Head of Design

About the role

We are seeking an experienced Director of Design to lead and scale our design team! In this pivotal role, you will drive the overall design vision across our product and lead a group of designers who work across Workera’s products. You’ll advocate for creating meaningful, engaging, and user-centric experiences that empower individuals to develop key technology skills. Your influence will extend beyond design. You will influence our product strategy, foster a culture of innovation, and drive customer-centricity within the organization.

In this role, you will lead by example. During the first three months, you will serve as the hands-on Product Designer for the post-assessment upskilling experience. Alongside this, you will lead and manage a team of two other designers. As a hands-on designer, you’ll have the opportunity to fundamentally reshape how users engage with learning technologies by leveraging Workera’s unique skills, data, and AI-native approach. As a leader, you will also be responsible for building and growing a strong design team at Workera.

You’ll report directly to the VP of Product and collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including Product, Engineering, and Marketing, to ensure that design is a key driver of product success.

What You’ll Do:

In 3 Months:

• Team Leadership: Begin managing two product designers, assessing skills, providing regular feedback, mentoring, and fostering a collaborative environment. Start aligning their work with broader design strategy and product goals.
• Design Processes: Work with the VP of Product to assess existing design workflows and identify areas for improvement, such as design tools, sprint integration, and design reviews.
• Set the Vision: Establish the overall design strategy and vision for the Design Team, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and user needs.
• Hiring & Team Growth: Hire 1-2 product designers and build a world-class team to support Workera’s ambitions and rapid growth trajectory

6 Months In:

• Transition to Leadership: Hire a new designer to backfill your IC role in the Phoenix squad, and fully transition into leading the design team. Take on full management responsibility for all 4 product designers, ensuring smooth onboarding and clear performance goals for the new hire.
• Scale Design Operations: Establish a scalable design process across all squads. Introduce a design system or framework to ensure consistency, efficiency, and quality across products.
• Research Kickoff: Initiate research initiatives to deepen insights into customer goals and challenges, leveraging qualitative and quantitative data to inform initial design decisions.
• Experimentation: Drive experimentation efforts on GenAI products with clear outcomes to enhance specific aspects of the user experience like personalization and reducing cognitive load.

9 Months In:

• Design Vision & Strategy: Assess the impact of design on product outcomes and refine the design strategy based on user feedback and business metrics.
• Design System Evolution: Lead the evolution of Workera’s design system and visual language, ensuring its effectiveness in meeting both user needs and business objectives.
• Team Development: Continue to mentor and develop your team, focusing on growing their skills and ensuring they are aligned with product objectives. Foster a culture of continuous learning and innovation within the design team.
• Advocacy and Evangelism: Champion the value of design within the organization, sharing insights and successes that highlight how design addresses customer challenges and drives business results.

*Please note as we are a dynamic and quickly growing scale-up, things are always subject to change*

What You’ll Bring

• 8+ years of hands-on design experience (UX + UI) with digital products, with a strong portfolio, particularly for data-driven, AI, or learning platforms
• 2+ years of leadership experience, managing and mentoring design teams, with an ability to balance IC work and leadership responsibilities
• Strong UI/UX expertise, especially in user-centered design and creating intuitive, data-informed user experiences
• A systems-thinking mindset with the ability to build and implement scalable design processes, including design systems and frameworks.
• Proven ability to simplify complex user problems into elegant solutions.
• A collaborative and adaptable approach, comfortable in fast-paced, dynamic environments with shifting priorities
• A background in recruiting and hiring designers, particularly in scaling teams

While not required, experience with the following is a plus:

• Familiarity with the corporate skills development industry.
• Experience working with AI-powered products or platforms with adaptive learning or personalization
• Experience working on products that have a heavy integration component
• Previous experience as a player-coach or in a hybrid IC/management role
• Experience with Shape-up methodology

Who you are

• People-First Leader: You have a solid history of leading design teams and are strongly committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and collaborating with them to deliver successful solutions to products that users rely on. 
• Expert Craftsperson: You’re passionate about creating meticulously crafted interactions and visual designs that enhance customer experiences. Your prototyping skills are top-notch, especially for nuanced interactions. Excellent judgment and thoughtfulness about the dynamics of an ever-evolving product landscape.
• Agile Problem Solver: A design thinking expert, you have the ability to navigate both the big picture and intricate details, making complex issues feel simple and approachable. Excellent judgment and thoughtfulness about the dynamics of an ever-evolving product landscape.
• Impact-Oriented: You take full ownership of your work, ensuring every detail is managed from the initial concept through to the final implementation. You thrive on demonstrating how customer challenges are solved through comprehensive design artifacts.
• Opportunistic Thinker: You adeptly use quantitative and qualitative insights to steer product focus, defining and justifying significant opportunities based on business outcomes.
• Determined and Resourceful: You tackle challenges head-on and proactively seek clarity in ambiguous situations.
• Passionate About Education: It's a bonus if you have experience designing for learning and are familiar with the online education technology landscape.
• Proficiency in utilizing AI tools such as ChatGPT or equivalent digital assistants and applying them effectively within your work context.