Are you looking to hire an Interim Head of Product Design or transition into the role yourself? These temporary but crucial positions ensure continuity in product design and development, driving innovation and seizing market opportunities. Whether you’re a client seeking talent or a professional exploring this sector, this guide covers key skills, responsibilities and contract considerations.
An Interim Head of Product Design usually reports into the Product Design Director, although this can vary depending on the business type or structure. The Interim Head of Product Design is directly responsible for overseeing the performance and output of their team of Product Design Manager‘s and any of their direct line reports.
Interim Head of Product Design roles
If you are looking for an Interim Head of Product Design job role or would like to find out how to become an Interim Head of Product Design, what skills you need, and what salaries are on offer, you will find a complete guide below.
If you’re an employer looking to recruit an Interim Head of Product Design position, please see our product design and UX recruitment services, our interim recruitment page and the full overview of our services to employers. If you need to hire and would like our services, contact us today.
What is an Interim Head of Product Design?
The Interim Head of Product Design is a temporary senior-level position in the design department of a company, usually bridging a gap during periods of leadership transformation.
They are responsible for leading a team of designers and overseeing the design process for all products developed by the company. The Interim Head of Product Design is a critical role in any organisation that values user-centred design, innovation, and creating products that meet the needs of customers.
The Interim Head of Product Design is responsible for defining the design strategy for the company’s products. This includes establishing design principles and guidelines that ensure the products are consistent in their design language, style, and functionality.
They work closely with the product management team to identify customer needs, business objectives, and market trends that influence product design decisions. The Interim Head of Product Design must have a deep understanding of the company’s target market, customer needs, and user behaviour to ensure that the design of products meets those needs.
What makes a successful Interim Head of Product Design?
To be successful in this role, the Interim Head of Product Design must have a deep understanding of user-centred design principles, a keen eye for aesthetics and the ability to balance business needs with user needs. They must also possess strong leadership and communication skills, as they will be responsible for managing and mentoring a team of designers and collaborating with cross-functional teams across the organisation.
One of the primary responsibilities of the Interim Head of Product Design is to define and communicate the company’s design vision and strategy. They must ensure that the design team is aligned with the company’s goals and that the product design direction is consistent with the company’s brand identity. This requires a deep understanding of the company’s mission, values and target audience.
In addition to defining the design vision and strategy, the Interim Head of Product Design is also responsible for establishing and maintaining design standards and guidelines. They must ensure that the design team is adhering to best practices and that all design work meets the highest standards of quality and consistency. This helps to ensure that the company’s products are not only visually appealing but also easy to use and accessible to all users.
The Interim Head of Product Design must also stay up-to-date with the latest design trends, technologies, and tools. This requires a deep understanding of the design industry and a willingness to continuously learn and experiment with new ideas and approaches.
Product design tools
As an Interim Head of Product Design, you rely on various tools to effectively manage and enhance the design process, the same as a Head of Product Design would. Here’s a webpage outlining a new set of essential tools that you might find valuable, along with links to their respective websites:
Framer – A powerful interactive design and prototyping tool that allows you to create rich, interactive experiences with code components.
Abstract – A version control platform designed specifically for designers. Abstract enables seamless collaboration, versioning, and organization of design files.
MURAL– An online collaboration and visual workspace tool that facilitates brainstorming, ideation, and design thinking workshops.
Procreate – A digital illustration and sketching app for iPad, offering a wide range of brushes and tools to create stunning visual designs.
Overflow – A user flow diagramming tool that helps you visualize and present user journeys and interactions in a clear and engaging manner.
Lottie – A library and animation tool that allows you to add high-quality, lightweight animations to your designs, enhancing user experience.
Marvel – An all-in-one design and prototyping platform that enables you to create interactive prototypes, collaborate with stakeholders, and conduct user testing.
Hotjar – A user behaviour analytics tool that provides heatmaps, session recordings, and feedback polls to help you understand how users engage with your product.
Principle – A powerful animation and prototyping tool that allows you to create advanced interactions and micro-interactions for your designs.
Optimizely – An experimentation platform that enables you to test and optimize your designs and user experiences through A/B testing and personalisation.
Interim Head of Product Design day rate
In today’s market a typical Interim Head of Product Design’s day rate would be in the region of £550 to £700.
Interim Head of Product Design job description
A typical Interim Head of Product Design job description will read something like the below:
Job title: Interim Head of Product Design
Location: Remote or on-site
Duration: 3-12 months
Reporting to the Product Design Director, the Interim Head of Product Design will support the business development of new opportunities. This will be achieved through managing the design lifecycle from start to finish, designing best practice processes for the design team.
The Interim Head of Product Design is responsible for a wide range of activities including client pitches, company-wide presentations, and leading operational objectives. Skills required to do this role effectively include leadership, collaboration and communication with both your immediate and wider management team.
