Head of Product Design - APAC, Sydney
Sydney
Lab49 – Experience Design /
Full-time /
Hybrid
Who we are?
Lab49 is a global technology consultancy that designs and builds bespoke financial solutions for financial institutions globally. Our community of senior technologists think disruptively to deliver pragmatic solutions for our clients' most complex challenges in the financial services / capital markets domain.
We are curious minds who come together as collaborative and inclusive teams to push boundaries, be ourselves and deliver extraordinary impact through our culture and technology excellence.
We have offices in New York, Washington DC, London, Sydney, Budapest and Noida and we are focused on expanding our capabilities and geographic footprint globally to support our growing client base.
Why we need you?
We recognize that our people are central to our success. The intersection of strong commercial understanding and deep technical knowledge is what allows our teams to provide a uniquely informed assessment of, and innovative response to, our clients’ needs.
The Head of Product Design for APAC will report to the Global Head of Product Design. You will lead a growing team of UX Product Designers on cutting edge projects for APAC financial markets and products, whilst with the support of the wider regional team, seeking out and securing new business opportunities.
APAC is an exciting regional market for Lab49 and we require a leader that can not only deliver on product design projects but can also drive business growth; utilizing your established business network to bring in new business opportunities, whilst at the same time driving project agendas using your expertise as a hands-on product design practitioner and people leader.
What will you be responsible for?
- As the regional Product Design Lead for APAC,
- You believe in putting the user at centre of the design process and understand that being effective at solving a problem requires deep understanding of the user and their behaviours.
- You’re able to guide your teams’ efforts along this process on multiple projects and ensure a high-quality delivery of the design solution for each project, every time.
- You are confident in your proven abilities to influence clients to drive new opportunities for the client who will come to trust and look to you for guidance and your proactive advice on how to strategize for their digital needs.
- Product design delivery
- Leading by example you will be a hands-on people leader, able to get stuck into product design deliverables
- As an exceptional practitioner of Product Design you live and breathe best practice Research, UX and UI design and are able to think creatively to challenging problems.
- You will be the first in to propose the product design strategy of a project and influence others on your approach and vision.
- Your process will include experience of guiding stakeholders and engaging with users via qualitative and quantitative research to uncover pain points.
- Leading insight synthesise, UX strategy, getting in the details whilst driving the big picture.
- Ideating and producing hands-on high quality UX and VD at speed.
- Testing solutions with interactive prototypes, collaborating with engineering and delivery on build whilst looking for and securing new opportunities for follow on work with existing and new clients.
- Business development
- Build regional business Bring new business to the table through utilizing your network of business connections built up over years of working in the industry.
- Market understanding You have a keen and forward-looking understanding of what is selling in the market and able to articulate a sales narrative to the Lab49 deal team and importantly the clients to proactively sell new business
- Represent product design Able to pull together proposal decks and sell product design to new and existing clients through your knowledge and experience of being a hands-on practitioner in the finance domain of product design.
- Collaboration with deal teams You will be highly collaborative and able to work with other practices to propose solutions to client problems
- Opportunity strategy reporting You will actively engage in reporting of opportunity progression to the global account management team and discuss your approach and strategy to securing new business
- Team management, practice development and leadership
- Resource management As your region grows you will be responsible for knowing your teams strengths and weaknesses and ensuring that practitioners are assigned to the most fitting project
- Recruitment You will be responsible for interviewing new members of the team and ensuring that the gaps in skills are filled from new market hires
- CEO of your Practice You think of the APAC Design Practice as your own business and take accountability for growing the practice, bringing in and managing great people and providing support and guidance to your team.
- You constantly think about how you can develop your team, what differentiates Lab49 from competitors and bring in the right team to delivering on the opportunity.
Your responsibilities will be multi-dimensional, and your focus would include the following aspects -
What does success look like?
- Success will be measured on the following factors:
- Building out the APAC product design practice
- Increase in the product design opportunities being delivered from Lab49, APAC
- Increase in the APAC product design team size
- Increase in the number of new clients and retaining existing clients
- Contribution to the global product design team practice initiatives
What will you need to be?
- Self-motivated and entrepreneurial in your approach, with an eagerness to grow the team
- Sales orientated with a commercial mindset with your own network of business connections
- Keep connected to the global design team, attending global team meetings and leadership meetings
- Passionate about learning, mentoring, and sharing knowledge
- Excellent financial domain experience
- 10 years+ experience in a product designer role with at least 5 years+ in a leadership role
- An evangelist for Product Design and the most senior designer in the region who will be responsible for all things product design related
- Collaborate with your peers, leads for Product Strategy and Engineering as well as regional and global senior management
- Provide regular reporting to the Global Head of Product Design and collaborate with other regional Design Leads
- Likeable person who your team and your clients enjoy speaking to and engaging with
- Ability to initiate discussions from the start with potential players in the market
- Understand our competitors and what their strengths and weaknesses are
- Understand what is selling in the market right now and ideas on how to differentiate Lab49 offerings from our competitors
- Drive the strategy behind product design when responding to client request for proposals and collaborate with Lab49’s practices on the overall proposal strategy
- Generate leads and listen for opportunities
- Consultancy experience preferable
How will you be rewarded?
- Part of the APAC Leadership team, growing the APAC region, shaping the organization’s culture, and building the base for an exciting journey at Lab49.
- A Hybrid working model - Work from home and travel to the Lab49 office or client's office as per need.
- Industry leading compensation
- Exceptional training and development opportunities
- Work with cutting edge technology, pioneering methods, and techniques.
- Work with and learn from an exceptionally talented global team, we hire only the best of the best - like you!
- Be surrounded by a humble, no ego team, who are passionate about their work and have a sense of humour too :-)
- Opportunity to shape projects from the ground up due to high proportion of greenfield projects with no maintenance gigs
- Exposure to a high number of projects in a relatively short span of time in comparison to being on long legacy projects
- Work on high profile, high budget financial markets problems, producing industry leading technology and design solutions.
Lab49/ION is committed to maintaining a supportive and inclusive environment for people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We respect the varied identities, abilities, cultures, and traditions of the individuals who comprise our organization and recognize the value that different backgrounds and points of view bring to our business.
Lab49/ION adheres to an equal employment opportunity policy that prohibits discriminatory practices or harassment against applicants or employees based on any legally impermissible factor.
