Senior Design Operations Manager

📋 Description

• • As the Senior Design Operations Manager at Bestow Inc., you will be the pivotal force ensuring our growing design team operates with unparalleled clarity, efficiency, and autonomy. This is a unique opportunity to shape the operational backbone of a design function within a leading vertical technology platform that is modernizing the life insurance industry. You will serve as the essential connective tissue, building and maintaining the robust systems, streamlined processes, and effective rituals that empower designers to produce their best work.
• • This role transcends mere process optimization. As an integral part of the Product Operations team, you will be recognized as the design operations expert and a strategic partner to design leadership. Your mandate will be to help scale and mature the design team while meticulously preserving the core values that define its success: exceptional craft, seamless collaboration, and rapid execution. You will be instrumental in fostering an environment where creativity flourishes and impactful design solutions are consistently delivered.
• • Your responsibilities will encompass the strategic development and meticulous management of design processes and workflows. This includes defining and championing the Design team's perspective throughout the entire product development lifecycle, from initial concept and intake to final delivery. You will proactively identify operational bottlenecks, architecting and implementing effective solutions to enhance team scalability and accelerate delivery timelines without compromising the high standards of quality Bestow is known for.
• • You will be tasked with building scalable design processes and knowledge management systems that are designed to accommodate significant team growth, ensuring they remain effective whether the team comprises five individuals or fifty. A key focus will be leading the buildout of emerging Research Operations, establishing best practices and infrastructure to support a growing product and design team.
• • A significant part of your role will involve orchestrating and evolving essential design ceremonies and fostering team collaboration. This includes facilitating and refining critical team rituals such as critiques, design reviews, retrospectives, and planning sessions. You will partner closely with Product and Engineering teams to streamline cross-functional workflows, proactively reducing friction points and enhancing overall productivity.
• • You will act as a crucial bridge builder, connecting embedded designers across various squads to ensure the team remains cohesive, aligned, and informed, fostering a strong sense of shared purpose and collective achievement.
• • Managing Design Systems and Artifacts will be a core function. You will steward our Figma workspace, overseeing its structure, naming conventions, component libraries, and version control to ensure a unified and efficient design environment. You will establish and enforce rigorous standards for design files, guaranteeing consistency and facilitating seamless handoffs to engineering teams.
• • You will maintain a single source of truth for all design assets, templates, and documentation, ensuring accessibility and clarity for all stakeholders. Furthermore, you will evaluate, implement, and manage the suite of tools the design team utilizes daily, optimizing for efficiency and effectiveness. You will create and uphold governance structures for team libraries, design systems, and strategic artifacts, ensuring their integrity and usability.
• • Staying abreast of the latest advancements in Design Operations, emerging tooling, and AI-powered design workflows will be critical to maintaining Bestow's innovative edge.
• • In the realm of People & Culture, you will own the function-specific onboarding experience for all new design team members, ensuring a smooth and effective integration. You will actively foster a healthy culture characterized by constructive feedback, continuous improvement, regular celebration of successes, and a strong sense of psychological safety.
• • You will provide administrative support to the design leadership team, assisting in the definition of career growth pathways for designers at Bestow, including the development of leveling guides and review processes. This includes defining and tracking key metrics that illuminate the design team's performance and identify areas for enhancement.
• • You will provide design leadership with critical clarity for team planning, offering regular visibility into team capacity, velocity, and overall health, enabling data-driven decision-making and strategic resource allocation.