Executive Search

The best design leadersaren't looking for jobs.We know them anyway

Executive search built on years of relationships with the people shaping design and product organisations around the world.

Delivered through Futureproof, a separate business.

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The track record

01

The track record

17
Design & product leaders placed in the last 12 months
5
Exclusive retained search partnerships
100%
Of briefed roles successfully filled

Barclays · Candescent · Lloyds Bank · Airbnb · ImagineCo

Why Design Leaders

02

Search is changing.
Relationships aren't

The strongest leadership hires rarely happen through job boards, databases or cold outreach.

They happen through trust. Through relationships built over years.

For more than 15 years, we have built relationships with design leaders, founders and organisations around the world. Design Leaders takes that network further.

We don't start building a network when a brief lands. The network already exists.

A network built before the brief arrives.

Selected work

03

Leadership teams we've helped build

01 — Barclays UK

Global Financial Services

The brief

Indy, Chief Marketing Officer, asked us to build a best-in-class service design and product leadership team, and retained us exclusively to do it.

The outcome

Ellie Runcie

Head of Design. Previously Chief Design Officer, BBC.

Ellie joined Barclays from the BBC, where she was Chief Design Officer. Bringing someone at that level into a newly created Head of Design role sent a clear message: design was being treated as a strategic capability. She now leads the function she was hired to build, reporting directly into the CMO.

+ 6 × VP of Design

Every hire landed, and the team is already proving its worth to the business.

“Rob has been an excellent partner in helping us with our strategic ambition to build out our design capability.”
Inderjit Bassi · Chief Marketing Officer

02 — Candescent

US Digital Banking · 1,300+ banks and credit unions · 30M+ customers

4/4

The brief

Gareth Garton, Chief Product Officer, and Donald Chesnut, Chief Design Officer, retained us exclusively to build Donald's leadership team in the United States. They needed four exceptional design leaders for a business where design is core to what comes next.

The outcome

4 leadership hires. All four leaders placed. What started as a search became a lasting partnership.

“Dream team.”

“Every candidate he brought to us was fantastic, and the team we built by working with him is my ‘dream team.’”
Donald Chesnut · Chief Design Officer

03 — Lloyds Bank

Financial Services

Every role briefed.
Every role filled.

Lloyds is setting the standard for design in UK financial services.

The brief

Gemma Daley and Lee Hebert partnered with us exclusively to level up design leadership across the business.

  1. 01Karine TardivelHead of Design, Transport
  2. 02Amelia JohnsonDesign Lead, Transport
  3. 03Bryan GohHead of Design
  4. 04Jeanette ClementHead of Design
  5. 05—Head of Design Ops
“Rob's been genuinely great to work with. He helped me land my most recent role and was calm, clear and supportive the whole way through.”
Jeanette Clement · Head of Design

04 — Airbnb

Global Travel & Hospitality

Mark Howell

Head of Service Design

Airbnb's first-ever international senior design leadership hire.

Airbnb recognised Design Leaders as a search firm capable of delivering at the highest level, one that matched their own standard for excellence as they expanded across the UK and Europe.

“Rob recommended me to Airbnb, which is how that conversation started. It's the kind of introduction that can land you in a role you love and reignite your passion for your craft.”
Mark Howell · Head of Service Design

05 — ImagineCo

US Venture Studio

The brief

Seth Goldenberg needed a President of Design who could match the ambition of the organisation. He needed a leader respected across the industry, not simply someone capable of doing the role.

Throughout the process, we ensured Kevin had the context he needed going into each conversation and stayed close throughout the process.

The outcome

Kevin Bethune

President of Design

“Rob proved instrumental in opening the door that led to my next career chapter.”
Kevin Bethune · President of Design

What people say

04

Don't take
our word for it

“He stood out from almost every recruiter I've worked with over the years. At no point did he feel like ‘just a recruiter.’ He felt like a true partner.”
Mona Chammas · Service Design Lead, Barclays UK
01 / 08

The network

05

Closer to the people shaping the industry

Design Leaders exists first and foremost as a community.

It brings together the people leading design around the world to exchange ideas, build relationships and shape what comes next.

That creates something unusually powerful when an organisation needs to hire. We're close to the market before a search begins. We know who is doing exceptional work.

  • Who is respected by their peers.
  • Who has built teams.
  • Who can influence organisations.
  • Who might be ready for something new.
  • And who could be right for a particular culture, challenge and ambition.

Community creates relationships.

Relationships create access.

Access changes search.

The team

06

Built on experience.
Powered by relationships

Rob
Magowan

Founder

Rob began his career as a Graphic Designer before moving into recruitment, where he has spent the last 15 years specialising in design leadership.

Over that time he has built trusted relationships with some of the world's most respected design leaders, founders and organisations.

He has placed C-suite leaders, built leadership teams and advised organisations on succession planning, transformation and leadership hiring.

He has also worked closely with the Royal College of Art, supporting its Service Design programme through recruitment insight, positioning and market guidance.

Has partnered with

Airbnb · Samsung · Deutsche Telekom · Barclays · Lloyds Banking Group · Sky · Candescent · ImagineCo · EY Seren

Cheryl
Dean

Recruitment Intelligence & Opportunities Lead

Portrait of Cheryl Dean

Cheryl brings 20 years of recruitment experience across technology, design, AI and data, working with organisations across the UK and Europe to identify the people they need to build, transform and grow.

Her work increasingly sits at the intersection of design and technology. She partners with organisations building modern digital products and services, helping them understand what great leadership looks like and connecting them with exceptional people across design, engineering, AI and data.

Working alongside Rob within the Design Leaders executive search practice, Cheryl has developed a deep understanding of the design leadership market, from emerging Directors and Heads of Design through to VP and C-suite leaders. She combines this with her broader view of how AI and technology are reshaping organisations, teams and the skills expected of tomorrow's design leaders.

At Design Leaders, Cheryl leads recruitment intelligence and opportunities, making the community an invaluable resource for members navigating their careers. She helps surface leadership, advisory and other professional opportunities, shares intelligence on how the market is changing and creates meaningful connections between members and organisations looking for exceptional design leadership.

Her role goes beyond recruitment. It is about understanding where the industry is heading and ensuring our members are connected to the people, insight and opportunities that can help shape what comes next in their careers.

How we work

07

Straightforward from the start

Transparent commercial terms, agreed upfront before any search begins.

Retained search

30%

of first-year base salary

Staged in thirds across the search

  • Exclusive
  • Sole search partner
  • 6-month replacement guarantee

Contingent search

25%

of first-year base salary

Payable only on successful hire

  • Non-exclusive
  • First-to-introduce
  • 3-month replacement guarantee

Contract & fractional

25%

margin on agreed day or monthly rate

Invoiced monthly

  • No upfront retainer
  • Conversion fee applies on permanent hire

For multi-role programmes, retained search can instead run as a fixed monthly retainer plus a reduced success fee per placement.

Terms of Business available on request.

Building a leadership team?

08

Let's build yours

If you're building a design or product leadership team, let's talk.

Start a conversation