Richard Ilott | Senior Product Designer
Open to Senior and Lead Product Design roles

Evidence, not opinion.

Designing for users. Accountable to the business. Nine years at platform scale inside Flutter Entertainment and JD Group, now looking for the next Senior or Lead role, permanent or contract.

Richard Ilott at the JD UP 2026 event in Manchester, standing in front of a large-format display showing the JD Sports app navigation

Exhibit 01JD UP, Manchester 2026

18% to 32% Nav CTR uplift, £300k+ revenue across a 28-day A/B test
-12% WISMO contacts after My Account launch, against an 8% target
+22.7% Italian storefront revenue after holding an ethical line on BNPL placement
-82% Account suspensions after a redesigned AML escalation journey

Case studies

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From the people I've worked with

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He was a highly valued member of the team, helping shape the strategic direction of our function and ways of working, with a clear view on how AI can support great product delivery.

Gavin Holland Global Head of Product Design & Research · managed Richard directly

Richard took the initiative to introduce and improve our design processes, helping streamline the way we worked and bring greater consistency across our team.

Roshan Patel Product Designer, JD Sports

Richard actively sought feedback and quickly implemented new ways of working that improved the squad's overall efficiency — one change enabled developers to liaise directly with him, significantly speeding up the resolution of queries and issues.

Mark Bell Business Analyst, JD Sports

Working seamlessly on projects such as improving the homepage, middle banner offer spots, campaign landing pages and BNPL on PDP — his work continues after the design is done, and he's involved in the review process once development work has been done.

Eboni Powell Senior Digital Content Executive, JD Sports Fashion
Verified method

Built to repeat

Developed at Flutter Entertainment by watching what actually held up under pressure, then formalised at JD Sports into a documented process and Figma system. Ten designers now work to it.

10+ designers · Process & Figma system
Hiring — right now

For hiring managers.

Looking for Senior and Lead Product Design roles where design has genuine influence and the work connects to real outcomes. Permanent or contract.

Open to opportunities Get in touch →
What good looks like
  • A senior or lead role with real design influence
  • High-traffic products at platform scale, the kind where bad decisions hurt
  • A culture that debates the problem before jumping to the solution
  • North West hybrid, London two days a week (I keep a base in Watford), or fully remote

Doesn't need to tick every box, but the more it does, the better the fit.

About

Senior designer.
Strategic lens.

I didn't start in design. Recruitment came first, then UX, then nine years of platform-scale products across two of the UK's biggest digital businesses. The non-traditional route turned out to be useful.

More about me →
Free library

Books & guides for
product designers.

Playbooks on AI, stakeholder work, and design leadership, including a first-90-days plan and hiring toolkit written from actually running a team.

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