Sr Director Product & Creative
At Discovery, our mission is to serve passionate fans with products, platforms and experiences that inspire, inform and entertain through industry leading content and deeply trusted & beloved brands.
Discovery Digital Products is a fast-paced, innovative design, product and technology group that designs and builds industry leading products, platforms and experiences. What makes us unique from the rest of the burgeoning entertainment technology world is that we have award-winning content, work with a wide range of creators, and have the backing of a world leading Global Media Company.
Discovery Digital Products is seeking an experienced Sr. Director Product & Design leader responsible for driving innovative and groundbreaking customer experiences across our direct to consumer products, platforms and services. As you will grow, lead and inspire the Design & Product Teams to develop and deliver across multiple platforms, regions and screens using research, customer data and market trends. As a product leader, you will collaborate across functional teams to develop product vision, strategy, and deliver product roadmaps that align with key business needs and engage people ever day anywhere in the world. This position reports directly to the Group VP of Design & Product.
At Discovery, we’re looking for leaders, innovators and creative problem solvers who are passionate about their work, and are driven to engage, entertain and delight the millions of users who visit our digital properties every day. Our brands include Discovery, HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, Science, ID, OWN and leading content partners around the world. If you want to work on the future of media alongside amazingly talented colleagues, then this is the place for you.
Responsibilities
1. Work closely with Business Strategy, Data, Product, Engineering, Data, and Marketing to deliver innovative, industry-leading direct to consumer and subscription product experiences.
2. Lead & Manage large-scale global products and product lines through prioritized roadmaps.
3. Facilitate Customer Centered Design Thinking Practices throughout all Product Teams.
4. Demonstrate proven experience with successful subscription services and product delivery.
5. Manage complex products and project plans with multiple work streams & dependencies.
6. Demonstrate and manage the highest design standards with a customer centered focus.
7. Ability to provide clear direction to team, cross functional groups, and outside agencies.
8. Identify/pursue new targets and opportunities that will advance organizational business goals.
9. Present concepts, strategies, goals and roadmaps effectively to Senior Level Executives.
10. Identify gaps and anticipate risks; take actions to address design risks & determine solutions.
11. Tracks Design Team progress, manages resource allocation and escalates issues and risks.
12. Lead team through multi-platform design challenges/obstacles via positive creative solutions.
13. Inspire/mentor others on design teams and other creative teams within the organization.
14. Provide hands-on Product Design; establish design direction/concepts and delegations.
15. Translate customer, product, business and marketing inputs into best-in class products that provide greater awareness, positive feedback, and increased engagement.
16. Lead & Define testing criteria for usability studies, A/B & MV Testing of products/platforms.
17. Develop and maintain all Design Language libraries, UX personas, design mockups, usage scenarios, user flows, prototypes, navigational maps and experience documentation.
Requirements
* 10+ years of experience as Product Design Leader or Product Leader within a large-scale consumer facing organization, agency or direct to consumer subscription service.
* 5+ years’ experience designing multi-platform, subscription & connected product experiences.
* Graduate Degree or higher in Product Design, Interactive Design, User Centric Design, HCI or Cognitive Psychology (OR) combined work experience with human factors training.
* Experience designing 10ft, VUI, Connected and Multi-Modal Product Design Systems required.
* Deep knowledge and experience in Mobile, Living Room & Connected Product Environments including technical framework and full product cycles.
* Expertise in Sketch, InVision Tools, Adobe Suite and rapid prototyping are important.
* Working experience with Principal, Story, and Atomic Design methods are important.
* Knowledge of emerging trends for digital products and cross-platform customer integrations.
* Experience managing high performance teams of 10 or more designers across internal and external teams – both direct and dotted line reports.
* Hands on experience with variety of user research techniques including user testing, personas, user tasks and scenarios, internal and external user interviews.
* Education in Interaction Design, HCI, UX Architecture, and/or Product Design required.
* Must have the legal right to work in the United States.
* Online portfolio demonstrating broad skills, versatile aesthetic, high-end customer facing experiences, with expertise in design principles, thinking and usability. Please provide a link and any appropriate PDF materials to view your digital samples.
Preferred Qualifications
* Hands on team player / coach that can work easily with multiple stakeholders including Design, Product, Engineering, Data & Research, Project Management, Marketing, Business and Sales.
* Experience working in a fast-paced, matrixed environment with multiple projects & deadlines.
* Capable of leading Design Thinking & Design Sprint sessions to ensure that a clear customer centered vision is implemented through Design Thinking best practices and agile design.
* Proven track record with a variety of successful products delivered across multiple platforms, screens and ecosystems with experience in multiple brands, productions and operations.
* Driven self-starter with high-level of initiative, strong sense of ownership and a disciplined approach to quality and its affect on the intended audience.
* Excellent oral and written skills, and able to present to small or large groups of people including Executive Stakeholders.
* Uncanny drive and passion to deliver the best experience for consumers and proven track record to deliver compelling, innovative and award-winning user and product experiences.
* High confidence working on complex multi-platform consumer focused product ecosystems.
* Consumer Electronics, Entertainment & Lifestyle Product experience are big plusses.
* Strong portfolio showcasing broad range of product lines and platform executions.