Head of Product Design

Job Description

Head of Product Design

Location: Fountain Street, Manchester

The Company

At Booking.com, we make it easier for everyone to experience the world. We began by taking hotel bookings online over 20 years ago and we’ve been shaping the travel industry ever since. Today, we’re building a platform that connects all parts of the trip – from accommodation to transport, tickets, tours and more.

From our HQ in Manchester, our Transportation team helps people get where they want to go, anywhere in the world. Whether customers want the freedom of a car, the ease of a taxi or the economy of public transport, we make it all possible.

Our team is passionate about helping people travel. They see challenges as opportunities. And they’re always ready for change.

About the Product team

We are a multi-disciplinary Product team focused on building amazing products and services for our customers: we create amazing customer experiences, optimized for conversion and are passionate about making our customers frequent and loyal. We are passionate about our customers and strive to learn everything we can about their behaviour to help us design and develop the best experience for them.

We are a fully Product-centric company with over 55 Product Teams that take full ownership of the critical areas of the business. As the Head of Product Design you will lead a team of product designers, UX designers, visual designers, interaction designers, and user researchers spread across of the organization. You will be an integral member of the Product Leadership Team and work closely the Booking.com Leadership Team as well.

About You & the Role

Reporting into the Chief Product Officer, the role is transformational at Booking.com. It involves evolving our design thinking and bringing best practices to disrupt the mobility sector – across the car rental industry, on-demand and pre-booked taxis, rail and transit, as well as other forms of transportation: it’s a big mission. You are an industry leader when it comes to design and are comfortable with disruptive design patterns – and you have managed and developed world class Product Design teams.

With your knowledge and expertise, you will play a critical role in defining the Product Design culture, and help grow a stellar brand, and also help drive the integration with Booking.com. You will be in an influential role, driving the Product Design strategy, OKRs and Roadmaps – within the broader Product Team. You will present regularly to the Leadership Team, and shape the day-to-day activities of the design team, providing education, coaching, mentorship and raising the bar on design. You will play a key part in generating new ideas and conceptualizing design concepts that are useful and valuable for our customers. You know that good design is invisible and the simplest solution is often the best.

You are comfortable taking a data-led approach to your work. You set an example by getting involved with the minutiae of detail but never forgetting the direction of design for the company. You can take an idea from a sketch on a piece of paper through to building them with excellently written HTML and CSS.

You have a proven track record of leading Product Design, UXR, copy writers, and data-driven teams, have outstanding visual design skills, but also the experience of working with an established brand and the ability to adhere to current structure design style. You are an expert in user research, usability testing, interaction design, information architecture, writing, graphic and industrial design. You relish the opportunity to create and build designs that millions of people can use every day.

Skills/ Experience

• 10+ years UX design experience
• 8+ years of Design team management experience
• Ability to lead, inspire and influence Product Design, UXR and service design teams.
• Solid understanding of user-centred design principles
• Data driven and results focused approach
• Excellent communication, leadership and time management skills
• Degree educated at a top Institution