Manager, Design Development

FashionUnited; Denmark; Remote; DKK 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

LEED Gold Certification

Job summary

Pandora is seeking a Manager, Design Development to own the portfolio planning, governance, and operational enablement of Design Development at our Copenhagen headquarters. This role ensures that product development is structured, aligned, and data-driven, enabling leadership visibility and improved delivery predictability.

You will drive planning alignment, monitor delivery performance, and consolidate insights into a clear portfolio view, leading a team of three specialists and integrating

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in portfolio management, PMO, product development operations, or related roles within complex product development environments.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Design, or a related field (Master's degree preferred).
• Proven track record in portfolio planning, governance, and cross-functional coordination, with ability to connect strategy, planning, data, and execution into a cohesive operating model
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience leveraging data, reporting, and analytics tools to drive insights and informed decision-making.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence and align diverse teams and senior leaders.
• Demonstrated people leadership experience, including coaching, developing, and empowering high-performing teams.
• A proactive, structured, and outcome-oriented mindset, combined with the ability to navigate ambiguity and drive clarity in evolving organizational environments.

Responsibilities

• Own Design Development portfolio frameworks, including SLA principles, Delivery Plans, planning guardrails, and portfolio targets.
• Ensure alignment between portfolio priorities, capacity, delivery commitments, and execution plans to enable realistic and scalable delivery across cycles.
• Drive alignment of project timelines, milestones, and planning activities across Design Development, ensuring consistency, feasibility, and adherence to portfolio priorities.
• Monitor portfolio delivery performance, proactively identifying risks, deviations, dependencies, and impacts, while providing coordination and guidance to support structured execution.
• Establish and maintain consistent planning principles, assumptions, governance standards, and execution practices across the portfolio.
• Consolidate planning, delivery, and performance insights into a clear portfolio view, providing leadership with visibility of status, risks, trade-offs, and decision-making scenarios.
• Own and continuously improve portfolio tools, reporting, and governance outputs, including the NPD Dashboard, Delivery Plans, and portfolio reporting.
• Ensure the integrity, consistency, and usability of product master data across systems to support effective planning and decision-making.
• Lead and develop a team of three specialists across planning coordination, product structure, and data management.
• Establish effective ways of working that integrate data, planning, reporting, and governance into a unified portfolio management approach.

Skills

Portfolio management

PMO

Cross-functional coordination

Data-driven decision making

Stakeholder management

People leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Design, or related field

Master's degree preferred

Job description

The Manager, Design Development owns the portfolio planning, governance, and operational enablement of Design Development, ensuring product development is executed in a structured, aligned, and data-driven manner.

The role ensures that project timelines are aligned, realistic, and executable across the portfolio, and provides planning frameworks, coordination support, and governance oversight, enabling consistent execution across teams without direct ownership of project delivery. By integrating product data, planning, and reporting into a cohesive operating model, the role enables leadership visibility, improves delivery predictability, and strengthens cross-functional alignment across the product development lifecycle

Your key responsibilties will include:

• Own Design Development portfolio frameworks, including SLA principles, Delivery Plans, planning guardrails, and portfolio targets.
• Ensure alignment between portfolio priorities, capacity, delivery commitments, and execution plans to enable realistic and scalable delivery across cycles.

Planning Alignment & Execution Oversight

• Drive alignment of project timelines, milestones, and planning activities across Design Development, ensuring consistency, feasibility, and adherence to portfolio priorities.
• Monitor portfolio delivery performance, proactively identifying risks, deviations, dependencies, and impacts, while providing coordination and guidance to support structured execution.

Governance, Integration & Decision Support

• Establish and maintain consistent planning principles, assumptions, governance standards, and execution practices across the portfolio.
• Consolidate planning, delivery, and performance insights into a clear portfolio view, providing leadership with visibility of status, risks, trade-offs, and decision-making scenarios.

Data, Reporting & Product Structure

• Own and continuously improve portfolio tools, reporting, and governance outputs, including the NPD Dashboard, Delivery Plans, and portfolio reporting.
• Ensure the integrity, consistency, and usability of product master data across systems to support effective planning and decision-making.
• Lead and develop a team of three specialists across planning coordination, product structure, and data management.
• Establish effective ways of working that integrate data, planning, reporting, and governance into a unified portfolio management approach.

What is needed to succeed

• 5+ years of experience in portfolio management, PMO, product development operations, or related roles within complex product development environments.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Design, or a related field (Master's degree preferred).
• Proven track record in portfolio planning, governance, and cross-functional coordination, with the ability to connect strategy, planning, data, and execution into a cohesive operating model
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience leveraging data, reporting, and analytics tools to drive insights and informed decision-making.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence and align diverse teams and senior leaders.
• Demonstrated people leadership experience, including coaching, developing, and empowering high-performing teams.
• A proactive, structured, and outcome-oriented mindset, combined with the ability to navigate ambiguity and drive clarity in evolving organizational environments.

Icing on the cake

You will be working out of our Head Office in Copenhagen V. Besides our beautiful interior design, we are also proud of our LEED Gold Certification for Energy and Environmental Design. This means that we use as few natural resources as possible and that we use them with respect. The result is a professional and dynamic space that is unique, comfortable and inspirational – and delivers a true Pandora experience to anyone who works here or comes to visit.

About Pandora

Pandora is the world's largest jewellery brand, specialising in the design, crafting and marketing of accessible luxury jewellery made from high-quality materials. Each piece is created to inspire self-expression, allowing people to share their stories and passions through meaningful jewellery. Pandora jewellery is sold in more than 100 countries through 7,000 points of sale, including more than 2,800 concept stores.

Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Pandora employs around 39,000 people worldwide and crafts its jewellery with 100% recycled silver and gold. Pandora is committed to leadership in sustainability and has set out to halve greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain by 2030. Pandora is listed on the Nasdaq Copenhagen stock exchange and generated revenue of DKK 32.5 billion (EUR 4.4 billion) in 2025.