Product Design Lead

We are a growing team navigating an exciting phase of digital transformation. We're expanding our Product Design function in Cape Town - our design hub and are looking for a Product Design Lead. In this role, you will work closely with Product Management and Engineering across Cape Town, London - UK, and Katowice - Poland, bringing design thinking to our Products.

As we scale, there is a degree of ambiguity in our current processes. We are looking for a foundational leader to embrace this ambiguity, define our best practices, and shape how product design operates at a global scale.

As the Product Design Lead, you will be the driving force behind our newly expanded design team in Cape Town. You will manage a team of Product Designers working across Member Experience, Lifestyle Manager Efficiency, and CMS & Tooling. Your primary focus will be establishing robust design operations (DesignOps), mentoring your team, managing stakeholder relationships, and ensuring a cohesive, premium experience across all Ten Group platforms.

• Team Leadership & Mentorship: Manage the workload, professional growth, and day to day output of a team of Product Designers.
• Design Operations & Rituals: Define and implement core design rituals (e.g., design critiques, sprint planning, retrospective reviews) and establish a clear interaction model between Design, Product Management, and Engineering.
• Stakeholder Management: Act as the strategic voice of design across the business. You will communicate design decisions clearly, manage expectations, and align design initiatives with broader company goals.
• Holistic Vision: Ensure consistency and quality across all three product pillars, overseeing the evolution of our design system and acting as the final quality gatekeeper.
• Resource Management: Balance your team's workload, ensuring that designers are deployed effectively to high impact projects.
• You have at least 6+ years of experience in product design, with at least 1 2 years of experience directly managing, mentoring, or leading a team of designers.
• Building Structure: You thrive in environments where processes are still being defined. You have a proven track record of bringing order to ambiguity and setting up successful design frameworks from scratch.
• Cross Functional Influence: You are an expert collaborator. You know how to push back constructively, negotiate technical constraints with Engineering Leads, and align closely with Product Directors and Managers.
• Strategic & Proactive Mindset: You don't just execute on a brief; you help define the roadmap. You anticipate business needs, advocate for user research, and proactively identify areas for product improvement.
• Portfolio: A portfolio that demonstrates not only your high fidelity design skills but also your strategic thinking, process definition, and how you have elevated the work of designers around you.
• You are fluent in English.

• Located in Cape Town.
• Please note that you will be asked to enter into a hybrid working arrangement - at least 2 a week in the office.
• A secure home office at your confirmed address, free from background noise or other distractions.
• You must meet our minimum internet speeds if you want to work in our hybrid model and this will be checked during the recruitment process and again when you join. We also have a great office that you can work from as an alternative.

• A competitive salary depending on experience.
• Hybrid working. You can combine working from home and working from the office.
• Paid time away from work. Our employees enjoy a competitive paid time off package, including a paid day each year to volunteer time for a good cause that is important to them.
• Paid Sabbaticals. One (1) month paid Sabbatical after every 5 years of Service, without tapping into annual leave.
• Extra Rewards. Lucrative Ten Loyalty Rewards program which includes a bonus and gift to say thank you for being part of Ten.
• Remote Working Holidays - possibilities to Travel and Work anywhere in the world!
• Employee Discounts. Access to lots of great travel and entertainment discounts as our clients' members would!
• Be part of our global, dynamic, and inclusive Team, with diversity at its core.
• Genuine career opportunities within a dynamic and international company.

We encourage diverse philosophies, cultures, and experiences. We appreciate diversity and are dedicated to creating an inclusive work environment for our employees. This idea unites the teams at TEN. All aspects of our relationship, including the decision to hire, promote, discipline, or terminate, will be based on merit, competence, performance and business needs.