Head of Design
The Mission
Science can feel as far away as Mars is or as abstract as quantum theory, but in truth, it influences everything around us. From the water we drink and the air we breathe, the health of our planet to the health of our loved ones—we see the positive impact of science all around us.
Science shapes our world, informs our decisions, impacts our beliefs, and determines our future. Science is however far from perfect, and we believe increasing how efficient science is at creating knowledge is how our company, and our product, will have a lasting impact on the world.
At ResearchGate we give you the opportunity to apply your skills to problems directly influencing scientists' ability to be productive. Can you think of a higher-impact way to spend your time? We can’t.
Design at ResearchGate
• Design that matters. At ResearchGate your input can help over 15 million scientists and researchers solve global challenges. Whether studying the first moments of our universe, developing innovative cancer treatments or tackling global warming, our users are making a real difference.
• Design at scale. Supporting over 15 million scientists with a product development team of only 60 people has its challenges, so we developed a cutting edge design system 3 years ago loved by Design and Engineering alike. In the last few years, we have built custom sketch plugins, handover tools and a strong design-tooling department for you to work with.
•Scientific design. Science is integral to everything we do at ResearchGate. We believe in hypothesis-driven product development and evidence-based decision making. We leverage both qualitative and quantitative research to inform our thinking.
• Empowered designers. We believe in cross-functional teams and work hard to empower our talented team members to get the best out of every discipline.
• Design culture. We put the researcher first and continue to strengthen our user-centered product development practices. Innovating on scientific communication requires tackling hard design problems and we strive to create a world-class design culture to solve these.
• Team development. We have high expectations for people management practices at ResearchGate to ensure every member is able to develop and do their best work. Through continuous care, feedback and empowerment, we shape opportunities and career paths for each one of our team members.
• Open communication. We foster a culture of transparency, inclusiveness, positivity and feedback within the Design team.
The Opportunity
As the leader of Design at ResearchGate, you will drive ResearchGate’s Design vision and help us bring great Design to science.
You will be responsible for building and managing a team of talented Design-practitioners covering Product Design, Copy and Marketing Design. Through continuous care, feedback and empowerment, you shape opportunities and career paths for each of your team members.
You will work closely with partners from product management, product analytics, research, engineering and other tangential functions to improve our product development processes.
You will help create and execute on our product strategy, and ensure we continue to build valuable products for researchers that address real problems.
Success in this role is building an empowered, engaged team, who continuously design effective solutions for improving scientists’ productivity. Through your leadership you make ResearchGate a more Design-focused company and in doing so, bring Design closer to science.
The Requirements
To be successful in the role of a Head of Design at ResearchGate, you will need to have:
• 8+ years of experience leading and scaling teams designing human-centered products, applications or services
• 8+ years experience managing people
• Proven leadership experience in fast-paced environments
• Experience working with cross-functional teams
• Experience in product strategy and vision
• Excellent written and verbal communication in English
• Experience working with agile methodologies and processes
• Experience using data to inform your decision-making
• Experience working with design systems
The Team
The Design Organisation brings together specialists in Design, Engineering, Copywriting, and Marketing who share a strong belief in the positive impact that ResearchGate’s 15 million users can have worldwide. In order to help our users connect with the people, research, and resources they need to advance their work, we strive to perfect the craft of collaborative, user-centric problem-solving.
• We work hard to create an environment of respect and mutual support that goes through everything from our focus on your development through to how we give feedback to each other.
• We understand that the capacity to innovate comes from our understanding of design thinking as a means to solve problems. Together, we’re constantly improving by refining our methods and processes.
• We believe in optimism and pragmatism. At ResearchGate, we share a hopeful, positive outlook on the future and the world around us. This attitude gives us the resilience to support each other in tackling some of the biggest problems in science.
• We see Design as a continuous process that is about learning from our users and each other. We believe true innovation is not achieved by individual designers or individual ideas but created by diverse teams and specialists from different fields working side by side.
Our Story
ResearchGate was founded in 2008 by three friends who believed it was possible to connect all of the world’s scientists.
We started out with just a handful of members.
By 2011, one million ResearchGate members discussed their research questions and shared advice in the then newly launched forums.
By 2015, four complete rounds of financing had fueled ResearchGate’s growth and investors included Benchmark Capital, Founders Fund, Bill Gates, Tenaya Capital, Goldman Sachs,Wellcome Trust, and Four Rivers Group.
Today, 15 million scientists connect on the network, collaborate, and share their research. They report on their research as it happens and get feedback to make progress faster. They post 500 questions and give 2000 answers daily. They find jobs that fit their interests and research profiles. They connect to universities and companies through advertising solutions.
We’re now closer than ever to fulfilling our mission to connect the world of science and make research open to all.
