Product Design Manager

Pennylane; Portugal; Remote; EUR 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company shares

25 vacation days

Budget for home workspace

Monthly coworking allowance

Gymlib access

Busuu access

Latest Apple equipment

Remote work from Europe

Regular company events

France-specific RTT and PTO (France)

Job summary

Pennylane is seeking a Product Design Manager to lead a team of five designers across cross-functional squads, partnering with Engineering, Product, and Design to shape the user experience for French SMEs and accounting partners.

You will mentor, collaborate with senior executives, translate JTBD and design guidelines into actionable work, and drive design strategy while balancing speed and quality in a dynamic European fintech environment.

Qualifications

• A strong track record of leading product design teams.
• Fluency in French and proficiency in English.
• An excellent eye for design with the capability to assist the team with ideas and creative inputs.
• Excellence in aligning team decisions with the overall vision, JTBD, and design guidelines.
• Experience discovering and solving complex problems through data and insights.
• Experience fostering an inclusive, open, and engaged design team culture.
• Comfort in communicating future design directions with senior stakeholders, including founders, to inspire positive action.
• A collaborative approach with experience working closely with Designers, Engineers, and Product Managers.
• Significant experience collaborating with senior executives (C-level, Executive Committee, etc.).
• Ability to simplify, synthesize, and translate complex issues for non-expert audiences.
• Ability to present and defend decisions to senior stakeholders.
• Energy for an ever-shifting work environment.
• High level of collaboration within your team and with other stakeholders.
• Sufficient experience to prioritize business-led actions in day-to-day activities.

Responsibilities

• Scale and level-up a team of 5 product designers.
• Partner closely with other design leaders, cross-functional partners, and HR partners to hire, develop, and retain design talent in alignment with organizational growth.
• Identify strategic UX opportunities to increase user productivity and drive these forward with product and engineering peers at the track level.
• Orchestrate user research with product leads and your team to understand the behavior, needs, and wants of accounting partners and convert them into actionable insights.
• Measure the effect of design on business performance and oversee critical strategic directions.
• Continuously contribute expertise to the business through insights and best practices for users.
• Help the team balance speed, quality, and design consistency, focusing on JTBD and business goals.
• Shape and establish design processes to drive best practices, impact, and efficiency across the team.
• Partner with design ops teams.

Skills

Team leadership

Design leadership

Stakeholder communication

JTBD

Data-informed design

Cross-functional collaboration

Vision alignment

Executive engagement

Job description

About the Role

The mission is to impact the daily life of millions of entrepreneurs in France and Europe within a work environment that values trust, proactivity, and autonomy. The vision is to become the most beloved financial Operating System for French SMEs and Accounting Firms, helping entrepreneurs manage time-consuming accounting and finance tasks while providing access to key financial information for business decisions.

Design sits at the centre of this mission to deliver an accessible, seamless, and enjoyable experience. The design team consists of 35+ product designers working across different tracks in cross-functional squads comprising Engineering, Product, and Design. Designers are expected to contribute from defining the problem space to user research and testing.

We are seeking a Product Design Manager with a strong strategic and design mindset and extensive experience in complex product environments. This role involves mentoring, coaching, and leading a team of talented designers to ensure partners have the best user experience possible.

The role requires proven experience working directly with C-level executives and executive committees, with the ability to simplify complex topics and communicate clearly with senior stakeholders.

What You'll Be Doing

• Scale and level-up a team of 5 product designers.
• Partner closely with other design leaders, cross-functional partners, and HR partners to hire, develop, and retain design talent in alignment with organizational growth.
• Identify strategic UX opportunities to increase user productivity and drive these forward with product and engineering peers at the track level.
• Orchestrate user research with product leads and your team to understand the behavior, needs, and wants of accounting partners and convert them into actionable insights.
• Measure the effect of design on business performance and oversee critical strategic directions.
• Continuously contribute expertise to the business through insights and best practices for users.
• Help the team balance speed, quality, and design consistency, focusing on JTBD and business goals.
• Shape and establish design processes to drive best practices, impact, and efficiency across the team.
• Partner with design ops teams.

What You'll Bring

• Fluency in French and proficiency in English.
• A strong track record of leading product design teams.
• An excellent eye for design with the capability to assist the team with ideas and creative inputs.
• Excellence in aligning team decisions with the overall vision, JTBD, and design guidelines.
• Experience discovering and solving complex problems through data and insights.
• Experience fostering an inclusive, open, and engaged design team culture.
• Comfort in communicating future design directions with senior stakeholders, including founders, to inspire positive action.
• A collaborative approach with experience working closely with Designers, Engineers, and Product Managers.
• Significant experience collaborating with senior executives (C-level, Executive Committee, etc.).
• Ability to simplify, synthesize, and translate complex issues for non-expert audiences.
• Ability to present and defend decisions to senior stakeholders.
• Skill in finding the right balance in meetings—knowing when to lead, when to listen, and how to adapt to the context.
• Energy for an ever-shifting work environment.
• High level of collaboration within your team and with other stakeholders.
• Sufficient experience to prioritize business-led actions in day-to-day activities.

Nice to Have

• Experience leading product design teams specifically within B2B organisations.

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive compensation package.
• Company shares.
• 25 vacation days.
• Budget to turn your home into a comfortable workspace, plus a monthly allowance for coworking spaces.
• Access to Gymlib, providing access to 8,000 fitness spaces in Europe and over 300 wellness activities.
• Access to Busuu to perfect English or French.
• Latest Apple equipment.
• Remote work options from your country of residence, provided it is in Europe and within a maximum time difference of two hours from the CET time zone.
• Regular company events, including Tech Days every 3 months and an annual company seminar.
• For those based in France: 6 to 12 RTT, 5 weeks PTO, lunch credits Swile, and Alan Blue healthcare cover.

About Pennylane

Pennylane is one of the fastest-growing Fintechs in France and Europe. In 5 years, the company has:

• Established itself as a groundbreaking accounting and financial software for small businesses and accountants.
• Raised a total of €400 million, including investment from Sequoia.
• Grown from 7 co-founders to 1,000 employees, with a 4.6/5 rating on Glassdoor.
• Built an international environment with more than 25 nationalities, where 30% of employees work remotely from across Europe.
• Earned the trust of thousands of customers, with more than 900,000 SMEs and over 6,000 accounting firms using Pennylane in France.