Design Director

EF Education First Gruppe; London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global education company is seeking an experienced Design Director to lead a diverse team. This role involves strategic collaboration, coaching designers, and enhancing the user experience across products. You will work in a dynamic environment, influence the future of online education, and enjoy perks like a central office with a gym and opportunities for travel.

Benefits

Central office with gym

Cafe and regular social events

Opportunity to travel

Impact on millions of learners

Competitive salary

Qualifications

• At least 4 years experience in design management.
• Portfolio of relevant design work.
• Expertise in design systems and tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support the Product Design team.
• Conduct design critiques and reviews.
• Attract and hire new design talent.

Skills

Leadership

Design Management

User-Centered Design

Collaboration

Remote Team Leadership

Tools

Design Systems

Job description

Efekta is powering the next generation of education.

We unleash the untapped potential in teachers, students, and organisations, through a connected, online learning ecosystem. Where AI empowers, not replaces. Where immersive environments redefine the classroom. And where precision planning and analytics drive progress.

We are seeking an experienced Design Director to lead a multi-disciplined team based between Europe and Shanghai.

As Design Director, you'll lead, develop, and support our Product Design team, contributing to EF Education First's global design direction across products, people, processes, and systems.

A typical day will see you switching between coaching your team both as a group, and on an individual level, running design critiques and reviews, as well supporting strategic decisions with your Product and Engineering peers.

• Starts with “Why?”
• Can lead, guide, and develop the design process for their team–from problem definition to all the way through to design implementation.
• Partners with design, product, and engineering peers to make sure projects are rooted in a tangible problem, are well-specified, and are successfully delivered with a high value for their users.
• Guides Product Designers towards solutions that are unquestionably simple, intuitive, and “just work.”
• Works alongside design leadership to ensure cohesive user experiences across all products and services.
• Manages and coaches Product Designers of all levels and specialties.
• Actively seeks to grow the design team by attracting and hiring new talent.
• Is not afraid of failure.
• Is a life-long learner.

Role requirements

• You have at least 4 years practical work experience in a design management or leadership role
• You have a portfolio of relevant design work, executed either by yourself or a team that you led; demonstrating your ability to ship product.
• You have user-centered approach to design, focused on designing software for humans.
• You have a deep expertise in design systems and tools and a finger on the pulse of industry trends, practices, and emerging tech.
• You have worked with product owners, engineers (and ideally academics) to drive strategy, vision, and execution.
• You are comfortable attracting and hiring design talent.
• You’re happy juggling a wide range of responsibilities at the same time.
• You have a collaborative, no-ego approach to working with your team.
• You have experience leading remote teams.

Efekta is powering the next generation of education.

We unleash the untapped potential in teachers, students, and organisations, through a connected, online learning ecosystem. Where AI empowers, not replaces. Where immersive environments redefine the classroom. And where precision planning and analytics drive progress.

We are seeking an experienced Design Director to lead a multi-disciplined team based between Europe and Shanghai.

As Design Director, you'll lead, develop, and support our Product Design team, contributing to EF Education First's global design direction across products, people, processes, and systems.

A typical day will see you switching between coaching your team both as a group, and on an individual level, running design critiques and reviews, as well supporting strategic decisions with your Product and Engineering peers.

Our ideal candidate

• Starts with “Why?”
• Can lead, guide, and develop the design process for their team–from problem definition to all the way through to design implementation.
• Partners with design, product, and engineering peers to make sure projects are rooted in a tangible problem, are well-specified, and are successfully delivered with a high value for their users.
• Guides Product Designers towards solutions that are unquestionably simple, intuitive, and “just work.”
• Works alongside design leadership to ensure cohesive user experiences across all products and services.
• Manages and coaches Product Designers of all levels and specialties.
• Actively seeks to grow the design team by attracting and hiring new talent.
• Is not afraid of failure.
• Is a life-long learner.

Role requirements

• You have at least 4 years practical work experience in a design management or leadership role
• You have a portfolio of relevant design work, executed either by yourself or a team that you led; demonstrating your ability to ship product.
• You have user-centered approach to design, focused on designing software for humans.
• You have a deep expertise in design systems and tools and a finger on the pulse of industry trends, practices, and emerging tech.
• You have worked with product owners, engineers (and ideally academics) to drive strategy, vision, and execution.
• You are comfortable attracting and hiring design talent.
• You’re happy juggling a wide range of responsibilities at the same time.
• You have a collaborative, no-ego approach to working with your team.
• You have experience leading remote teams.

What we offer

• Central office with gym, cafe and regular social events calendar
• Working in a global, multicultural environment with an amazing team of designers, engineers, academics, data scientists and product people
• The opportunity to travel.
• A chance to impact millions of learners and help define the future of online education.
• Competitive salary.

At EF EdTech, we believe that diversity and inclusion are fundamental to driving innovation. We value the unique perspectives and contributions of individuals from all backgrounds. Together, we aim to create an inclusive environment where every team member feels valued and empowered.

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