative team."
MD
Matt Davies
Senior Product Manager, LSEG
2022  ·  Matt worked with Billy at LSEG
"Billy managed the Figma library taxonomy, strategy and delivery with expert precision, communicating the vision effectively to all stakeholders. An invaluable member of the design systems team."
See more recommendations at linkedin.com/in/williampauldesigner  (19 more to view)
Key Clients
  • talabat (Design Systems)
  • J.P. Morgan Chase (Design Systems)
  • McDonald's (Design Systems)
  • Ticketmaster (Design Systems)
  • London Stock Exchange (Design Systems)
  • BlackRock iShares (Design Systems)
  • Morgan Stanley
  • Tesco (Design Systems)
  • HSBC (Design Systems)
  • Sainsbury's (Design Systems)
  • The Economist
  • Emirates
Key Agencies
  • Huge Inc.
  • UsTwo
  • Digitas (Publicis)
  • AnalogFolk
  • Concentrix Tigerspike
Passions For
  • Design Systems for large ecosystems
  • AI-powered DS automation, auditing and team enablement
  • Beautiful and delightful interactive products
  • Guidelines, documentation and education
  • Well-made coffee and workplace vibes
Profile

From crafting brand-new Design Systems or evolving more mature systems, to thinking through product discovery, from UI animation to AI automation, to communicating complex financial data, I have a proven history of working with global clients successfully impacting the lives of millions and transacting in the billions.

I'm actively integrating AI tooling — from component generation to developing design tokens and foundational elements, and steering governance backlog or contribution management. I can deliver comprehensive Design Systems and set its strategic direction to become an AI infrastructure that the company depends on to scale with automation.

Londoner — now Dubai-based. I enjoy leading teams to new heights. Certified Archery GB Level 1 Coach. Learning drums. Inevitably, getting into Padel.

