FRACTIONAL PRODUCT DESIGN LEADERSHIP
Need a Interim Head of Design,
while you hire your next leader?
Hiring always takes longer than expected. Don't let your design team's morale, quality, and speed take a hit in the meantime. I embed part-time with your team and hold things together, while you find the right person.
Who I am
A design leader who has actually shipped the work
Ex-startup founder with 15+ years of experience designing and leading teams inside B2B start-ups and scale-ups across Europe, USA and Australia.
MSc in Human-Computer Interaction with deep expertise in information architecture, product and systems thinking.
How it works
I manage your product design team, while you hire a new leader
I step in part-time as your Interim Head of Design: running the team, providing feedback to keep the quality bar high, and interviewing design candidates (leaders or ICs).
If someone in the team is ready to be your next leader, I'll say so
I can provide 1:1 coaching until they are ready, and after, so they have the right support.
I hand over a team that's already used to being led well
When your permanent leader arrives, I onboard them and hand over notes, context and decisions so they can hit the ground running on month one.
What is included
Flexible hours and scope, shaped around what's most pressing
- 01Design quality — reviews and critiques
- 02Team health — morale, cohesion and culture
- 03People management — 1:1s and performance conversations
- 04Hiring — interviewing candidates for leaders and ICs
No lock-in fees
Immediate start
Flexible number of days/hours per week.
Min 3 months
After that, adjust hours or cancel anytime.
“Elena's ability to challenge both the team and her peers has helped shape EO into a culture where constructive feedback and challenges are welcomed.”
“Elena is very good at switching between an IC role and a management role. It was great to see how she raised the standards of design and our aspirations towards UX.”
“Her ability to take several steps back, question our roadmap and priorities, and suggest alternatives has proven invaluable.”
“Her pushes to think differently about a topic have often helped us deliver much better experiences to customers significantly sooner.”
“Elena is an absolutely superb manager and designer. I've personally benefited hugely from her mentorship and guidance.”
“I worked with Elena for almost two years, and I can say she's one of the best managers I ever had... continually encouraging me to go beyond my limits.”
“Elena is able to go deep in the weeds and think at a high level, which means she's able to contribute so much to the team and, ultimately, to the customers.”
“We released to market on time with a lot of positive feedback around experience. I'd highly recommend Elena for any design leadership role.”
“Elena continuously seeks to improve the process, deliverables, and ways of working as a team. Given her positive attitude and inspirational leadership, she is a great person to work with and look up to.”
let's talk
Got a leadership gap in your product or design org?
Just tell me about your situation and what needs holding together.