Head of Experience & Design

An opportunity for an experienced design leader to own and shape the future of customer experience within a well loved retail brand.

The client

The John Lewis Partnership is the UK’s largest employee owned business and the parent company of two cherished retail brands – John Lewis and Waitrose, which are owned in Trust by 80,000 Partners.

They have 34 John Lewis stores (plus one outlet) and 332 Waitrose stores across the UK, along with johnlewis.com and waitrose.com respectively. They also have two international sourcing offices, a soft furnishings factory, various distribution centres, three Waitrose & Partners cookery schools, a content production hub, heritage centre and their own Waitrose & Partners farm.

If you’ve ever stepped through the doors of a John Lewis or Waitrose store, shopped online, or seen any of their adverts, you’ll know there’s something unique about them.

That unique proposition is their Partners. As co-owners they have a say in the business and receive a share of the profits, so they put time and effort into making it work. Their Partners are the reason they’re the success that they are.

The role

Note: Although internally this role holds the title of ‘Experience & Design Lead’ – the responsibilities align better with that of a Head of Design. Hence the title of this advert.

This role sits leading the design function for Waitrose & Partners. This is a a multi-disciplinary team made up of Research, Service Design, Product Design and DesignOps and currently sits at 26 people, with ambitions to grow to aproximately 40.

You’re role will hold three key objectives:

• Coach, mentor, develop and scale the team.
• Set the overarching vision and strategy, unifying the teams goals and building a holistic customer experience for customers.
• Evangelise for design across the org.

Key responsibilities:

• Lead a talented team of Service Designers, Product Designers, UX Designers, and UX Researchers to create seamless, customer-centered experiences.
• Drive the end-to-end experience across online and digital in-store journeys, ensuring a best-in-class experience for customers and Partners.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Content & Design, and CX teams to enhance existing journeys and design and deliver new products and services.
• Leverage the unique strengths and brand positioning of Waitrose to create truly differentiated and market-leading experiences.
• Provide creative leadership, coaching, and nurturing to the design team, utilizing your extensive experience in design techniques, tools, and agile approaches.
• Foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within the design team.

The candidate

• Extensive experience leading multi-discipline Product Design teams throughout the product lifecycle, from discovery and research to final UI design.
• Proven track record of leading designers in large  organisations, preferably across multiple productised teams.
• A portfolio (or leadership deck) showcasing design leadership work and a history of leading teams to deliver design excellence and achieving commercial results.
• Excellent communication skills with experience managing complex sets of stakeholders.
• Desirable: Experience in customer experience and/or service design for major new propositions and brands.
• Desirable: Retail or ecommerce experience within a large organization.

Why Join the John Lewis Partnership?

• Be part of a pioneering employee-owned business that values its Partners and encourages their input and success.
• Lead a talented team and shape the digital experiences of an iconic retail brand. Some HUGE projects in the roadmap to run with.
• Join a company committed to diversity and inclusion, striving to become the UK’s most inclusive business.
• Be part of one of the largest experience and digital transformation in retail.

Interview process:

1. Initial call with teh Head of Product
2. 90-120min presentation. (Questions sent 7 days in advance)

To find out more, click apply or email sam@zebrapeople.com