Head of Product Design

Location: Southern Germany || Commutable from Munich or surrounding areas

• 30 days annual leave + public holidays
• Full-time, permanent role (40 hours per week)
• Laptop and mobile provided
• Excellent pension and healthcare benefits
• Office-based with up to 2 days WFH

This is a key leadership opportunity for an experienced Head of Product Design to drive design excellence, shape product strategy, and build a high‐performing design organisation. You will lead a talented team of Product Designers, engineering specialists, and design professionals responsible for creating innovative products and user experiences that support the company’s next phase of growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a multidisciplinary Product Design team (10+ FTEs), fostering a culture of innovation, creativity, and continuous improvement
• Define and implement the product design vision, strategy, processes, and best practices across the organisation
• Drive user‐centred design methodologies, ensuring customer needs and market insights are embedded throughout the product development lifecycle
• Collaborate closely with Product Management, Engineering, Manufacturing, and Commercial teams to deliver exceptional products from concept through to launch
• Establish and maintain design systems, standards, and governance frameworks to ensure consistency and scalability
• Champion design thinking and advocate for the value of design at senior leadership level
• Oversee product design roadmaps, resource planning, and team performance metrics, providing regular updates to executive stakeholders
• Identify opportunities to improve product usability, customer satisfaction, and commercial performance through effective design leadership
• Act as a change agent, promoting collaboration, innovation, and customer‐focused decision‐making across the organisation

About You

• Role: Head of Product Design or leadership experience in hardware, systems design, product management, industrialisation, or operations
• Sectors: Ideal sector backgrounds include automotive electronics, radar, RF, semiconductors, telecoms, PCB manufacturing, industrial electronics, consumer electronics, antennas, test & measurement, satellite communications, high‐performance materials or a related field
• Leadership: Strong people management and coaching skills, with a proven ability to develop high‐performing design teams.
• Education: Degree in Product Design, Industrial Design, Human‐Computer Interaction Design, Engineering, or a related discipline preferred.
• Languages: Fluent English required; German language skills an advantage.
• Strong understanding of user‐centred design, design thinking, customer research, prototyping, and design systems.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, capable of influencing at executive level.

Umbilical Limited is committed to promoting Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace. We act as a neutral third party in the recruitment process, basing our candidate searches on skills and experience.

We do not discriminate based on age, gender, sex, relationship status, disability, race, religion/beliefs, or sexual orientation.