Group Design Manager

Who we are

the worlds smallest book at Catawiki we come across exceptional objects such as these every day.

Catawiki is the leading online marketplace to buy and sell special objects. We offer over 75000 special objects in auction every week each reviewed and selected by one of Catawikis hundreds of inhouse experts specialised in Art Design Jewellery Fashion Classic Cars Collectables and many more.

Weve sold 10 million unique items to date and its our mission to become the worlds most popular auction destination for special objects.

Were an innovative pioneering and fastgrowing scaleup. If you think you can make a difference to our team go ahead and apply.

The team youll join

At Catawiki we know our customers experience is built by the entire journey; from initial brand perception all the way through to selling & buying paying & shipping and service & support.

In the Group Design Manager role (GDM) youll work on one of the key elements of our value proposition such as delightful discovery curation by inhouse experts or smooth and easy shipping to name just a few.

Youll be working in an ambitious forwardthinking team where youll be responsible for setting a high bar for other designers and supporting them to deliver it. Youll build a great team and keep them motivated productive and constantly growing.

The difference youll make

Our GDM position uniquely combines strategy people management and handson individual contribution offering you the chance to lead and greatly impact customercentricity across all levels and teams. We are looking for two (2) GDMs for our Demand and Fulfillment Verticals. In these roles you will focus on:

1. Vision & Strategy Help shape grouplevel strategy and design an experience vision that creates competitive advantage.

• Fully grasp company and product strategies and help align the teams around them
• A key contributor to product strategy. Understand what a successful strategy looks like and you will provide critical input
• Identify and shape the experiences we should build to deliver on group strategy defining how that will work within the overall context of Catawiki
• Advocate for solutions that impact metrics that matter and drive success for the business
• Form and inform opinions on how we should best compete in our competitive landscape and guide product decisions accordingly
• Build a deep understanding of the needs of our target customers through direct customer contact
• Experienced in how teams of this scale operate and what they value

2. People & Organization Create a healthy optimistic team where people are engaged growing and working well with others.

• Build healthy and happy teams delivering high performance. Lead with positive energy build an inclusive environment and help teams understand how their work ladders up to companylevel strategic goals and success
• Manage up to 4 designers usually within a group with dotted lines to other sub functions in the group (e.g. writer researcher)
• Help improve our process for attracting highquality candidates
• Challenge and empower your team creating clarity on how to achieve career progression
• Provide private and public praise for work. Ensure designers know what they are doing well and feel proud of good work. Address performance and behavioral concerns when needed reinstating a positive trajectory

3. Impact & Execution Support the team in delivering sustainable impact on company objectives.

• Ensure effective discovery delivery and gotomarket strategies. Advocate for teams to make decisions that are aligned with our experience principles
• Form a strong partnership with your Group Product Manager acting as a critical partner and driving executional alignment. Give feedback on prioritization roadmapping and scoping conversations ensuring design capacity is factored in
• Ensure the creation of clear effective system design and concept design for key user flows leaning in to directly support delivery where necessary. Coach designers and peers on how to do this well
• Focus solutions that drive value for the business making smart decisions about quality/effort tradeoffs understanding and tracking key metrics. Biased towards finding solutions and taking action
• Drive the delivery of highquality work. Youll provide clear effective feedback via design pulses 1:1 working sessions or async feedback. Provide feedback that teaches in addition to guiding output and help accelerate by delivering incisive feedback and ensuring designers are consistently on track

Who you are

• A strong conceptual thinker who always prioritizes user needs
• An excellent communicator and storyteller with a portfolio to demonstrate your skills
• A handson exceptional designer with extensive UX and design experience
• An experienced team leader skilled in managing and developing people
• Possessing good instincts for planning and prioritization with experience in product design/development at scale
• Equipped with a broad spectrum skillset across interaction design UX research and UX writing
• Having a broad technical understanding and the ability to identify and leverage trends
• Comfortable working in an ambiguous environment
• Possessing a sharp and critical eye for expert execution within the team with a patient and optimistic approach
• 7 years of industry experience

Where youll be

Catawiki is hybrid but not fully remote: this role requires you to collaborate with team members inperson on a weekly basis at our office located in Amsterdam. We offer an excellent relocation package for people living outside of the Netherlands.

Heres what we can offer you

This is your chance to join our mission to fulfill peoples passions as part of a young and dynamic organization. Youll be part of an enthusiastic highly motivated team of 800 Catawikians.

Additionally you can expect:

• A challenging role in a diverse international and fastgrowing organisation with over 50 nationalities.
• Regular fun activities both on and offline e.g summer parties boat rides and regular team events.
• Great secondary benefits including a holiday allowance and a fantastic pension plan paid for by Catawiki.
• Hybrid ways of working between home and office. We offer remote and activitybased working suited to the team and individual responsibilities
• We care about our teams wellbeing and offer a holistic wellbeing programme including our Employee Assistance Programme offering clinical services singlesession therapy wellness support and more.
• Tailored learning and development opportunities to support your personal and professional growth;

We want to help you celebrate special occasions in life by:

• Provide employees with a 100 EURO Catavoucher upon joining and 50 EURO birthday Catavouchers;
• Extra days of annual leave for work anniversaries at 3 5 8 and 10 years;
• Additional leave allowances for important life events such as moving engagement & marriage;
• Each year Catawikians get an additional days leave to Pursue their Passion!

Please note that our benefits offering changes depending on which country you are employed in. For our countryspecific offering please ask your recruiter.

Our commitment to you

Catawikis eclectic team represents an international and intergenerational mix of people from different professional and cultural backgrounds. We foster an inclusive and queerfriendly work environment committed to making every Catawikian feel welcomed and empowered. Whatever your story we encourage you to bring your unique perspective to the table.

Catawiki stands with Ukraine and encourages people displaced by the current conflict to apply. In addition to the several initiatives weve launched were open to ideas on ways we can continue to support the humanitarian effort.

Our offices and way of working

We have sensational offices in Amsterdam Groningen Paris and our newest office in Lisbon. Most of our employees are within commutable distance of one of our office locations and enjoy a hybrid work model. This means we expect you to be in the office 2 out of 5 days roughly 40% of your working time to collaborate and connect with each other. The exception is of course if the job description specifically states that the role is 100% remote as some experts and sales positions are.

Interested

Apply directly with an English CV and cover letter by submitting your information at the bottom of this page. By submitting your application you agree to .

If youre excited about this role but your past experience doesnt align perfectly with every qualification in the job description we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.