Job Title Solution Design Team Leader Job Description At Sage, Solution Designers, Business Analysts and Product Owners play a mission critical role, using empathic methods to design and deliver products and services that delight our users. With specialty in analysis and design they engage across the XD community, product management, product marketing, and engineering. The Solution Design Team Leader manages people but is also hands on, a leading performer in their craft and involved in improving processes and performance across the discipline. This is a hybrid role - three days per week in our Newcastle or Manchester office. The Solution Design Team Lead: • Is a recognised expert and leading performer in design craft in product. • Delivers robust and effective processes, practice, and strategy to enable individuals and teams. • Delivers exceptional quality design projects covering product areas, whole products, or undefined spaces. • Delivers high-performing, thriving and contented teams. Key Responsibilities In this role you'll: • Line manage solution designers, business analysts and/product owners • Act as an expert in analysis and design in software product development • Deliver robust and effective processes, practice, and strategy to enable individuals and teams. • Define, embed, and drive continual improvement to processes and practice, operating on a scale beyond their team. • Drive change, deliver major strategic projects, and provide thought leadership on major workstreams • Effectively communicate organisational and process change at all organisational and individual levels. • Influence stakeholders, leadership, and thought leaders through engagement and outreach, to deliver tactical advances. • Be fluent with constructive challenge. • Drive requirements gathering and analysis, solution ideation, iteration, and design decision-making with evidence and rationale We're looking for the following skills and experience: Analysis and Design • A recognised expert in solution design/business analysis. • A recognised expert in analysis and design standards, processes, industry best practice, and trends. • Systems-level design thinker and visionary with strong instincts and outstanding intuition. • Has an uncanny sense of design, acts as a fierce advocate for the user, and is committed to creating elegantly simple user experiences from otherwise complex workflows. • Understands not just execution of analysis and design, but the business aspects of products as well. • Expert knowledge of industry-standard tools. • Shares knowledge, skills, and inspires other team members. Process, Practice, and Strategy • Appropriate experience in defining effective high-level analysis and design processes, practice, and strategies. • Ability to tailor textbook and industry-standard solutions to organisational and user context. • Ability to operate with wide organisational scale and influence. • Experience of influencing stakeholders and leadership to drive improvement. Projects • Appropriate experience of leading major projects and setting strategic direction. • The ability to communicate complex concepts clearly and persuasively across different audiences and varying levels of the organization. • Effectiveness in working across organizational boundaries to define, manage, and prioritize work. • Develops processes for tackling problems using known methods; anticipates problems; develops facilitation skills to engage cross-functional teams. • Handle uncertainty and acute challenges with grace and calm. • Are proactive, goal-oriented, and go after exciting challenges, rather than only being reactive. People • Appropriate experience of people management and team leadership. • Demonstrates exceptional people skills - communication, presentation, negotiation, collaboration, and interpersonal skills. • Expert in both leveraging strengths, and developing people. • Experience of successful performance management. • Experience of recruitment. LI-MD1 Function Product Delivery Country United Kingdom Office Location Newcastle;Manchester Work Place type Hybrid Advert Working at Sage means you're supporting millions of small and medium sized businesses globally with technology to work faster and smarter. We leverage the future of AI, meaning business owners spend less time doing routine tasks, like entering invoices and generating reports, and more time pursuing their ambitions. Our colleagues are the best of the best. It's why we were awarded 2024 Best Places to Work by Glassdoor. Because to achieve extraordinary outcomes, we need extraordinary teams. This means infusing Sage with people who knock down barriers, continuously innovate, and want to experience their potential. Learn more about working at Sage: sage.com/en-gb/company/careers/working-at-sage/ Watch a video about our culture: youtube.com/watch?v=qIoiCpZH-QE We celebrate individuality and welcome you to join us if you embrace all backgrounds, identities, beliefs, and ways of working. If you need support applying, reach out at careers@sage.com. Learn more about DEI at Sage: sage.com/en-gb/company/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/