Product Design Director

This role will report to the VP / Head of Product, and join the product team’s cross-functional leadership team and comes with a big opportunity to make a sizable impact.

Design thinking and user experience are at the forefront of everything we do. The work of a Product Designer at CoinDesk is to envision how people experience our products and bring that vision to life in a way that feels inspired, exciting, even magical. In the Product Designer Director role, you'll lead and grow, as a player/coach, the Product Design team at CoinDesk to take on complex tasks and transform them into intuitive, accessible, and easy-to-use designs for our users around the world, from the first-time user to the sophisticated expert. Achieving this goal requires collaboration with teams of Designers, Editors, Researchers, Engineers, and Product Managers throughout the design process, from creating user flows and wireframes to building user interface mockups and prototypes. At each stage, you will anticipate what our CoinDesk users need, advocate for them, and ensure that the final product surprises and delights them.

ABOUT THE ROLE:

• Manage a growing team of product designers, including 1:1s, performance management, career development, etc.
• Work to establish and nurture a strong product design culture at CoinDesk
• Support CoinDesk’s high-level product strategy. Represent design in the product development process and contribute to the definition and development of a high-level product roadmap
• Lead the design team as a player/coach to sketch, wireframe, prototype, and test designs early and often.
• Partner with product, engineering, and editorial on creating working versions (prototype) designed to get user feedback.
• Work with our design team to raise the quality bar and contribute to our design system of components, styles, and interactions.
• Partner with product managers to define a project roadmap that directs the entire team.
• Work closely with engineers to build, iterate on, and ship concepts.
• Partner with UX researcher and product managers during the discovery phase to conduct user research and competitive analysis.
• Advocate product design processes, principles, and tools to colleagues.
• Create and manage UX documentation, including wireframes, storyboards, and sitemaps.
• Keep abreast of competitor products and industry trends.

ABOUT YOU:

• You have a bachelor's degree in a UX-related field (human-computer interaction, human factors, behavioral research, or graphic design) or equivalent practical experience.
• 6+ years of relevant experience, including direct experience as a manager of designers
• You have experience in designing mobile interfaces from pre-launch to post-launch.
• A true product designer at heart, you love building, contributing, and maintaining the Design System and the overall brand language.
• You demonstrate excellent layout design skills and the ability to convey complex ideas in a straightforward, simple, and visually elegant manner.
• You possess strong analytical thinking and deductive skills.
• You are knowledgeable in Usability Testing Principles.
• You are proficient in HTML/CSS; knowledge of JavaScript is a Big Plus.
• You are very well versed in design and UX software (e.g., Figma, Invision, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, Lucidchart)
• You are knowledgeable in interaction design and information architecture.
• You have a strong portfolio of design projects.
• Your work demonstrates an understanding of website usability/web optimization, UX, and responsive designs.
• You can manage high work volumes, process multiple projects simultaneously, and follow up on projects with a strong sense of urgency.
• You are collaborative and organized with strong communication skills
• Experience at digital media companies is a huge plus.

CoinDesk is a news site specializing in bitcoin and digital currencies. CoinDesk also provides guides to bitcoin for those new to digital currencies. Founded by Shakil Khan, the site was subsequently acquired by Digital Currency Group