Head of Design

Zebra People; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading design-oriented studio in London is seeking a Head of Design to lead a growing team and oversee innovative projects. This role combines hands-on design with leadership, requiring strong product design skills and the ability to manage client relationships. Candidates should have agency experience and a knack for leading workshops. The company fosters a diverse and inclusive culture, making it a great place to work.

Benefits

32 days holiday

8-week work from anywhere allowance

Health & wellbeing budget

Quarterly bonuses

Hardware budget

Qualifications

• Strong background in product design with end-to-end UX-UI skills.
• Experience in agency settings with exposure to enterprise SaaS.
• Confident leadership and client management abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a design team of 4–5.
• Oversee product and brand work to ensure quality.
• Run client workshops and manage project expectations.

Skills

Product design

UX-UI skills

Agency experience

Client workshop leadership

Commercial awareness

Team collaboration

Job description

Head of Design needed by a design-led product studio that’s entering an exciting new growth stage.

The client

Their work spansenterprise clients and scale-ups, with projects covering everything from intuitive SaaS products to brand, web, and GTM design. They build their own products, so have an engineering team too!

They’re now looking for a Head of Design: someone who can lead discovery workshops with clients, drive the concept work, and oversee a small design team (currently 4, with scope to grow).

Based in London, staff do 3 days in the office per week. Anchor day is Wednesday. Leadership team come in on Monday and Thursdays.

20 people in the business.

Benefitsinclude: 32 days holiday, 8-week “work from anywhere” allowance, health & wellbeing budget, quarterly bonuses, hardware budget, and a genuinely supportive, creative environment.

They also do things like employee engagement surveys twice a year to improve the employee experience of working there.

Sponsorship is not available.

The role

As Head of Design, you’ll split your time between hands-on design (60%) and leadership (40%).

About 75% of your work will be product design, with 25% across brand, web, video, and GTM projects. You’ll lead discovery workshops with clients, direct concepts, mentor a team of designers and ensure projects run smoothly from idea to launch.

You’ll collaborate closely with strategy, product, and tech, balancing creativity with commercial awareness – from pitches and scoping to QA and delivery.

You’ll also…

Lead & mentor a design team of 4–5, building culture & processes as we scale

Shape concepts, craft interfaces, and guide projects from discovery to launch

Oversee both product and brand work, ensuring quality and consistency

Run client workshops, present confidently, and manage expectations

Support pitches, identify opportunities for growth, and ensure profitability

The candidate

• Strong background in product design with thorough, end-to-end, UX-UI skills, as well as an eye for brand
• Studio/agencyexperience,withexposuretoenterpriseSaaSandB2Cproducts
• Confidentleadingworkshops,presentingwork,andmanagingclientexpectations
• Commerciallyaware:comfortablewithpitching,scoping,andensuringprofitability
• Collaborative,humble,andkeentogrowadiverse,high-performingteam
• Open to existing Heads of Design or perhaps a Lead-level Product Designer with management experience, ready to take the next step up.

Thisisararechancetojoinabusinessatapivotalpoint,withgenuineinfluenceonboththeircreativeoutputandthecultureofthedesignteam.

If this sound like you, then please apply with your CV AND PORTFOLIO asap, to stand the best chance of getting an interview!

We welcome those with alternative identities, backgrounds, and experiences. Our team includes parents, the self-taught, the university-educated, and people of a wide variety of nationalities, ages, and socio-economic backgrounds.

Obviously, we’re looking to ensure it’s a solid fit from both sides: we want you to step into a role you love, and we want to offer you a place you’re proud to come to every day for work.

We know that diverse teams are strong teams, and welcome those with alternative identities, backgrounds, and experiences to apply to be part of life at Zebra People. We are committed to a fair and accessible recruitment process for all candidates. We would be happy to meet any accommodation requests during the application or interview process, please just let us know.

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