Lead UI Designer – Automotive & In-Vehicle HMI (m/f/d)

This is Edenspiekermann

We are Edenspiekermann - an independent design consultancy with 40+ years of experience helping world-leading organizations invent, build, and evolve their products. Our Product Strategy practice works directly with product teams at the intersection of market insight, design excellence, and AI-driven development.

Our interaction designers work in agile and interdisciplinary teams on websites and platforms for major brands as well as for startups. Our teams combine conceptual thinking, a sophisticated understanding of design and a deep knowledge of web and app development to develop a digital product or service with a user-centric approach. In doing so, we advise and coach our clients' teams to provide the best customer experience for their customers.

About the role

Reimagining in-vehicle digital experiences is what drives us. In a multi-year partnership with a leading vehicle manufacturer, we are shaping the future of mobility and in-cabin interfaces – from visionary early-stage R&D explorations to series-production HMI solutions across complex display ecosystems.

As Lead UI Designer, you will own the visual design language and drive UI craft across the entire digital cockpit. You’ll set visual standards, scale design system architectures for multi-screen environments, mentor fellow designers, and act as the primary design authority working directly with OEM product leads, ergonomists, and embedded engineering teams.

Your tasks

• Define and elevate the end-to-end visual UI language across instrument clusters, CIDs, and passenger displays

• Build and govern scalable, multi-screen and multi-brand design system architectures ready for automotive series production

• Translate complex UX flows into pixel-perfect, high-performance UI layouts while respecting hardware and rendering constraints

• Lead visual design decisions in close collaboration with UX/UI designers, motion experts, ergonomists, and OEM product owners

• Establish design tokens, asset pipelines, and developer-ready documentation for seamless handoffs to embedded engineering teams

• Mentor and empower UI designers, fostering design excellence and automotive compliance across parallel development tracks

• Present design rationale, ergonomic choices, and your aesthetic vision convincingly to OEM decision-makers

Your profile

• Solid background in in-vehicle UI design (e.g., Android Automotive OS, infotainment systems, digital clusters, ADAS)

• Proven experience leading UI workstreams, steering visual direction, and mentoring designers in complex setups (OEM, Tier 1, or agency)

• Deep understanding of driver distraction principles, cognitive load, glance readability, and automotive contrast/luminance requirements (day/night modes)

• Advanced proficiency in Figma, including design tokens, responsive components, and multi-display architectures

• A strong portfolio highlighting typography, screen hierarchy, layout precision, and micro-interactions for complex interfaces

• Working knowledge of technical constraints in vehicle environments (e.g., embedded UI frameworks, real-time rendering pipelines)

• Confident presentation skills with an articulate design voice; fluent in English (written and spoken), German is a plus

Bonus:

• Experience designing for commercial vehicles

• Strong craft in custom iconography or technical illustration tailored to HMI contexts

• Hands-on experience with motion design and prototyping for functional UI transitions

• Experience preparing and optimizing assets for real-time 3D/embedded rendering engines (e.g., Kanzi, Unreal, Unity, Qt)

We offer

• Work at an internationally renowned agency known for setting high standards in digital product design, branding, and user experience of industry giants like Mercedes-Benz, The Economist, and Allianz

• We’re fast learners who believe in real collaboration. With fresh perspective and unbiased advice, we build future-ready solutions and embed with your team until the change feels like home

• Enjoy the convenience of an on-site gym with sauna, making it easy to stay active and maintain a healthy work-life balance right at the office

• Benefit from free organic coffee and tea, a weekly team breakfast, and a Swedish-style Fika to connect with your colleagues

• Flat hierarchies and the opportunity to contribute and implement your own ideas

• Inhouse coaching and mentoring

We are pleased to meet you!

We value diversity and therefore welcome all applications – regardless of gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion/beliefs, disability, age, and sexual orientation and identity.

If you are interested, please provide us with the following documents and information:

• Current CV

• Portfolio

• Earliest possible start date

• Salary expectations

• Certificates / diploma