What does a Head of Design actually do?

KNOWN ALIASES / DISGUISES:

MARKET AVERAGE

$265,035

* Salaries vary, as jobs tend to be short-term and contractual, offering workers flexible schedules and the opportunity to manage multiple projects at once. The average salary for a Head of Design in the United States is $265,035 per year or $127 per hour.

"This salary buys a comfortable existence spent curating presentations and mediating conflicts, largely devoid of actual design work, until the next round of 'strategic realignment.'"

[DIAGNOSIS]Often seen as a strategic overhead whose function can be absorbed by product or marketing leads, or whose entire team can be outsourced during economic downturns, making them prime targets for cost-cutting.

"The head of design is responsible for building and integrating the overall brand guidelines for the business."

OTIOSE TRANSLATION

Overseeing junior designers who actually create the brand guidelines, then presenting them as self-evident truths to stakeholders who will inevitably ignore them, only to demand revisions six months later.

"setting the creative direction, design and storytelling while driving innovation and emotional connection with our fans."

OTIOSE TRANSLATION

Attending endless 'vision' meetings, translating executive whims into vague directives, and then delegating the actual 'design and storytelling' to overworked subordinates, while 'innovation' remains a buzzword on a slide deck.

"lead the team of Product Designers and Researchers to shape the design strategy across Goodleap's entire product portfolio. This role demands a leader who excels in creating clarity, navigating complex domains, and thinking systematically about design."

OTIOSE TRANSLATION

Managing a team of exhausted individuals, forcing them to adopt the latest 'design thinking' methodology, and then presenting their work as 'strategy' to executives who understand neither, all while 'creating clarity' means adding more layers of process.

[09:00 - 10:00]

Strategic Vision Alignment Session

An hour spent in a video conference call attempting to reconcile contradictory feedback from Product, Engineering, and Marketing on the latest 'innovative' wireframes.

[11:00 - 12:30]

Deck Refinement & Stakeholder Storytelling

Polishing a 50-slide presentation for the upcoming executive review, primarily focused on making abstract concepts appear tangible and justifying the design team's headcount.

[15:00 - 16:00]

Mentorship & Creative Direction Synthesis

A series of 1:1 meetings with junior designers, offering vague encouragement and reminding them to 'think bigger' or 'align with the brand narrative,' while offloading the most tedious tasks.

"This sometimes I see people in small companies being head of design - head of nothing tbh - they just are the only ones or very small structure then they can’t even reach big companies because is not the same standard when giving titles."

— r/UXDesign

"Most of what is required of me involves designing slide presentations used for B2B proposals, training sessions for existing clients, internal presentations, and so on. In my previous job as a social media designer at a small startup, I was very happy creatively and with the type of tasks I handled..."

— r/Design

"Our Head of Design just approved the 12th iteration of the same brand guideline deck. Pretty sure their main KPI is 'number of slides created' and 'stakeholder alignment via lukewarm coffee meetings'."

— teamblind.com