Head of Product Design

Location: Remote, UK Salary: £125,000 per year About us At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better. We believe in a future of work in schools where being challenged doesn’t mean being burnt out and overworked. Where data guides progress without overwhelming staff. And where everyone working in a school is reminded why they got into education every day. Our School Management Suite is already making a difference in over 13,000 schools and trusts. Giving time and power back to staff, turning data into clear, actionable insights, and supporting happier working days. At the heart of our brand is a recognition that the challenges schools face today aren’t just about efficiency, outputs and productivity - but about creating happier working lives for the people who drive education everyday: the staff. We want to make schools more joyful places to work, as well as learn. About the role Arbor's product design team works in a centralised capacity at the centre of the business: we set the standards, systems and ways of working for design across a growing portfolio of products, and we embed designers into product teams for focused periods to help them do their most ambitious work. We're bringing together different products - both built in-house and via acquisition - into one coherent suite, and our design language is central to how that comes together for schools.

We're looking for a Head of Product Design to lead this team and be the driving force for design across Arbor. You'll set design strategy and direction, and bring a clear point of view on the role design should play as our R&D organisation evolves as you collaborate with your peers to create our strategy and new ways of working.

You will line-manage the product design team giving them the senior backing and clear direction to focus on building and evolving a design system that can scale across an expanding, increasingly multi-product and multi-company portfolio. In that regard, this is also a role for someone genuinely energised by new ways of working. We are embracing agentic workflows and constructing a model in which anyone can contribute to our product, while the design role evolves into one of stewardship, education, and maintaining high standards of consistency and craft.

Core responsibilities Set and own design strategy, direction and standards for Arbor, acting as the central voice for design across an expanding portfolio of products and, as we grow through acquisition, newly joining teams. Be a confident, collaborative advocate for design at leadership level - representing design's perspective in product strategy and roadmap decisions as a core member of the product leadership team. Line-manage the product design team, setting priorities across the portfolio and helping to grow and mentor the team. Define the standards, systems and ways of working that all design work follows, and embed designers into product teams for set periods to deliver the most important and innovative work. Collaborate with the rest of the product leadership team to build long-term product strategy for the suite, and ensure design is integral to that strategy rather than applied after the fact. Lead the integration of design practice, standards and systems as new products and acquired companies join the portfolio, ensuring a cohesive experience for users across the whole suite. Champion best practice in usability through user research, testing and feedback analysis, embedding this across the wider product and engineering organisation. Collaborate with product managers, engineers and other stakeholders to prioritise and implement UX and UI improvements. Foster a culture of innovation and close collaboration between product design, product management and engineering. Stay current on industry trends and best practice in UX/UI design, including being forward-thinking about AI and genuinely curious about what it can do for the design process and for how design, product and engineering work together.