Director of Product Design

Job Summary

Our Partner is a rapidly growing SaaS company that helps businesses in emerging markets optimize their resources and become more productive and successful, and our mission is to  build a healthy unicorn. We are embarking on an ambitious and exciting growth strategy which  will lead to a significant transformation of the business and you will play a significant role in this  journey. 

As Director, Product Design, you will lead a high-performing design team (consisting of  over 15 UI/UX designers, UX researchers and UX copywriters) and create paths for them  to scale capacity and advance the product experience boldly and seamlessly, by  strategically improving your team’s processes and positioning them for growth  opportunities. You will own a seat at the senior leadership table of Design + Product +  Engineering to define roadmaps, strategy, innovation and achievement of business  outcomes. You will also collaborate with multiple internal teams, including product  management, engineering, sales and marketing, and interface closely with customers to  solicit feedback and test your designs.

Job Description 

• Crafting your product design’s strategic roadmap, informed with insights and  opportunities, through collaboration with cross-functional peers.  
• Be an enthusiastic advocate for the client’s total experience of our product across all  touchpoints and ensure each and every moment is delightful and impactful.
• Oversee the Design team and gather and synthesize feedback from multiple  constituents (users, customers, product managers, sales, engineers) to design new  features and interfaces for products as well as improvements. 
• Play a lead role in forecasting, hiring, onboarding, and improving the product design  team’s culture and engagement and also oversee team members’ development  including performance assessment, coaching/mentoring, and training. 
• Dedicating time to mentor, coach and sponsor managers and skip-level reports
• Thinking about and improving/documenting processes, design systems and UX  frameworks for your team and the design organization. 
• Provide UX leadership using your experience with analytics, research, design methodologies and product launches to introduce best practices, scalable processes and design systems 
• Develop and implement product experience measurement and success processes.
• Constantly re-evaluate and iterate on product interfaces based on feedback and  measured performance bottlenecks. 
• Present and influence design decisions to various internal stakeholders locally and  globally. 
• Keep up-to-date with relevant trends and practices within the tech industry.
• Apply and promote SeamlessHR culture and core values at all times. 
• Undertake ad hoc duties as agreed with the CTO

Behavioural Requirements

• Effective articulation of ideas, strategy and design solutions 
• Expressing feedback with kindness and candor 
• Creation of psychologically safe spaces for idea sharing, coaching and mentorship
• Tolerance for ambiguity and healthy curiosity 
• Translation of quantitative & qualitative insights into design decisions
• Thirst for continuous learning 
• Fearless in making decisions 
• Intellectually curious 
• Leading people

Functional/Technical Requirements

• 10+ years of UI/Product/UX design experience working on complex domains of designs in a fast-paced tech environment; including 5+ years of demonstrable leadership experience in related role
• An embodiment design quality, understanding of what success looks like in the SAAS  product space and knowledge of how to shepherd execution to launch impactful  experience change
• Thinking at a system level and improve how squads work with our design system
• A portfolio showcasing sophisticated aesthetics with strengths in design systems, typography, visual storytelling and high level understanding of user experience
• Proven track record of maintaining high standards of quality, attention to detail and  leading through ambiguity and collaborating with research, analytics and engineers in a  continuous delivery environment
• Ability to balance customer needs with business goals, market viability, and technical  feasibility
• Ability to translate customer insights into concepts, personas, user journeys, storyboards,  system maps, user flows, wireframes, visual design comps, and prototypes with the aid of  design tools
• Strong negotiation and stakeholder management skills at all levels
• Strong collaboration and communication skills with the ability to use data and user  insights to influence decision making
• Composure under pressure and experience of managing teams against tight deadlines

Benefits

• Competitive annual gross salary
• 25 days of annual leave, excluding federal public holidays
• Health insurance coverage for you, your spouse and up to four children
• Monthly employer pension contribution
• On-site gym and recreational facilities
• Tea/coffee whenever you work at the office
• Company gear/swag
• Learning and growth opportunities
• Flexible/remote work arrangements
• An opportunity to play an important role in building one of the top SaaS start-ups in  Africa
• A leadership position with direct impact and influence to guide the company to the  next level and a seat at the table for strategic decisions

About our Partner 

Our Partner empowers people and organizations by helping them make the best of their people all over the world. They are an HR Technology focused on helping businesses become more productive and successful, through the deployment of world-class technology solutions to manage the entire value chain of Human Resources.They have a robust suite comprising: HR, Learning, Recruitment & Payroll solutions to give your business an end-to-end solution to optimize human resources - from hiring to retirement. Each technology solution can be used a la carte, or as an integrated suite.

Core modules include: Applicant Tracking System (ATS), Employee Onboarding, Payroll, Leave Management, Performance Management, Talent Management, Succession & Workforce Planning, Time & Attendance Management, Learning & Development + much more.