Education
Awards & Recognition
1st Class BA Honours
Information Graphic Design
London College of Communication, 2009
BTEC National Diploma (MMM)
Graphic Design
Barnet College, London, 2006
Silver — Application & Digital
McDonald's Omnichannel Experience
Creativepool Annual 2024 · via Huge Inc.
Bronze — Effectiveness
McDonald's Omnichannel Experience
Creativepool Annual 2024 · via Huge Inc.
Webby Award — Best User Experience
HSBC Kinetic App
Apps & Software / Mobile · 2021
Designed during build phase; awarded post-launch.
Best Governance & Best Accessibility
Tesco Digital Design System (DDS)
Zeroheight Design System Awards 2025
Contributed foundational DS work; system won awards post-engagement.
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2024 — Now
talabat
Senior Design System Designer (Consumer Platform)
Sep 2025 – Present  ·  Dubai, UAE
  • Inheriting and evolving a mature design system across a large-scale consumer platform serving millions across the MENA region.
  • Driving AI integration into DS workflows — automated auditing, component generation and team enablement tooling.
  • Raising system quality, adoption and documentation standards across a cross-functional product organisation.
  • Leading governance of the specialised Marshmallow design system team, setting process, contribution standards and backlog direction.
  • Helping drive strategy and evolution as AI workflows change company-wide operations and how design teams work.
  • Leading the product design of the Foldable Devices initiative — defining how the app responds to device breakpoints and adapts to fold-first layouts and experiences.
  • Collaborating with squad teams as embedded Ambassadors — contributing to design direction, discovery and end-to-end implementation of brand new verticals and new ventures.
JPMorganChase
Lead Design System Designer (B2B Banking)
Oct 2024 – Sep 2025 (1 year)  ·  London, UK
  • Design System Lead within a team of 8, rebuilding B2B banking infrastructure from scratch to support a 400+ person accelerator programme.
  • Owned Figma library end-to-end: scalable, reusable components with live-code parity and full documentation.
  • Led central governance: weekly ceremonies, roadmap ownership, contribution management and Design Token strategy.
  • Drove progressive ways of working to enable the programme to scale rapidly.
  • Embedded AI and LLM explorations into DS workflow and rebrand discovery.
Sainsbury's Nectar
Senior UX Designer (App & Web)
Jun – Sep 2024  ·  London, UK
  • Designed a vision for the Nectar App and Website — driving the "Joy" back into the brand via motion design, gamification and refreshed UI.
  • Consulted the DS central governance team on scaling a multi-branded, multi-product system.
  • Led designers across deliverables and improved design ops and WoW.
2021 — 2024
Huge Inc.
Lead Visual/UI Designer (Web & Kiosk)
Nov 2022 – Mar 2024  ·  London, UK
McDonald's (1 year)
  • Reproduced the Global Website DS covering Desktop and Mobile breakpoints.
  • Led Figma Components Library rebuild via reverse engineering from live code — achieving live-code parity with cross-department engineering approval.
  • Large-scale library audit establishing clear taxonomy, resolving design–code discrepancies, securing senior stakeholder sign-off.
  • DS Central Governance and Contribution duties, peer reviewing and raising standards.
  • In-Store Kiosk design optimisations; RFI Pitch Deck design and senior management presentation.
Ticketmaster (3 months)
  • DS Figma Library for UK Desktop & Mobile site with updated documentation.
  • Web Search patterns and concepts.
John Lewis & Partners
Senior UI Designer (Website)
Oct – Nov 2022  ·  (via Lorien) London
  • UI design across Web Foundations and Basket & Listings tribes.
LSEG — London Stock Exchange Group
UI Design Lead – Design Systems (Web Software)
Nov 2021 – Sep 2022  ·  (via Fearless) London
  • 'Library Guardian' — managed DS outputs to 70+ designers as single source of truth.
  • Rebuilt and optimised Figma Component Library (Sketch-to-Figma migration).
  • Led DS contribution process, central governance, training and design-code parity.
  • Consulted on DS portal, documentation and ecosystem structure.
Fresha
Lead Product Designer (App & Web)
Oct – Nov 2021  ·  (via Fearless) London
  • Growth and Retention Tribe for a fast-scaling global booking platform.
BlackRock iShares
Senior Product Designer – Design Systems (Website)
May – Jul 2021  ·  (via UsTwo) London
  • DS for Global Desktop & Mobile marketing site.
  • AA accessibility discovery for charts and data visualisations.
  • DS Central Governance duties and documentation management.
Pre 2021
Morgan Stanley
Senior Visual Designer (App & Web)
Oct 2020 – May 2021  ·  (via Wipro)
  • Investment research platform, market screener, financial chatbots, mobile apps.
Tesco
Lead UI Designer (App)
Nov 2019 – Aug 2020  ·  (via Pontoon)
  • Unified DS blueprint, senior management buy-in. DS training and education. Mentored 6+ designers.
HSBC Kinetic & NETmobile
Lead UI Designer (Apps)
Sep 2018 – Nov 2019  ·  (via Digitas & AnalogFolk)
  • DS governance across 10+ design pods in a 200+ person multi-agency programme. Led team of 9–12 designers.
Signal Noise / The Economist
Senior Product Designer
Apr – Aug 2018  ·  London
  • Trading platform DS. Desktop analytics. Data visualisation.
Concentrix Tigerspike
UI Lead → Senior UI Architect → UI Designer
Sep 2015 – Mar 2018  ·  London, Singapore, Dubai
  • Priority Pass native app (London)
  • RHB Bank & Bkash Banking apps (Singapore)
  • Emirates Airlines — global travel app, web & tablet (Dubai)
Emerging Property
Senior UI/UX Designer
Mar 2014 – Sep 2015  ·  Dubai, UAE
  • UK property investment platform. Digital marketing. Rebrand and relaunch.
IG
Visual UI Designer
Dec 2013 – Mar 2014  ·  London
  • HTML5 trading charts, data visualisation, Nadex Binary iPad.
City Index
Digital Designer
Apr 2012 – Dec 2013  ·  London
  • Financial trading marketing. Infographics. Digitals Award winner 2013.
Wilmington Group
Graphic Designer
Mar 2010 – Mar 2012  ·  London
  • Magazine, editorial and brand design for professional business publications.
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