Head of Product

 

We're looking for a Head of Product to build and manage a best-in-class, user-centered design team focused on the creation of customer-centered UX concepts, prototypes, and front end designs. A great candidate would share our deep empathy for user needs and behaviors with a deep understanding of how to leverage generative design research. They would understand how to express business, brand, and growth strategy in both exploratory UX concepts and detailed product specifications. They would have great depth in UX design (including UI / visual design) and a love for fleshing out the details of design systems with a solid understanding of development strategies. They would attract top-tier product design talent with their reputation and portfolio of work. This is a senior, managerial role that combines hands-on design with managing a team of designers (both full-time and contract-based).

Runyon is a product design and venture studio that helps companies grow. We are a team of customer-centered designers and strategists that crafts new products, experiences and ventures. Our approach combines customer needs and behaviors with leading edge business strategy. Our work is sprint- and prototype-driven and we think about how we can launch products into market in ways that are meaningful and measured from the start. Our team has decades of experience working with some of the largest global client partners including The New York Times, Disney+, Target and others.

Why Runyon’s Different

  • We're prototyping-led. We lead with tangible assumptions in the form of prototypes and test them with real stakeholders to validate and refine our strategy and design. Regardless of discipline, we think and communicate in concepts, and use those to move further, faster.

  • We're detailed and intentional. We always back up our design decisions with sound reasoning—be it user research, market research, or both. We make things that make sense and that have a clear through line.

  • We're fast. We work almost exclusively in sprints, and with lean teams. We need folks who like to run.

  • We're collaborative. We jam as a multidisciplinary team of specialists who collectively contribute to the full spectrum of work across user research, strategy and design to arrive at high quality outcomes.

Responsibilities

  • Build a best-in-class user-centered design team, recruiting and mentoring experienced designers across disciplines (User Research, UX/UI, Product Design, Business Design).

  • Shape product strategy for new products and ventures across the Runyon portfolio, guiding project teams to refine overall strategy and product design.

  • Supervise and maintain strong product design integrity across the full portfolio of Runyon projects, while reviewing internal processes to ensure efficiency and quality.

  • Engage with design research, design directors, and client partners to understand design success criteria.

  • Generate or translate insights from qualitative design research sessions into UX/UI concepts and iterations.

  • Craft strategically sound concepts, functional and beautiful user flows, and interactive prototypes.

  • Communicate clearly with teammates and senior client stakeholders, and present work appropriately (verbally and in client-facing decks).

Qualifications

  • 15+ years of in-house or agency experience in UX and Product Design crafting impactful products and services, demonstrating leadership and craftsmanship in zero-to-one product/service design, design system creation and implementation.

  • Master's degree preferred or Bachelor's degree / equivalent in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), UX Design, or a related field of study.

  • Deep vocabulary of existing UX patterns and modern UI aesthetics, demonstrated in a variety of projects (both responsive web and native app).

  • Experience creating and maintaining design systems, including collaboration and communication with engineers and an understanding of development constraints.

  • Expertise setting up Figma files for wireframes, visual designs, prototypes, and design systems.

  • Great communication and time management abilities, including the skill to direct and manage multiple project teams concurrently.

What You Can Share with Us

  • End-to-End Product Case Study: Take us through a product that you designed and launched, from hypothesis to customer insight to UX concept(s) to product designs to launch to iteration.

  • Portfolio Breadth and Depth: Share the breadth of your work and certain verticals where you’ve developed a particular product and depth of strategic focus.

Sounds like you/interested?

If you are curious and believe that you’d be a fit at Runyon, please submit your resume, a link to your portfolio, and a cover letter to team@runyon.io.