Product Design Lead

What You Will Do

01  Outcome Orientation · 25% of role

Good looks like: every significant piece of design work has a clear user goal, a business outcome and evidence that it worked.

• Lead product direction from the user lens: define the purpose of every major feature and how success will be measured.

• Shape product OKRs with design influence, working with the CPTO and Product Managers.

• Mentor teams in outcome-first thinking, and close the loop after launch with feedback and metrics.

02  Leadership & Strategy · 20% of role

Good looks like: everyone knows the design vision, the standard and their next step.

• Shape the design vision across products, and set design standards and strategy company-wide.

• Guide the design roadmap and team planning: staffing, priorities and capacity against the product roadmap.

• Hire, coach and grow designers through one-on-ones, critiques and fair, evidence-based reviews under the framework.

03  Contextual Relevance · 15% of role

Good looks like: Zeraki works beautifully on a shared phone in a rural school with a weak connection.

• Embed contextual principles into product strategy: mobile-first, low-bandwidth, offline-tolerant and low-literacy-friendly.

• Scale localization practices across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and new markets.

• Set the UX quality bar for African education environments, grounded in time spent in schools with real users.

04  Usability & Interaction Design · 10% of role

Good looks like: users complete key tasks quickly and confidently, without help, in every product.

• Set UX patterns across products, and align teams on them for consistency and quality.

• Mentor others on UX problem-solving, and make sure major launches are usability-tested before release.

05  Visual Craft & Systems Thinking · 10% of role

Good looks like: one recognisable, polished Zeraki, built from one system.

• Define the visual direction for product areas, and ensure consistent visual execution company-wide.

• Partner with the design-systems team and front-end engineers to scale the visual language, components and tokens across web and mobile.

06  Collaboration & Delivery · 10% of role

Good looks like: designs ship as designed, on time, with little rework.

• Define design delivery processes across product teams — briefing, reviews, handoff and design QA.

• Ensure design QA and velocity at scale, and coach the team in reducing design–development friction.

07  Collaboration & Communication · 10% of role

Good looks like: Product, Engineering, Support and Commercial teams understand and trust design decisions.

• Set communication standards for design work company-wide.

• Drive cross-functional alignment and manage communication across multiple stakeholders, bringing the user's voice into product and company decisions.

Ownership & Execution carries no weight at Lead, because it is assumed: you oversee delivery across the design team, make sure systems and people are accountable, and manage through ambiguity and risk.

What Success Looks Like

First 90 days

• Time in schools with teachers, bursars, principals and parents, and with Support and Account Management

• An audit of the experience across all five products: usability, visual consistency, contextual fit and accessibility

• Design principles and the interface quality bar agreed with the CPTO and Product

• Design critique, review and QA rituals running

• Every designer assessed against the framework, with a development plan

First six months

• Every major feature shipped with a defined success measure, and launches usability-tested

• A prioritised plan to unify UX patterns and visual language across products, with visible progress

• Design shaping product OKRs in every product team

• Measurable reduction in design–development rework

• A fair, evidence-based review cycle completed using the framework

First 12 months

• Zeraki recognisably one experience across products

• Design-led improvements with measurable effect on adoption, task success or support volume

• Contextual and localization standards embedded in every product

• A stronger team: key hires made, designers progressing up the ladder, at least one Senior ready to step up

• Design trusted by the CEO, CPTO and Product as a driver of outcomes, not a service

What You Bring

Experience

• 5–7 years in product design (UX/UI), including at least 2 years leading designers or a design practice.

• A portfolio that shows end-to-end product work — from problem framing and research to shipped, measured outcomes — on complex, multi-user products.

• Experience setting design standards, UX patterns and visual direction across more than one product or team.

• Experience designing for constrained contexts: mobile-first, low-bandwidth, emerging markets or low-literacy users.

• Strong working relationships with Product Managers and engineers, and comfort presenting to executives.

• Fluency in Figma (components, variables, auto layout) and modern design tooling; working knowledge of front-end constraints.

• A degree in design, HCI, computer science or a related field — or equivalent experience.

What we are looking for

• Visionary and persuasive — you set a direction and bring people with you.

• Accountable for team outcomes — you care as much about what the team ships as about your own work.

• Outcome-driven — you measure design by what users achieve and what the business gains.

• Context-aware — you design for the real conditions of African schools, not for the office.

• A systems thinker — you see patterns across products and build things that scale.

• A coach — designers get better because they work with you.

• AI-fluent and values-led — you use AI to move faster, with human judgment on top.

Where you might be coming from

You may be a Lead Product Designer, Design Lead, Design Manager or Senior Product Designer who already leads other designers — in SaaS, fintech, EdTech or a consumer platform, ideally one serving African or emerging markets. Your title matters less than your portfolio and the designers you have grown.