Polly Averill
Head of Design
I lead design in high-growth, high-pressure environments, building systems, teams and clarity where speed and complexity collide.
Currently Head of Design at Constantinople, a banking-as-a-service platform. Previously the company’s first designer, I’ve spent the past 3.5 years helping design scale alongside product and engineering in a regulated fintech context.
Selected work
How I work
I care about making design practical and sustainable, helping teams move fast without losing clarity.
Build the right foundations. Get the basics right so we can move quickly later
Keep things clear. Short, focused goals beat long, vague plans
Work side by side. Design, product and engineering solving problems together
Look after the team. Protect focus and energy so good work can actually happen
About me
I’ve worked across product design, design systems and design leadership in fast-moving fintech teams. I’m most effective where constraints are real, priorities shift often and good judgement guides how process is applied, using just enough structure to keep design moving forward.