Posted 2w ago

Head of Design

@ The Independents
Paris, Île-de-France, France
HybridFull Time
Responsibilities:lead design, manage team, align stakeholders
Requirements Summary:8+ years design experience; 3+ years design management; strong product craft; fluent in English.
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Job Description
About Lefty.io

Lefty is the leading influencer marketing platform trusted by the world's most prestigious luxury and lifestyle brands: Chanel, Dior, Sephora, H&M, and many more. We help brands run end-to-end influencer programs: talent discovery, relationship management, automated campaign reporting, and performance measurement.

We're growing fast in a booming market, and we're looking for an experienced Head of Design to lead and grow our design practice.

Role Description

As our first Head of Design, you won't just manage a team — you'll shape how design is practiced at Lefty. You'll lead a team of 2 Product Designers and 1 Brand Designer, set the bar for quality, and build the processes that will scale with us.

You report to the CPO and operate at the intersection of craft, strategy, and people. You're someone who has thrived in agency environments, knows how to run a project from brief to delivery, and still wants to get their hands dirty on complex product interfaces. You bring structure without bureaucracy, and ambition without ego.

What you'll do

Design leadership & strategy:

  • Contribute strongly and translate product vision into actionable communication assets

  • Set the strategy, priorities, and direction for the design system

  • Pilot the brand platform strategy and report on progress — while actively contributing to its creation

  • Present design strategy and feature work to internal stakeholders and external clients

Team management & culture, project & process (70%):

  • Manage, coach, and grow 2 Product Designers and 1 Brand Designer

  • Build a framework of trust, collaboration and quality — ensuring full use-case coverage, strong UX, and excellent UI

  • Foster autonomy by setting clear briefs, effort scoping, deliverables, and timelines so designers own their subjects

  • Integrate Brand Design and Product Design into a coherent, unified output

  • Structure design initiatives with clear objectives, options, actions, owners, and timelines

  • Maintain full visibility on design work at all times

  • Ensure holistic thinking on every design

Craft (30%):

  • Own complex product features end-to-end: UX discovery, interface design, client presentation, user testing, feedback integration, and dev handoff

Collaboration:

  • Be a strong facilitator: run co-design workshops, design sprints, brainstorming sessions, and ideation rituals

  • Run design rituals: critique sessions, retrospectives, team planning, and continuous improvement loops

  • Work daily with Designers and the leadership team (CPO, CEO, CTO)

  • Connect regularly with Sales, AMs, Marketing, CSMs, and Product Managers to gather insights and align on priorities

  • Translate design decisions into clear communication for every audience

What We're Looking For

Must-haves:

  • 8+ years of design experience, with both a significant background in agency and SaaS B2B is a plus

  • 3+ years of formal design management experience

  • Strong product design craft — you still love making interfaces

  • Proven ability to run structured design projects: plan, workshop, execute, report

  • Excellent facilitator — co-design, design sprints, brainstorming, stakeholder alignment

  • User-centric approach with hands-on UX discovery experience

  • Rigorous and demanding, with a high bar for quality, completeness, and autonomy

  • Fluent in English

Bonus:

  • Experience with design systems in Figma

  • Familiarity with brand platform work

  • Working knowledge of how AI integrates into design workflows (asset generation, copy, UX review, prototyping)

  • Interest in influencer marketing and social media ecosystems

The details

Paris — hybrid (3 days in office / 2 days remote)

Team of 3 designers (2 Product, 1 Brand)

Clients include the world's top luxury houses and brands

High-growth context — 3x revenue target over 5 years


Interview Process

Step 1 — HR interview (45 min): overall fit

Step 2 — CPO call (30 min): design vision, leadership approach, technical depth

Step 3 — Live case study (2h): structured thinking and collaboration

Step 4 — CEO interview (1h): strategic vision and culture fit