Product Design Lead (m/w/d)

What we do PlentyONE helps e-commerce teams sell across multiple channels from one platform. We bring product data, orders, inventory, marketplaces, and fulfilment together so brands and retailers can run their operations at scale. We’re strongest in the German market and are expanding into other regions.Visit the PlentyOne website for more info Why we’re hiring for this role We’re moving from a managed service to a self-service product. That shift makes the end-to-end user experience critical. This role will lead the UX strategy and execution that helps customers succeed independently.We’ve had an interim design leader (Kristof Hamilton) supporting the team to kick-start this work while we hire for the role. Your team You’ll be the most senior design person in the company reporting to the Chief Product Officer (Ken Knoll) and leading a team of four product designers.You’ll collaborate with two Group Product Managers (Christoph Wöhrl and Sebastian Cordes) closely on building our roadmap and improving our ways of collaborating across the team. Your mission ​​​ Day to day responsibilities These are the types of activities you’ll be doing in the role on a standard week. You’ll undertake about 60% of your time on project work and 40% managing and up skilling the team. Lead by example on projects Deliver end to end project work from research to prototyping to engineering handover. You’ll show the team how to plan and manage their time effectively and teach them which techniques to use and when. Manage the workload and development of the design team Work with group product managers to prioritise and schedule in work on the roadmap. You’ll also support the team on their projects, looking for coaching and training opportunities to level up their skills. Establish and improve ways of working Work with engineering and product to create, document and roll out new processes which help us make evidence driven product decisions faster. Define and improve experience metrics Identify ways to measure our customer experience. You should create a framework for KPIs, track them and run experiments to improve them. Link design work to business outcomes Make sure design has influence by demonstrating how our priorities impact business KPIs. You'll identify opportunities to improve outcomes across all projects, and influence stakeholders company-wide (e.g. marketing and product) to refine their approach. Build and maintain customer insights Ensure that customer insights are centralised and easy to understand for everyone in the business. These insights should be used to educate the rest of the business and influence decisions. Set and uphold our design standards Make sure design work and released code gives customers a great experience and meets accessibility guidelines. This includes collaborating with designers and engineers to evolve our design system. The interview process We aim to take you through this process end-to-end within 2-3 weeks from when we first chat with you. We’ve tried to keep it short but still give us enough time to get to know each other and decide if we’re a match. If you’re unsuccessful at any stage we’ll try to give you some constructive feedback to help you on your job search. Please note: All interviews are conducted in English as this is the workplace language at PlentyOne. Application review One of our talent team will shortlist applications based on criteria set by our interim design leader. If they feel you’d be a strong candidate, then you’ll be invited to an initial screening call. We aim to get back to you within 7 days of applying for the role. Screening call 20-25 mins One of our Talent team will call you to get to know you a bit better and ask you some questions around areas related to the role that your CV or portfolio didn’t cover. You’ll be able to ask them any questions you have about the company or role too. If the talent team member feels like you’re a good match for the role then you’ll be invited to a skills interview. Skills interview 45 mins You’ll meet with our Interim Chief Product Officer (Ken Knoll) and Interim Head of Product Design (Kristof Hamilton) so they can learn more about your skills. The interview will run as follows: Case study (15 mins)You’ll be asked to present one case study for 15 minutes, and the team will ask some follow up questions to better understand your role on it. STAR questions (20 mins)We’ll ask questions about your past experience to gauge your skills. You should be prepared to talk through specific projects and examples when you answer here. Q&A (10 mins)You’ll have time to ask your own questions at the end. Nothing’s off limits so don’t be shy. Afterwards both interviewers will independently write up their feedback based on the job spec and compare. If both interviewers believe you have the right skills for the role you’ll be invited to the task. Task 1.5 hours We want to get a sense of what it's like to work with you, and give you a sense of what the day to day work is like. You’ll spend around 90 minutes with us working through a challenge together with a couple members of the product team. We’ll send you some context around a problem we’ll explore together at least 24 hours before your task. Here’s our usual format: Introductions and task overview (15 mins) Q&A with PlentyOne team on problem (20 mins) Brainstorming/thinking time (30 mins) Present your approach (20 mins) Q&A with PlentyOne team on role/company (10 mins) After the task each team member will independently write up their feedback and we’ll compare you with other candidates. If you’re the strongest candidate then we’ll make you an offer. Culture fit (Optional) 30 mins Our CEO (Jan Griesel) usually likes to meet people before we make them an offer, and so you may have a quick chat with him before the offer stage. It’s not a test and no preparation is necessary. It’s a chance for you to get to know each other and what you’re both passionate about. You’ll be able to ask him any questions you have remaining about the company or how he leads the business. Offer One of our talent team and our Interim Chief Product Officer (Ken Knoll) will meet with you to make an offer and answer any final questions to help you make a decision if this is the right role for you. We’d like someone to start ASAP, but we’re happy to wait for the right person too. To apply We can only accept applications from candidates who live and work in Germany and speak fluent English. You’ll be asked to submit: Your CV: We’re looking to understand the impact you’ve had on business outcomes and how you’ve developed design teams in the past. Focus on outcomes, not tasks. Your portfolio: This should include 2-3 case studies relevant to a B2B SaaS company like PlentyOne. Each case study should help us to understand the problem you worked to solve, the impact your work had and how you found a solution. Please submit documents in English wherever possible as not all of our reviewers speak German. Even if you feel you do not meet all of the requirements, we encourage you to apply anyway. Having the right mindset and attitude is much more important to us. We’re happy to train you in a couple of skill gaps if needed. We value having diverse experience and perspectives on our team, and so regardless of your gender, age, origin, religion, sexual orientation or disabilities, we want to hear from you. Your profile Likes autonomy You're looking for ownership in how you run your team and projects. We are looking for someone who proactively identifies ways to make things better and acts on it. You should have at least 3 years experience directly managing a team. Is outcome focused You focus on outcomes rather than perfect design. We ship things regularly to learn about our customers and their needs and will iterate if things don’t improve the experience the way we wanted it to. Can influence stakeholders You’re comfortable championing with customer needs with senior stakeholders and standing up for our customers in decision making. Thrives in complexity You love working on complex products. There are a lot of features and journeys where the value is unclear or they are not documented well. You’ll need to be comfortable making decisions even though you don't have a full understanding of the full product from day one. Benefits We remote together: we stand for a digital way of thinking, working and making decisions. It means the freedom to work anywhere in Germany Work-life balance & a headquarter in Kassel Up to date: work with the latest hardware and technology Always better: training budget and a variety of workshops Well taken care of: a variety of discounts in hundreds of online shops as well as extensive social benefits such as childcare allowance, shopping credit card, company pension scheme, anniversary bonus Fit & mobile with us: Wellpass, Germany ticket and bike leasing Team events and legendary Plentyparties