Associate Director of Product Design (12m FTC)

About us

Here at the FT, gold-standard journalism is just the beginning. 500-people strong, our Product and Tech team keeps us ahead by delivering cutting-edge products to over one million digital subscribers every day. Our plans for growth rely on a diverse, dedicated and dynamic group of product, tech, delivery and data specialists - everyone’s welcome in this friendly, forward-thinking team. And with entrepreneurial spirit, intelligence and opportunity at every turn, there’s no limits to where your FT career will take you.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion

We’re an equal opportunity employer and prize diversity and inclusion as a strength. We believe that a supportive workplace is one where employees have a voice and feel they can be themselves at work. We continually remove barriers for all groups, especially underrepresented groups. We offer flexible working, and are open to part-time and job sharing too.

The role

We have an opportunity for an experienced Associate Director of Product Design  to lead design, and a team of 12 product designers, content designers, service designers and managers. This is a fixed-term contract, and the role is hybrid with a team in two cities. It involves visiting the London office one to two days a week, and quarterly visits to our office in Sofia.

The Associate Director of Product Design will lead design for 3 product areas: B2B, FT Live events, and a number of Specialist publications.

In each portfolio we have ambitious plans to grow our audience and diversify the products we offer. It’s a great moment for a design leader to join and help us set direction, set standards and set our team up for more success. 

What you’ll do:

• Be accountable for delivering premium, distinct, relevant experiences across 3 product areas
• Partner with Product, Tech and Research leadership to ensure the three product areas set clear goals, learn fast, develop smart hypotheses, test risky assumptions and break down complex problems into small steps.
• Lead the creation of exciting, compelling visions for various products, encouraging bigger-picture thinking across the portfolio.
• Partner with Brand, Marketing and Editorial design leaders to create clear, coherent experiences across all online and offline touchpoints.
• Hire, develop and retain a strong design team. We expect to add a manager and 4 designers to the team during the next 12 months.
• Define and raise the bar of design quality and consistency.
• Partner with Design and Research managers to lead the discipline and drive initiatives for our wider team of 30+ designers and researchers.

Apply if:

• You have led design teams of at least 8 people, working across a diverse portfolio
• You have defined and implemented best practices in the design process, and coached on raising quality
• You have a track record of getting things done, and of leading change
• You’ve scaled teams, directly managed managers, and are passionate about developing people and supporting them to be part of diverse, inclusive and high-performing teams
• You have an empathetic leadership style and you build strong relationships based on trust and credibility
• You’re customer and metrics-obsessed and understand how product changes might impact our goals

What’s in it for you? Our Benefits are:

• 25 days of leave, increasing to 30 after two years. We also offer additional flexi-days at 30% pay.
• Pension scheme: the FT will double your contribution up to 18% total
• Free gym membership via GymPass, or subsidised access to Nuffield Health
• Enhanced maternity & paternity packages
• Other schemes include: childcare vouchers, give as you earn, cycle to work, travel loans, healthcare, dental, life assurance
• Full details of our benefits can be found here.

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