Product Design Director

Join a global media organisation who's mission is to empower the most iconic brands in media for business and creative success by creating the next-generation suite of content publishing and consumption experiences. We are looking for a Product Design Director to lead the design of user experiences and an international design team of one of their most iconic brands.

The client

A global media organisation who’s mission is to empower the most iconic brands in media for business and creative success by creating the next-generation suite of content publishing and consumption experiences. The company’s portfolio includes many of the world’s most respected and influential media brands.

They produce high quality content that has a footprint of more than 1 billion consumers across 32 territories through print, digital, video and social platforms.

Their content reaches 84 million consumers in print 367 million in digital and 379 million across social platforms generating more than 1 billion video views each month.

The role

You’ll join a group of designers, product managers, engineers, strategists, and researchers dedicated to building innovative, user-centric products. These products play a critical role in the the future of each brand in the portfolio.

We are now looking for a Product Design Director to lead the design of user experiences and an international design team of one of their most iconic brands.

As the Product Design Director you will be responsible for bringing to life industry leading user experiences, with their users’ needs at their core.

The Team

Your immediate team is made up of experienced visual, interaction, content, and research. But will also partner closely with editorial, product management, engineering, and business partners to strategise, design, and launch ambitious digital products.

Tghe organisation firmly believe that a well-formed design culture, with strong cross-collaboration is essential to delivering top-notch work.

Key Responsibilities:

Design strategy – You’ll have a deep understanding of how great design can drive overall business results. You’ll provide vision and direction, in collaboration with your cross-functional partners, to articulate a compelling vision for the user experience across a portfolio of digital products. You’ll need to be an expert in aligning business goals with user’s needs, to create engaging, user-centric experiences.

Insights driven approach – Qualitative research and data is essential in forming a strong foundation for design work. In collaboration with partners in the UX Research team, Product Analytics and Audience Development, you will draw sophisticated, actionable insights to inform your design direction, as well as assess the success of your initiatives.

End to end design – There are multiple users to serve (internal, as well as external) and numerous touch points to consider in designing a coherent user experience. TYou will be responsible for orchestrating the end-to-end product experience and its ecosystem – from the publishing of content, the integration of consumer revenue and commercial experiences, through to the end user experience on and off platform.

Team leadership – You will be responsible for leading a high functioning team and establish the culture and processes necessary to set up your team for success. You will lead a team of product designers, researchers and content designers, working in a matrixed organisation. You will also be a close partner to Product, Engineering, Editorial, Audience Development, Consumer Revenue, Commercial and more. You’ll need to navigate the needs of a complex group of stakeholders and corral teams around a shared perspective to chart the path forwards.

Design Leadership – This role is an essential part of the wider Design Leadership team, who set the tone and shape of the organisational culture and the broader design strategy, while also championing the value of design and research.

Champion the brand – You’ll need a nuanced understanding of how to bring an established brand to life within the digital space, and be able to collaborate with creative partners to create a cohesive, cross-platform brand experience.

The candidate

• Extensive experience leading product design teams in large, complex projects, spanning both UX and UI.
• Experience working with design systems and scalable approaches.
• Experience managing multiple stakeholders and working in cross functional teams in close partnership with Product and Engineering.
• Proven ability to manage projects in a fast-paced environment and remain focused amidst frequently changing requirements.
• Keen interest in fashion and storytelling.

It would be a bonus to have:

• Experience working in media / publishing or with a content rich product
• Experience working for fashion and / or beauty brand.
• Experience working on e-commerce products, particularly in the fashion and beauty sectors
• Experience designing for subscription acquisition and retention or membership user experiences.
• Experience working in matrixed organisations with distributed teams across multiple time zones

Benefits:

• Learning Hub where you’ll find you’ll find over 16,000 bespoke training and learning courses in seven local languages.
• 25 days holiday and extra days of annual leave for if you get married, move house or want to volunteer.
• Hybrid working.
• Competitive pension scheme.
• Bupa Private Healthcare.
• Season ticket loans.
• Cycle to work.
• Employee Assistance programme.
• Bring your dog to work.
• A wide variety of wellness benefits including gym discounts.
• Employee Resource Groups to provide a platform for employees to identify shared objectives, exchange ideas, and work on community priorities for the global workforce.

Interview process:

1. 30 Min with the VP of Desgn.
2. Pannel interview with membes of the team.