Partner & VP, Design

When team members told us they needed more flexibility and autonomy around where and how they worked, we acted, creating two options to accommodate two different styles of work. One non-negotiable principle along the way? We had to retain our deep culture of collaboration, both among ourselves and with our clients. Introducing Work From Near (Hybrid) and Work From Anywhere (Remote) at WillowTree.

The Partner & VP, Design role will be a Work From Anywhere (Remote) opportunity.

Learn more here.

WillowTree is an award-winning digital product consultancy driven by innovation and grounded in strategy and user-centered design. We create long-term partnerships with the world’s leading brands to build and design digital flagship products crucial to our clients’ business needs. We’re a global consultancy with a client list that includes the NBA, Marriott, Domino's, and many more. Check out how we have impacted our clients' digital products over the years.

The Partner & VP of Design is a highly-autonomous executive role with endless opportunities to impact our teams, clients, and company through your leadership and creative vision. You’ll inspire and coach designers and delivery teams to create world-class products while fostering engagement and inclusion. You’ll maintain strong existing relationships with our partners and work with strategic consultants throughout the business development process to acquire and grow future partnerships, all of which contributes to building our premier design practice. 

We understand our responsibility to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive place within the tech industry, while pushing to make our industry more representative. Because of this responsibility, we need candidates who value diversity and inclusion through their work, team collaboration, or mentorship. So in your cover letter, we encourage you to reflect on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Women, people of color, individuals with disabilities, veterans, and intersectional individuals are encouraged to apply.

• Provide creative leadership, collaboration and roadmap development for multiple Fortune 500 clients
• Lead a WillowTree “Branch” (a product delivery group of ~100 people) in partnership with a Partner & VP of Program Management and a Partner & VP of Engineering 
• Manage and mentor a group (20~) of design leaders and designers
• Grow and scale our design team through hiring and networking, while contributing meaningfully to the external market position of the WillowTree design organization
• Work closely with the design team to provide creative direction on client work from exploratory conceptualization, design workshops, content design, visuals, brand, UX, and prototypes, through execution
• Coach account and project leadership (Project Managers, Senior Engineers, and Senior/Director level Designers) on aligning creative and design goals with established business outcomes 
• Create a positive and optimistic atmosphere that encourages our teams to be inspired and open to receive and provide feedback
• Motivate your teams to pursue solutions during challenges and obstacles
• During complexity, you'll simplify ideas and drive the team towards strategic design execution
• Partner with business development to write creative briefs, develop proposals, provide estimations, and prepare pitches

• 7+ years in a creative leadership role (with at least 3 years in an agency environment working with clients) 
• Experience and perspective with managing and leading remote teams
• As a design leader, coach, or mentor, you’ve learned the value of humility and self-awareness, and have lead the performance management of high caliber teams
• A strong portfolio of inspired, creative work across digital platforms. You’ve designed and led teams to create and ship beautiful digital products with strong UX and usability 
• Experience leading digital design engagements for Fortune 500 clients
• Have collaborated with a multi-disciplinary product team (e.g. engineering, content, research, project management) from ideation to launch
• Can effectively present creative briefs to our teams and clients’ executive stakeholders through storytelling
• Able to prioritize and balance business outcomes and engineering constraints with UX, brand, and visual design 
• Previous experience mentoring team members in underrepresented groups (e.g. people of color, women, those from non-traditional backgrounds)

We offer a place to be yourself.

Our differences, both visible and invisible, benefit our teams, our communities, and the products we craft. That’s why WillowTree strives to build a team with diverse backgrounds, skills, and perspectives. You’ll work hard here; however, we’ll balance that with a culture that supports your growth and cares about your well-being. We’re committed to creating an environment of inclusion — a place where every Tree can thrive.

We want you to reach your fullest potential and part of your professional development at WillowTree will include dedicated time to innovate on passion projects and an annual stipend to fund your professional pursuits.

WillowTree upholds our core values in every aspect of our work. We promote safe and inclusive work environments and maintain a drug-free workplace. We celebrate our differences and provide equal employment opportunities to all team members and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. Diverse teams build better products. We acknowledge that the tech industry especially lacks opportunity for those who are of non-traditional backgrounds and in underrepresented groups. In order to create the best products for everyone, we know that it's important for our team to reflect the diversity of our users, and we are committed to being the change we want to see.