Design Operations Manager

We are open to candidates based +/- 3 hours PT

MetaLab is seeking its first-ever Design Operations Manager to take the lead on driving process, team coordination, design tooling, communication and design culture within our 60+ person design and research team. Collaborating closely with cross-functional partners from around the globe, you’ll define programs, processes and systems that drive organizational excellence. You’ll be an advocate for the needs of the department and optimize workflows to maximize productivity and efficiency. You’ll leverage your exceptional communication skills to keep our team informed, aligned and empowered to do their best work.  If you’re a skilled multitasker with a passion for efficiency and an eye for detail, we want you to join our team!

Responsibilities

• Assist with managing day to day operations of the Design Department, balancing long-term strategic thinking and near term execution
• Establish and grow the vision and strategy for the next phase of design operations at MetaLab
• Oversee the maintenance and communication of our department and process documentation 
• Manage all department wide communications in collaboration with Design Leadership
• Translate feedback and learnings from the team into meaningful process change that optimizes designers’ day-to-day workflow
• Foster and champion a healthy, collaborative and inclusive design culture and plan team events and cultural touch points 
• Optimize our design tooling and systems being used in order to maximize efficiency
• Promote knowledge sharing by managing our monthly cross-department work shares
• Establish success metrics across programs to measure progress against outcomes
• Support with hiring and the new employee experience for the Design Department
• Champion the growth and talent of our team by strategically leading and programming learning and development initiatives 
• Work with People Operations to help with resourcing design team members on projects
• Contribute to our standard for coaching/management best practices and support performance review cycles in partnership with People Operations Design Leadership
• Assist with design team budgeting, capacity and annual planning
• Provide oversight of Design team utilization and internal project traffic management
• Report directly to VP of Design and partner with senior design leaders to design and lead programs to enable a world class design organization

The must-have shortlist

• 5+ years of experience in design operations and program management
• You’re a confident communicator and balance autonomy and collaboration effectively
• You have experience supporting creatives to enable them to do their best work
• You have a proven track record of successfully managing operationally complex projects & programs with cross-functional and distributed teams 
• You’re motivated by solving design team pain points and driving organizational excellence
• You have great interpersonal skills and are comfortable working with all levels of stakeholders
• You have superior organizational skills and an ability to work independently on multiple, simultaneous projects