Vice President Design

Designcafe is looking to hire Vice President Design who would be working out of Bangalore.

Mentioned would be the JD for the role.

The VP–Design (HomeLane) translates the CDO’s design philosophy and long-term strategy into scalable systems, behaviours, design quality engines, and people capabilities that work across 100+ stores, enabling predictable, error-free, high-conversion interior design experiences.

This role is not about “doing design”; it is about building the design system.

2. The Ideal Candidate — Quick Snapshot

Must be:

A systems-builder, not just a designer

A cross-functional integrator who has worked with Product, Category, Tech, Ops

A design org leader with experience managing 25–50 designers

Comfortable with scale (50+ stores or similar multi-city operations)

Strong in at least 2 of the 3:

Systems & Process

Customer/Designer Experience

People & Capability Building

Should have delivered:

Cycle time improvements

Revision and error reduction

Catalogue/system adoption

Uplift in design quality

Capability maturity in design teams

Not someone who only brings conceptual design strength or store design expertise.

3. Experience Requirements

15–20 years total experience

Background could be: interiors, modular systems, retail design, design operations, catalog-led businesses, or product–design hybrid orgs

Must have operated at national scale, ideally across multiple cities

Managed 25–50+ designers (direct + matrix)

Worked with structured systems like: catalogues, configuration engines, rule-based design software, modular design workflows

Exposure to Tech + Design intersection is a strong plus

4. Role Expectations (What They Will Actually Do)

Systems Leadership

Implement Catalogue 2.0, SOPs, DQC SOPs

Build design language + regional design logic

Strengthen design → execution handoff

Drive SCPro rules + adoption (with Tech and Design Engineering)

Experience Leadership

Improve customer design journey end-to-end

Build designer–customer interaction templates

Reduce feasibility errors, revisions, and cycle time

People Leadership

Build capability, competency frameworks, career paths

Coach the core design team

Reduce attrition through culture + clarity

Align behaviours across designers in 100+ stores

Business Leadership

Deliver conversion uplift

Improve revenue through better design

Improve design-side unit economics

Increase catalogue adoption and correctness

Integration Role

Partner with:

NSO → store design consistency

Category → catalogue correctness + new SKUs

Design Engineering → rules + automation

Product Design → NPD + modular language

Tech PM → SCPro roadmap

CoE/DQC → quality + training

Analytics → insights, dashboards

5. What “Great” Looks Like in 12–18 Months

The recruiter should look for someone capable of delivering:

A predictable, rule-driven design organisation

Lower cycle times

Fewer revisions

Near-zero feasibility errors

A clear design language + regional logic

Stores feel consistent

Designers understand and apply the same principles

Catalogue 2.0 fully adopted

Designers use it confidently

Errors related to SKUs drop

Category + Design + NSO fully aligned

Strong designer culture

Lower attrition

Higher capability and confidence

Better customer experience

Clear contributions to sales outcomes

Better design improves conversion

Better flows reduce friction in the sales cycle

6. Red Flags

Do not pursue candidates who are:

Purely creative with weak operational chops

Only store-design focused (NSO-type profiles)

Too academic or conceptual; no systems scaling experience

No cross-functional leadership experience

Too execution-only without strategic thinking

Vendor-dependent (low internal capability building)

From boutique operations without large-scale exposure

7. Role Positioning for Recruiters

(This helps them pitch the role well.)

This is not a VP of Interior Design.

It is a VP of Design Systems + Design Organisation + Design Experience for a pan-India interiors brand.

This is a high-quality, high-visibility role.

Reports to the CDO

Works closely with CEO + COO

Influences Category, Product, Tech, NSO, Ops

Shapes the backbone of HL’s growth strategy

It requires judgment, leadership maturity, and clarity.

We are looking for someone who can build the future HL design organisation — not manage what exists today.

8. Suggested Screening Questions (for recruiters)

“Describe a time you reduced design cycle time or error rates at scale.”

“Have you led a design organisation of 25–50 people? What changed because of your leadership?”

“How have you worked with Product/Category/Tech in your previous roles?”

“Explain a design system or SOP you built — why did it work?”

“Tell me about scaling design across 20–50–100 locations.”

“How do you convert design philosophy into behaviour?”

“What design processes have you automated or templatized?”

If the candidate cannot answer these crisply → not a fit.

LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES

Systems thinking

Cross-functional influence

Organisational design mindset

Process + operational clarity

Strong problem decomposition

Coaching & people development orientation

Calm decision-making

Bias for simplification and speed

Customer understanding

Ability to build culture at scale

DR RESPONSIBILITY MAP

CDO

Vision, philosophy, differentiation

Portfolio strategy

Org design

Big systems decisions

Culture & values

Future bets

VP–Design

Execution of vision into systems

Core design org & culture

Quality, feasibility, cycle time

Catalogue execution

Regionalisation

Customer design journey

Integration across DRs

Store design consistency (via NSO)

DRs

NSO Head → Stores, displays, consistency

Design Engineering → Feasibility, SCPro rules, automation

Category Heads → Catalogue, materials, new SKUs

Product Design → NPD, modular improvements

Tech PM → SCPro roadmap

CoE → Capability building

DQC → Quality enforcement

Analytics → Insights & dashboards

90–Day Success Plan

Day 30

Understand HL’s design philosophy + CDO’s vision.

Audit 10 best + 10 worst projects for feasibility + design quality.

Review catalogue, DQC, SCPro workflows.

Meet all DRs and map current system strengths + gaps.

Day 60

Present the Design Systems Roadmap (catalogue, SOPs, design language).

Build the customer journey improvement plan .

Set the capability framework for core design team.

Define regionalisation structure with NSO + Category Heads.

Day 90

Implement cycle time + revision reduction plan.

Launch design language v1 and regional logic v1.

Build SCPro adoption plan (rules + training).

Establish behavioural expectations across design org.

Deliver first measurable uplift in quality metrics.

CANDIDATE PERSONAS

Persona 1 — The Systems Architect

Background: Modular design, retail formats, catalogue-led organisations.

Strengths: Process clarity, systems scaling, feasibility logic.

Persona 2 — The Experience–People Integrator

Background: Design org leadership, customer experience teams.

Strengths: Culture, coaching, org design, design quality uplift.

Persona 3 — The Cross-Functional Operator

Background: Design + Ops + Product hybrid leaders.

Strengths: Making design work across tech, category, and execution