Carving a Path for Early Career DesignOps Practitioners
Summary
Key Insights
-
•
Design ops teams have grown 20-24% yearly, yet junior roles comprise only about 1%, indicating a gap in early-career hiring.
-
•
Most design ops practitioners come from related fields like project management or marketing, often with years of transferable experience.
-
•
Salesforce actively sources design ops interns and entry-level practitioners to diversify and grow its talent pool.
-
•
Junior design ops roles are financially more feasible and can help scale teams without large budget increases.
-
•
Entry-level design ops roles vary from interns to contractors to full-time junior hires, each with different expectations and commitments.
-
•
Interns Mariana and Liza successfully delivered projects spanning program management, meeting facilitation, internal communications, and event support.
-
•
Onboarding junior practitioners requires deliberate preparation: equipment, access, clear expectations, and introductions to key people.
-
•
Regular, honest communication and mentoring are crucial to uncover interests, build skills, and foster growth for new practitioners.
-
•
Building networks through cross-team one-on-ones and external communities accelerates new practitioners’ learning and career development.
-
•
Investing time in junior practitioners benefits managers too, offering fresh perspectives and opportunities for personal growth.
Notable Quotes
"Design Ops teams exist in nearly all industries and for all design functions, growing rapidly year over year."
"Junior roles represent only one percent of design ops roles, raising the question if we are missing opportunities to cultivate new talent."
"These brand new practitioners can bring fresh perspectives and new ways of thinking to hopefully see current problems in a new light."
"Investing in teaching from the ground up helps grow the design ops discipline for the future."
"Preparation is critical to set up new practitioners for success, including equipment, access, expectations, and introductions."
"Regular face time, honest conversations, and working sessions help keep connection and momentum with new practitioners."
"I don’t know what I don’t know – new practitioners may not even realize what questions to ask at first."
"Building a network early can create amazing opportunities further along the career path."
"Mentors from different teams provide valuable feedback, collaboration, and career guidance to new practitioners."
"It’s okay if these junior roles are short term; they help get started and expand the overall design ops talent pool."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"An elite athlete doesn’t turn up at the Olympics and do their thing without coaches, physios, nutritionists."
Dr. Karl JeffriesThe Science of Creativity for DesignOps
January 8, 2024
"There’s been a huge convergence because everybody’s got a mobile device now and expects a certain kind of experience."
Amy MarquezINVEST: Discussion
June 15, 2018
"Breaking enterprise into small segments lets you apply research methods effectively at scale."
Steve Portigal Chris Chapo Kelly Goto Christian RohrerDiscussion
May 13, 2015
"It took a lot of relationship building and conversations to break down the perception that designers' time was owned by particular teams."
Alicia MootyDesign Staffing Models
September 30, 2021
"With enough creativity and imagination, you can make anything interesting."
Ana Maria Montero Barrantes Aditi Dhar Michelle Kaplan Nate Osborne Matt LaurenceThe Authentic UX Talent Show
January 8, 2024
"If your users are happy, that anecdotal feedback often carries more weight early than quantitative metrics."
Lada Gorlenko Sharbani Dhar Sébastien Malo Rob Mitzel Ivana Ng Michal Anne RogondinoTheme 1: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"Choosing a research repository is a big battle in your organization; the right decisions can really help you succeed."
Sofia QuinteroThe Product Philosophy Behind EnjoyHQ
March 10, 2021
"When things start to go bad, we’re going to pull the plug on it immediately—that helps build trust."
Laura KleinUnique challenges of innovation in enterprises
April 23, 2020
"Without Jim, what we're going to see today would have been a lot worse."
Andrew MichaelBuilding a Product Insights Team
March 10, 2022
