Head of Product Design

Job Description

Motorway is the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace – our award-winning, online-only platform connects private car sellers with thousands of verified dealers nationwide, ensuring everyone gets the best deal. Founded in 2017, our technology-led approach has redefined the experience of selling a car, generating thousands of monthly car sales and helping us to grow to a team of more than 400 people across our London and Brighton offices.

This is a unique opportunity to join a fast-growing scale-up at a crucial phase of growth and help change an industry for the better.

About the role:

Motorway is transforming the used car market, and design plays a crucial role in our success. We've challenged the traditional industry by creating a seamless, user-friendly online platform that puts the customer experience front and centre.

As our Head of Design, you'll lead a talented team of designers to further elevate our user experience, ensuring it remains a key differentiator for Motorway. Your mission will be to champion design excellence, fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and continuous improvement within the team. You'll be the strategic force behind our product design efforts, working closely with cross-functional teams to integrate design thinking into every facet of our product development.

Key Responsibilities:

• Empower and Elevate: Nurture the growth and development of our 12-person Design team, fostering an environment where every designer feels supported, challenged, and inspired to do their best work.
• Set the Course: Collaborate with the Chief Product Officer and other leaders to define and execute a compelling design and product strategy that propels Motorway forward.
• Cultivate Excellence: Implement a performance and growth framework within the design team, providing clear expectations, regular feedback, and opportunities for advancement.
• Ensure Operational Success: Oversee team performance, resource allocation, and project prioritisation, fostering a culture of efficiency and productivity.
• Be the Voice of Design: Advocate for the value of product design and research across the organisation, securing stakeholder buy-in and driving cross-functional collaboration.
• Bring Design Principles to Life: Establish meaningful design principles that guide our work and ensure they are consistently applied, evolving them as needed to maintain our competitive edge.
• Inspire Innovation: Encourage experimentation and risk-taking within the team, pushing the boundaries of design and driving innovation in our products and services.
• Inject Commercial Drive: Show tangible impact of the team’s work and demonstrate commercial understanding and prioritisation

Requirements

What You Bring to the Table:

• Inspirational Leadership: A natural ability to motivate and empower a team of designers, fostering a culture of creativity, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Strategic Visionary: A forward-thinking leader with a knack for translating business objectives into actionable design strategies that drive results.
• Persuasive Communicator: A skilled communicator who can articulate complex design concepts with clarity and passion, building consensus and excitement across teams.
• User-Centric Design & Research Advocate: A deep-rooted belief in the power of user-centred design, with a proven ability to champion user needs and user understanding at every stage of the product development process.
• Creative Problem-Solver: A creative mind with a strong foundation in design principles and processes, adept at finding innovative solutions to complex challenges.
• Empathetic Mentor: A supportive leader who fosters a positive and inclusive team environment, providing guidance and mentorship to help designers grow and thrive.
• Ability to Move Fast: An experienced leader who can hold the bar high while moving quickly.

Benefits

• A competitive salary

• Stock options
• Annual learning budget - you can choose how you like to learn and find the best learning experiences to support your progression.
• BUPA health insurance
• Discounted dental through BUPA
• Discounted gym membership through BUPA
• On-Hand volunteering membership and one paid volunteering day per year
• Hybrid working from home (approximately 1-2 days in the office a week)
• Pension scheme
• Motorway car leasing scheme - lease a zero-emissions electric vehicle at a significant discount
• Enhanced parental leave
• Workplace nursery scheme
• Top spec M1 MacBook Pro and accessories
• Regular social events
• Cycle to work scheme

Equal opportunities statement

Motorway is committed to equality of opportunity for all employees. We work to provide a supportive and inclusive environment where all individuals can maximise their full potential. We believe our workforce should reflect a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives and experiences. Our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion is evident through our constant focus on recruiting, developing and advancing individuals based on their skills and talents.

We welcome applications from all individuals regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

#LI-Hybrid