Design Lead

Company Description Traveloka exists to enrich lives by empowering people to discover the world around them. We believe that lives are enriched through experiences that broaden horizons for self-discovery.

As South East Asia’s leading online travel company and discovery platform, we continuouslyprovide a wide range of travel and lifestyle experience offerings. Our mobile app has been downloaded more than 40 million times, making this unicorn the most popular travel booking technology company in the region.

We're always looking for passionate people to join our mission: to make it easier for people to discover the world around them so they can have more experiences to enrich their lives.

Job Description

The Design Lead manages all aspects of the design process, from research and ideation to creative conceptualisation and design. You willcollaborate with stakeholders to research and develop cohesive design plans, create concepts, and oversee the development of prototypes.

As a team lead reporting to the Design Manager, you willinitiatedesign and research activities to be performed to enhance the core competence ofteam members. You willalso workwith a diverse group of internal and external stakeholders to ensure final design output meet the needs of the organisation or customers.

You need topossessgood collaboration skills, partnering with internal and external stakeholders to develop creative design solutions that meet business objectives and goals, manages all aspects of the design process, from research, and ideation to creative conceptualisation and design. The ability to delegate and lead design project teams towards successful adoption of new design ideas is essential for the Design Lead. You need topossessa strong mastery of design fundamentals in their own field of specialisation and can generate creative work that meets the requirements of stakeholders.

You are able to work on a small number of projects concurrently and deliver on expectations within deadlines with high level of changes and iterations required. In addition,you need to beup-to-date with the latest developments in the design and technology sectors, and is highly proficient in negotiation and problem-solving for the future.

Key Responsibilities:

Deliver human-centred design solutions

- Lead the design teams in creating product design development and its features and functions that meet the users' (latent) needs, through:
- Initiate context and insight gathering activities in accordance to project requirements if/when needed
- Frame objectives and agendas for the design project
- Analyse and synthesise findings/insights to inform design directions
- Review design reports before circulation to stakeholders
- Communicate proposed design solutions to relevant stakeholders for informed decision-making during product creation and development phase

- Assist stakeholders in executing end-to-end human centred design process within teams and departments
- Organise workshops with agendas that promote creative problem solving
- Analyse results of feasibility tests and synthesize insights through regular design project reviews for enhancing visual delivery adhering to deliver good user experience
- Present design recommendations, proposals and options to stakeholders

Plan and assign a small team of resources to enhance the delivery of design outputs

- Understand business needs and design deliverables for identifying resource needs and assigning resources to the mission(s)
- Oversee the development of a cohesive design project brief, design concepts, and prototypes in collaboration with relevant stakeholders
- Approve schedules, timeline and budgets for projects with the ability to troubleshoot issues arising from/during project implementation
- Facilitate the resolution of project resourcing issues
- Identify for the design resources needs based on mission and project requirements and available designers' skillsets

Maintain design development quality

- Provide technical expertise and guidance on issues related to product design, development, and deployment for the product portfolios by conducting regular design reviews
- Provide justification for the features and benefits of the recommended design production solutions on behalf of the users
- Collaborate and negotiate with stakeholders on behalf of the design teams to translate product plans to design production needs with project management plan
- Oversee the production process for projects to ensure all parameters in the design production plan are met
- Recognise as many constraints as possible – including potential threats, unintended risks, and problems before it arises – as anticipation to inform the continuous development and iteration of the products and its features to work within the constraints
- Safeguard the design production quality when implementing the recommended design development solutions and communicate its implications and/or trade offs, if any, to relevant stakeholders

Create and build relationships with internal stakeholders

- Review all final design production plans and prototypes for the features and benefits of the recommended design based on justifications provided, prior to getting Design Manager's approval
- Work cross-functionally with internal stakeholders and external design partners
- Engage business and/or product managers regarding the (pre)requirements for upcoming plans and/or design concepts and development
- Influence organisational development Provide design performance and performance review feedback to the design teams, especially to direct reports
- Be willing to take the blame for the whole team’s mistakes and conduct objective debrief to learn from the mistakes to reduce/anticipate for future risks
- Celebrate team recognition instead of individual, be willing to defend for the Design team to non-Design stakeholders
- Ability to trust other people’s talents and to delegate authority, show the willingness to work comfortably with others, not just alone
- Address complaints and key concerns impacting the design teams’ morale and performance
- Ensure clear, aligned, and updated communication among the design team members under management with the other Business Unit or Function's design teams and stakeholders
- Work closely with the Design Manager and/or the Head of Product Design and the other upper management team members to foster alignment on business goals, project priorities, and Design team's structure with company-wide organisational structure

Qualifications

Minimum qualifications

- Overall 7~9 years of total work experience in the design world, with at least 2 years of project management, or in a leadership position with a history of strong project management skills, well-versed in data-informed product design and development.
- Minimum of 4 years as a hands-on Designer (education background could range from Visual Communication Design, UI/Interaction Design, Product Design, or any other relevant Design disciplines).
- A track record of mentoring high-performing interdisciplinary design teams.
- The ability to form consensus across a broad, fast-moving organization through excellent communication and interpersonal skills (including: negotiation, constructive feedback, presentation, managing expectations).
- Portfolio that showcases design craft with deep understanding of the Human Centered Design methodology (along with its methods and tools), willingness to learn and iterate, and passionate about design and storytelling.
- A deep sense of accountability, adaptability, and embracing ambiguity working in a fast-paced environment.
- Fluency in English communications (both verbal and written).

Preferred qualifications

- Familiarity in using Design System and any other digital design, prototyping, and/or project management tools.
- Deep understanding of the eCommerce and/or digital travel and lifestyle industries, extra points for having successfully deliver products in/for the SE Asia and/or regional markets.

To apply, please provide:

- Your CV/resume
- A cover letter on why you think you are a good fit for this role
- A portfolio that showcases a list of work that spans across your career (especially the most recent case studies, bonus if there are some digital UX work), outlining the problem you are trying to solve, how did you find your inspiration and how you resolved it, what was your role, and the impact of the project.
- In a few sentences, let us know which design project you are most proud of in your career and why is it so or what makes it so?

Additional Information

Traveloka Design team is tasked with the role of humanising technology – the one who has the most relevant expertise in understanding human values and life experiences – using systematic approaches such as the Human Centred Design methodology in delighting users and customers through Traveloka product offerings.
Comprises of people from the Design, Architecture, Social Sciences, and Computer Science background, we value collaboration and empathy when it comes to producing innovative solutions.

Read about our design journey here: https://medium.com/traveloka-design