Design Manager

Job title: Design Manager

About the Role We are hiring a Design Manager to lead and contribute to Canonical’s Visual Design practice, supporting brand and site experiences. This is a hands-on leadership role for an experienced designer who excels in people management, delivery ownership and strategic thinking.

What You'll Do

• Lead and contribute to the visual design practice across Canonical's brand and site experiences, collaborating with Design Systems and Site teams to influence the UI of all digital experiences.
• Manage a team of visual designers, driving innovation, setting direction, maintaining quality and enabling continuous professional growth.
• Evolve design guidelines to ensure consistency across touchpoints and production workflows; oversee operations and coordination with Marketing, Web Engineering and the Design Systems Director.
• Deliver on projects spanning marketing campaign assets, data visualization, print and UI design; drive cross-department collaboration.
• Help make the value of design legible across the organisation and the open source community.
• Review work critically and provide direct feedback; contribute hands-on design work when capacity requires it.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to clearly define and validate outcomes, ensuring high-quality, scalable design.
• As Design Manager, lead a team of visual designers responsible for brand and site work across Canonical; drive innovation, set direction, and support professional growth.
• On a day-to-day basis, review work critically and constructively, strive for excellence and consistency through direct feedback.
• Contribute hands-on design work when capacity or complexity requires it.
• Work with individual designers to support their professional growth.
• Continuously oversee and improve operational workflows, including production processes.
• Work with stakeholders, especially Marketing, Web Engineering and Design Systems Director, to clearly define and validate outcomes.
• Evolve design systems and guidelines to drive consistent quality and improve efficiency.
• Coordinate with design leadership to mature our collective practice.
• Bring your team and others together to share their work and strengthen culture.
• Help make the value of design legible across the organisation and open source community.

What We're Looking For

• A portfolio demonstrating excellence in leading design process and execution (especially visually) in diverse organisations.
• Experience leading design teams with hands-on leadership, delivery ownership and strategic thinking.
• Proven ability to collaborate cross-functionally with Marketing, Web Engineering and Design Systems to define and validate outcomes.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to drive cross-functional programs.
• Experience evolving design systems and guidelines to improve consistency and efficiency.
• A track record of setting direction and crafting exceptional visual solutions; leading by example.

Nice to Have

• Experience with data visualization, marketing campaign assets, print and UI design across complex platforms; experience with open source communities is a plus.
• Experience in working with distributed/remote teams or open source projects.

Compensation & Benefits

• Not specified in the posting.