Director, Product Design Ops - Digital

Job Description

The Job
As a Director, Product Design Ops, you are a member of the world-class CNN Digital Product Design Team, which is responsible for creating industry-leading user experiences engaged by millions across the globe. You will drive the product design operational success at CNN Digital. CNN is driven by a shared commitment to put our users at the center of the experiences we build and to push the boundaries on what an exceptional digital experience can be. We believe that success is driven by the combined ability of content, design, product, and technology to achieve user delight. The Director, Product Design Ops, is an experienced operational leader that knows what it takes to get a design team to operate at a high level, and create a culture of inclusion. You will directly support the CNN Head of Product Design on operational strategy and team growth. You will define the end-to-end design delivery process initiatives, system workflows, and working across a variety of stakeholder groups. You will work closely with the entire Product Design team, who will innovate approaches to user experience, workflow methodology, culture build, and vendor relations. Comfort and familiarity with digital transformation will be required.

The Daily
• Direct the day to day operation of the product design organization including organizing the department's logistics, orchestrating design efforts with cross-functional partners, supporting internal initiatives, scheduling, weekly reporting and resource management.
• Responsible for providing updates on designs and the design review process to the Product Design leadership group.
• Owns and synthesizes all UX and Product Design direction, including strategy, for CNN Digital Products.
• Oversees and balances needs across multiple product lines, in all CNN Digital Product initiatives and is a consistent, meaningful contributor to organizational direction and strategy.
• Capable of devising new product line ideation and creation, with ability to oversee production of multiple, concurrent projects and teams.
• Support, grow and maintain the workflow systems for the team's design and production resourcing needs and advocate for management best practices.
• Maintain a holistic view of the product and drive toward a simple and coherent experience.
• Manage the timely reporting of production delivery, resources and potential blockers.
• Work to build the culture, values and rituals of the product design org across multiple locations.
• Drive new ideas into user research, stakeholder reviews, and prototypes all the way into our applications.
• Support and develop ideas to be presented in front of the design, product and executive teams.
• Continuously strive to optimize our process to deliver design into engineering, while keeping the challenges of an agile design and engineering team in mind.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Product, Technology, Delivery, Data Science, Research, Editorial) Support and influence external content partners to scale with our initiatives (delivery metrics, new asset types, standardizations, tool improvements).

The Essentials
• 8+ years of advanced-level design operations management experience and/or Product Design experience for consumer brands on complex flows and use cases across customer journeys.
• Proven experience building and scaling process to support major digital products in market.
• Preferred Bachelor's Degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Strong point-of-view on modern, effective design processes and systems.
• A passion for operations and a thirst to do more with less, to work smarter not harder.
• Evidence of successful collaboration with technology orgs.
• Robust understanding of prototyping methodologies and practices, user research methodologies and A/B test planning/execution.
• Ability to effectively influence and communicate cross-functionally with all levels; exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
• Analytical problem-solving skills, including the ability to break down data/information into meaningful findings and developing recommendations that lead to informed decision-making.
• Ability to use a data-driven approach to problem solving and scaling.
• The ability to synthesize a lot of information to distill root cause and make informed decisions to mitigate risk to title launches.
• Strong aptitude for building effective relationships in a fast-paced, constantly changing and deadline driven environment.
• Willingness to roll up your sleeves and get things done.
• Take smart risks and champion new ideas.

The Perks
• Paid time off every year to volunteer
• Access to well-being tools, resources, and freebies
• 2018 Best Company for Working Mothers
• 2018 Best Company for Dads
• An in-house learning and development team to help shape and grow your career
• Part of the WarnerMedia family of powerhouse brands

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-r028nm-18-116-63-174-42 in your application.