The Interim Head of Product Design will work to:
- Grow the existing product design team by 2 in the next 6 months
- Build a cadence with the team, cascading best practises whilst coaching and mentoring the team to success
- Lead the design process and develop best in class procedures to support a collaborative and innovative team
- Take a user centric design approach and rapidly test and iterate your designs
- Design and test new products based on consumer insight and a deep understanding of technology, the market landscape and business objectives
- Ensure that all products are designed to our brand standards and quality guidelines
- Promote excellent cross-functional communication between the product management team and senior stakeholders
To be successful in this Interim Head of Product Design role, you will:
- Have 8+ years working within Product Design, with at least 2 years within a previous Head of Product Design role
- Be comfortable working in a fast-paced start-up environment
- Have previous experience managing a diverse product design team, with previous experience owning and delivering a user-centric design process
- Have a proven background in delivering world class consumer facing products, with a portfolio of UX focused work samples for web and app applications
- A history of successful collaboration with technical and commercial partners
- Excited by challenges and the ability to create something new
- Be confident across a range of user research methods
Product Design interview questions
Read our guide to the top 50+ Product Design interview questions, often asked by employers at interview.
What is the Difference Between an Interim and Fractional Head of Product Design?
While both roles are temporary and bring senior-level design expertise, there are key differences:
- Interim Head of Product Design: Works full-time and is deeply embedded in the company, overseeing design strategy, team leadership and execution for a defined period. They drive initiatives, align design with business goals and ensure seamless collaboration across teams.
- Fractional Head of Product Design: Provides part-time support, often working with multiple companies simultaneously. They focus on high-level strategic guidance rather than day-to-day execution or management.
The right choice depends on your company’s needs. If your business requires hands-on, dedicated design leadership to manage teams, implement processes and execute a design vision, an interim role is the better fit. For broader, advisory-level input without full-time commitment, a fractional role may be more suitable.
What skills are employers looking for in an Interim Head of Product Design?
This role will require skills such as:
- Balancing leadership with being detailed driven
- Ability to facilitate idea generation and evaluation
- Ability to drive a compelling vision, and lead the product team along that journey
- Effective communicator to ensure cross functional collaboration is clear, concise and actionable
- Time management to ensure all designers meet design timelines and budgets
- Team management to ensure our designers to develop over time in line with career development plans
Here are some essential technical and soft skills that employers look for:
Technical skills:
UI/UX design: Highlight your proficiency in user-centred design, wireframing, prototyping, and creating visually appealing interfaces. Provide examples of projects where you successfully applied these skills to deliver intuitive and engaging user experiences.
Design tools: Mention the design and prototyping tools you are proficient in, such as Sketch, Figma, or Adobe Creative Suite. Include links to your online portfolio or attach relevant design samples to showcase your technical abilities.
Design research: Demonstrate your expertise in conducting user research, usability testing, and gathering actionable insights. Discuss how your research findings influenced design decisions and contributed to improved product experiences.
Design systems: Highlight your knowledge and experience in developing and implementing design systems or pattern libraries to ensure consistent and scalable design solutions.
Soft skills:
Communication: Describe how you effectively communicated design concepts, presented your ideas to stakeholders, and collaborated with cross-functional teams throughout the design process.
Leadership: Discuss how you motivated and mentored team members, facilitated productive collaborations, and achieved successful project outcomes.
Collaboration: Describe how you have fostered a collaborative environment, solicited feedback, and integrated diverse perspectives into design solutions.
Problem-solving: Explain the strategies you employed to identify issues, analyse data, and propose innovative solutions that positively impacted the user experience.
Interim Head of Product Design FAQs
- What does an Interim Head of Product Design do?
- Often reporting into the Product Design Director, the Interim Head of Product Design steps in temporarily to lead the design team, guide design strategy, and ensure product design aligns with company goals during a period of transition or growth. They stabilise and support the team while the company hires a permanent leader or navigates change.
- What is an Interim Product Design Lead?
- An Interim Product Design Lead may also be called an Interim Head of Product Design or a Product Design Director. Their role is to support the business development of new product opportunities. This will be achieved through managing the design lifecycle from start to finish, designing best practise processes for the design team.
- When should a company hire an interim design leader?
- Companies often hire an interim design leader when the previous head leaves unexpectedly, during a leadership gap, during rapid scaling or when they need specialised experience for a short-term challenge - like launching a new product or rebuilding design systems.
- What’s the difference between an interim and a permanent Head of Design?
- An interim leader is brought in for a defined, short-term period and focuses on stability, execution and transition. A permanent Head of Design is a long-term strategic hire responsible for growing the design function over time, including team culture, structure and hiring.
- What skills are essential for an interim Head of Product Design?
- Key skills include design leadership, cross-functional collaboration, team mentorship, operational efficiency, product thinking, and the ability to thrive in ambiguity. Interim leaders must also be quick to onboard and make impact fast.
- How long do interim design roles usually last?
- Typically 3 to 6 months, but this can vary depending on company needs. Some interim roles turn into fractional or even permanent positions if the fit is strong on both sides.
