Director of Product Design

Xero

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Xero is a beautiful, easy-to-use platform that helps small businesses and their accounting and bookkeeping advisors grow and thrive. At Xero, our purpose is to make life better for people in small business, their advisors, and communities around the world. This purpose sits at the centre of everything we do. We support our people to do the best work of their lives so that they can help small businesses succeed through better tools, information and connections. Because when they succeed they make a difference, and when millions of small businesses are making a difference, the world is a more beautiful place.

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Making Business Beautiful

At Xero, we’re here to make running a business beautiful. By making small businesses more efficient every day, connecting them with big business technology and empowering a community behind them, their potential is limitless. When that happens, we’re not only helping small businesses, we’ll be building a stronger economy that can change the world.

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Impact

Product Design Directors are responsible for the design direction and vision for product areas and initiatives within a domain, working in partnership with GM Product Design, Principal Designers, Design Leadership Team and product and engineering leaders. You’ll support, contribute to and coordinate with the overall design direction of a global design team as well as providing local leadership for the team members in your office location. You’ll lead a group of passionate Lead Product Designer, Seniors Designers, Designers and in some cases Graduate Designers, supporting and growing their capabilities through design critique, mentorship and coaching. You’ll help define the standards and refine our design practice to drive operational excellence within your team and the delivery of consistent and beautiful product experiences for our customers.

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What You'll Do

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People Leadership

Work with the GM Product Design and other Product Design Directors to manage your product design team, programs and processes that support a world-class design team. Solve problems together and work as a team to influence and drive key strategic initiatives forward. Collaborate with others on the Design Leadership Team to continuously cultivate a vibrant team culture, work on strategies, problem solve and respond to team or organisational needs. Provide vision and enthusiasm, supporting your leads and designers to continuously challenge themselves and their work. Identify and prioritise future roles based on team workload, wellbeing, development and business priorities. Recruit, onboard and manage new Product Designers of all seniority.

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Design Practice

Partner with the Principal Designer(s), the Design Leadership Team and Design Operations Leads to implement initiatives which help to continually evolve and grow our design practice. Introduce new technologies, techniques and design tools to improve performance and process. Encourage and support team members to collaborate effectively across Design, Research, Accessibility, Product, Engineering and Product Marketing to fulfill user needs and business objectives across your product areas or portfolio.

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Product Thinking

Work with the GM Product Design in your portfolio to help define the design strategy and contribute to the product strategy for your product area, in partnership with the product leadership team. Help define the why and how behind products for your team and get teams working in a way that makes great products. Partner with peers across Product and Technology to define strategies and objectives, scope road maps, agree priorities and plan work programs to support high quality, high value outcomes.

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Success Metrics

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• You’re leading a thriving, productive and connected team of designers
• You’re enabling your team to continually challenge themselves to grow and develop in their relationship skills, design expertise and career
• You’re respected by your peers, the design team, and Product leaders
• You’re helping improve and standardize the way we do things in the Design team
• You’re collaborating and communicating well with all Xero colleagues, especially Design, Product and Engineering Leadership teams

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Why Xero?

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Offering very generous paid leave to use however you’d like (plus statutory holidays!), dedicated paid leave to care for your physical and mental wellbeing as well as an Employee Assistance Program to access mental health care for you and your family, private medical insurance, gym passes, employee resource groups, 26 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers, an Employee Share Plan, beautiful offices, flexible working, and many other benefits that reflect our human value, you’ll do the best work of your life at Xero. Research has shown that women and underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single competency or experience. If you are excited about this role, but your past experience doesn't align perfectly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You could be just the right person for this role and Xero. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at time of application and throughout the interview process.