Design Operations Lead

San Francisco, CA

Cisco Meraki is the industry leader in simple, secure, intelligent networking and IoT platforms. We empower organizations everywhere – from local libraries to global hotels – to focus on their mission and have technology that simply works.

Cisco has been named #1 Best Company to Work For in the U.S. by Fortune in 2021!

We’re looking for a Design Operations leader to join our team in simplifying the experience for networking and IT products and professionals.

In this role, you will:

Build world-class UX team operational practices and culture
Ensure the team has the tools, processes, and time needed to drive toward quality and efficiency
Plan for the growth, impact, and success of the UX team within Cisco Meraki
Collaborate with partners in Product Management, Engineering, and other teams to help drive project outcomes and mature cross-functional collaboration
Serve as trusted advisor to Senior Director regarding strategy and communications.

Our UX team is helping drive innovation throughout our portfolio. We balance discovery with delivery to establish north stars while delivering incremental value to our customers.

You Will:

Create and maintain an operational roadmap and design ops staffing strategy to support and mature our team
Develop frameworks that help demonstrate UX value and impact on the business
Craft reports and socialize the impact of UX across multiple products/programs
Establish standards and guidelines that help evaluate the team's relative priorities, measure team capacity, and propose a UX engagement model that is best suitable to meet customer and business outcomes
Propose and guide the best product design, agile, and project management practices
Establish toolkits, templates, guidelines, and processes that enable the team to be highly effective
Develop programs that focus on recognizing accomplishments and retention
Craft and run key UX programs tied to individual and team growth including our intern program, new hire onboarding experience, and team training initiatives
Plan and coordinate UX team meetings and rituals, company-wide presentations, and team-building events
Support the business side of the design process: Quarterly planning/OKRs, budgets, hiring forecasts, tool selection and procurement, vendor management
Build and maintain strong working relationships by collaborating with engineering, product, and business teams to uncover and encourage customer and business needs and priorities
Evangelize the impact of design with engineering and product partners by advocating for a user-centered design approach (cross-functional design sprints, dual-track agile, user feedback, rapid prototyping)
Provide mentoring and coaching support in a variety of ways including socializing work, project planning, resolving obstacles

You are an ideal candidate if you:

Have relevant experience leading in a design operations, design producer, program manager, or other design operations-focused role
Knowledge of design process, design thinking, and user-centered design approaches
Demonstrate an understanding of product design methods, processes, and cross-functional collaboration
Have experience advocating for UX within groups of cross-functional collaborators
Are skilled at balancing strategic planning with fast paced new requests to meet business needs
Are familiar with agile principles, project management methodologies, and tools
Are a strong communicator and diplomat, and can quickly develop rapport with team members and company-wide partners
Have the ability to adapt and thrive in a constantly evolving organization, showing eagerness to take on new challenges as they arise
Care deeply about the people you work with

Does this sound like you? We’d love to hear from you!

At Cisco Meraki, we’re challenging the status quo with the power of diversity, inclusion, and collaboration. When we connect different perspectives, we can imagine new possibilities, inspire innovation, and release the full potential of our people. We’re building an employee experience that includes appreciation, belonging, growth, and purpose for everyone.

Cisco is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis. Cisco will consider for employment, on a case by case basis, qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.