Carving a Path for Early Career DesignOps Practitioners
Summary
Key Insights
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Design ops teams have grown 20-24% yearly, yet junior roles comprise only about 1%, indicating a gap in early-career hiring.
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Most design ops practitioners come from related fields like project management or marketing, often with years of transferable experience.
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Salesforce actively sources design ops interns and entry-level practitioners to diversify and grow its talent pool.
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Junior design ops roles are financially more feasible and can help scale teams without large budget increases.
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Entry-level design ops roles vary from interns to contractors to full-time junior hires, each with different expectations and commitments.
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Interns Mariana and Liza successfully delivered projects spanning program management, meeting facilitation, internal communications, and event support.
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Onboarding junior practitioners requires deliberate preparation: equipment, access, clear expectations, and introductions to key people.
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Regular, honest communication and mentoring are crucial to uncover interests, build skills, and foster growth for new practitioners.
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Building networks through cross-team one-on-ones and external communities accelerates new practitioners’ learning and career development.
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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."
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