Product Design & Innovation Manager

Product Design & Innovation Manager

Leading the innovation side of a much-loved brand

• Salary: £55,000-£60,000 (dependent on experience)
• Location: West London
• Working pattern: Hybrid, 3 days in the office
• Software: Adobe Creative Suite
• Sector: Product design, consumer goods

About the Brand

This is a London brand that makes characterful, collectable things, the sort of products people of all ages fall for. The work is original, instantly recognisable in feel, and made with an unusual amount of care. Nothing here is off the shelf.

It is a design-led house with a genuine point of view. Ideas matter, craft matters, and personality is the whole point. The team is small enough to feel close, with a roster of talented freelance designers orbiting a tight core, and the output reaches a devoted audience well beyond these shores.

It is also, by all accounts, a nice place to be. Joy is taken seriously here, which is rarer than it sounds, and the people who do well are the ones who care about the detail as much as the bigger picture.

About the Role

The Product Design Manager leads the innovation branch of the design team. That means setting strategy and visual direction, driving new ideas, and shaping what eventually gets made. You will brief and inspire a core group of freelance designers, then go out and find the next ones, sourcing and onboarding fresh talent as the team grows.

Reporting to the Head of Design, with two direct reports of your own, this is a proper leadership role with real autonomy. You will own the critical path, build the briefing and approval processes that keep everything moving, and handle the unglamorous but vital business of budgets, contracts, and rates. You will also keep the creative engine running: research, trends, inspiration, and the steady supply of new direction.

It is a good moment to step in. The processes are there to be built and improved, the team is there to be grown, and the person who takes this on gets to leave a real mark on what the studio makes next.

Your days will look something like this...

• Lead, inspire, and develop the existing design team
• Set the strategy and visual direction that shapes new ideas and ranges
• Brief and guide a team of core freelance designers, keeping everyone pointed in the same direction
• Own the critical path so every collection lands on time, from first direction to final sign off
• Oversee artwork development, making sure each design meets the studio's standards
• Source, onboard, and grow a roster of freelance design talent
• Build briefing, onboarding, and approval processes that genuinely work
• Manage freelance budgets, contracts, rates, and invoicing without losing the plot

You might be our perfect match if...

• You have a degree in product design, illustration, or a related creative field (essential)
• You have led or supervised a design team before, and people liked working for you
• You bring around five years of design experience across a mix of product projects
• You can take a loose idea and turn it into a finished product, on time and on brief
• You lead in an empowering, collaborative way rather than a top-down one
• You communicate and present clearly, and with a bit of warmth
• You keep a close eye on emerging design trends because you actually care about them
• Working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite is a welcome bonus, not a dealbreaker

Why this one...

• You get a real seat at the table, shaping what gets made rather than just keeping the trains running
• Two direct reports and a roster of talented freelancers to lead, mentor, and grow
• A design culture that takes joy seriously and makes things people genuinely treasure
• The chance to build processes from the ground up, and the trust to do it your way
• A London brand with a global audience and a quietly devoted following
• Competitve salary and great benefits package
• Fantastic office environment
• Hybrid working, three days in the office / two days from home