Hybrid VP, Product Design

at Zappi

• Job title: VP, Product Design
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Lead
• Salary: £100,000 - £120,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Location requirements: Hybrid, London, United Kingdom

About the role

• VP of Product Design partnering in leading product innovation at Zappi, an AI-focused market research platform. Transforming customer insights through strategic design and leadership in a hybrid role.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the 2-year vision: You will articulate what world-class Product Design looks like for a data-heavy SaaS platform. This isn't a theoretical exercise; you will define how your team operates across the entire product lifecycle, from deep discovery to post-launch iteration, ensuring our work is anchored in commercial impact and genuine customer Jobs-to-be-Done.
• Lead the organizational transformation: You will be responsible for evolving the team from a *service agency* mode (executing tickets) to a *strategic partner* mode (shaping initiatives). You will mentor the team to move beyond Figma-first workflows and focus on problem definition, systems thinking, and business viability.
• Architect the AI-enabled experience: You will be a key partner in determining how AI fundamentally reimagines the market research industry. You will lead the design of experiences that move beyond "prompt-wrappers" to solve complex researcher pain points by leveraging our proprietary data asset.
• Lead by doing: You will lead directly in key areas, bringing design expertise and skills to reimagine how to meet evolving customer jobs-to-be-done.
• Drive commercial and strategic outcomes: You will participate in leadership sessions, helping steer product strategy. You will be expected to understand our P&L and work closely with Sales and Customer Success to ensure our product journey directly influences LTV, CAC, and retention.
• Cultivate cross-functional maturity: You will build deep relationships with customer-facing teams to ensure the Zappi experience is coherent from the first sales demo to daily platform usage. You will advocate for the "work behind the work," ensuring that discovery and validation are seen as essential business functions, not just design rituals.

Requirements

• A track record of strategic design leadership: You have experience operating at a senior level within a complex B2B SaaS environment. You can point to moments where your leadership influenced the product trajectory and business outcomes.
• A strong track record of excellent product design skills: You can demonstrate a portfolio of high-impact Product Design work along with the discovery and strategic thinking that informs it.
• Commercial fluency and pragmatism: You are comfortable with the "business" of software. You know when to push for perfection and when to prioritize speed to market.
• A commitment to discovery and evidence: You are an advocate for the "work behind the work." You believe in deep customer discovery and rigorous validation, and you have the ability to articulate the business value of this approach to non-design stakeholders.
• Technical literacy in an AI context: While you aren't an engineer, you have a deep enough understanding of LLMs and data architectures to lead a design team in building meaningful AI experiences.

Benefits

• Three company-paid mental health day of rest every year (these are pre-scheduled, so the entire company can take the same days off regularly to reset)
• Generous PTO - Minimum of 20 days of paid time off per year, plus national holidays. Leave over 30 days requires manager and People team approval
• Private medical healthcare cover
• Group risk, life & disability contributions
• Thoughtfully designed offices to support both individual work and collaboration without interrupting others
• Support setting up your home office, if appropriate (chair + desk, etc)
• Wellbeing benefits such as free yoga and access to trained therapists / counsellors
• Enhanced parental leave policies
• Pension contributions via salary sacrifice scheme
• Tailored personal development through training allowances, coaching, mentorship and career frameworks