PD-003 Lead Product Designer

Toronto

Job Description You make the complex simple. Data driven decisions help you navigate workflow heavy business challenges for exciting clients. You see around corners, positioning the team and our clients to proactively handle obstacles, leveraging past experience and critical thinking. When unforeseen challenges arise, you are comfortable helping teams navigate back toward stability. You can step into any product team and seamlessly contribute value.

You are energized by sharing your mastery of tools, techniques, stakeholder management with your colleagues. You can teach others how to translate ambiguous vision into an actionable plan, growing strategic accounts through successful delivery and new opportunity exploration.

You will have the opportunity to work on some of the most complex challenges in software development today. You will be part of a growing team including Product Managers and Engineers, creating world-class digital products for some of the largest companies in the world.

The Lead Product Designer role is the Associate Director’s right hand. Acting as the most senior practice role within the team, you are responsible for setting technical direction, mentoring Product Designers, and contributing to sales efforts. The Lead Product Designer will directly create value on the most complex engagements as a billable contributor, splitting their time equally between client delivery and practice/team development.

Responsibilities

• Set the research and discovery direction for engagements to ensure the right products are built
• Oversee, and as needed, directly perform the day-to-day aspects of key client engagements, including:
• Design strategy for engagements incorporating timeline, budget, goals and complexities that enables the team to produce designs for delivery, following best asset creation and management practices
• Identification of areas of meaningful measurement on design engagements supported by research efforts
• Technical feasibility and quality of designs for engineering hand off, and alleviation of design blockers with engineers throughout a project’s iterative sprint cadence
• Consultation for clients on product strategy and direction and working directly with delivery teams on design options
• Provide input to the account leadership on the design team’s performance and development opportunities.
• Provide advisory support for engagements in trouble at any stage of digital product delivery for our clients
• Collaborate with Practice Directors to define, evolve, and uphold methodology and standards
• Upskill the practice through mentoring and training of team members, recruiting, thought leadership, and teaching top-tier delivery practices

Drive new business and promote mutually successful client engagements, renewals, and expansion of services by:

• Assessing how we can solve clients’ business problems and creating asssets to help prospective clients define and visualize potential solutions
• Collaborating to define solutions and build estimates and proposals that reflect the optimal partnership
• Forming deep, trusted advisory relationships with clients allowing for identification of new workstreams and solutions within current engagements

Requirements

• BS or BA degree
• Proven track record of consistent, high quality product delivery
• Strong experience and understanding of software development
• Mastery of translating a potentially ambiguous stakeholder vision all the way through into a detailed, technically sound product solution
• Experience coaching and mentoring team members
• Ability to tailor communication and set expectations effectively to multiple audiences
• Strong product design background with mastery of methodology, tools (i.e., Sketch, Figma), and techniques needed to drive business and human value
• Ability to pick up technical and business concepts quickly and advise clients on options
• Commitment to lifelong learning and continuous improvement
• Excellent organizational, time management, prioritization, and project management skills
• Demonstrated problem-solving experience for complex business challenges
• Willingness to travel up to 30%

Benefits

• A quickly scaling international company with a variety of challenging and compelling projects
• Growth opportunities in a matrixed management environment
• Opportunities for professional development such as conferences, seminars and educational courses
• Competitive salary and performance-based bonuses
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Four weeks paid vacation plus standard Canadian holidays
• Maternity/Paternity benefit
• Flexible health and wellness benefit
• Opportunities for professional development such as conferences, seminars, and educational courses
• Team building events, Friday lunches, and stocked kitchen
• Employee referral bonus program