If you would like to discuss DEI at Futureheads please contact <a href="mailto:team@wearefutureheads.co.uk">team@wearefutureheads.co.uk</a>

<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>We aim to be brave. We won’t get it right all the time, but we believe it's better to say and do something rather than nothing, and to learn from our mistakes.</strong></div>

 <p>                     <strong>                       But we’re now striving to be better and to drive positive                       change. We firmly believe that everyone is welcome at                       Futureheads, and we aim to demonstrate that in everything                       we do.                     </strong>                   </p>                   We’re committed to creating a culture that reflects the                   make-up of society, we believe diversity promotes innovation,                   growth and equality. We are committed to being intentionally                   inclusive by understanding who we have in our culture and how                   we can best add equity to each individual, and contribute                   towards their professional development. We are actively                   helping our clients do the same. We celebrate the difference                   and rich experience that diversity brings, and we commit to                   ensuring that everyone we interact with, both within and                   outside our business, is valued, respected, and treated                   equally, regardless of their background, identity or                   circumstances. We aim to understand every individual’s                   capabilities, and to give them what they need to succeed to                   their fullest potential.

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🎨 Senior Product Designer – AI x Design Startup 🚀<br><br> <br>We're working with an early-stage (but well-funded) AI startup in London that is looking for a Senior Product Designer to help build the next generation of design tools — making AI accessible, intuitive, and empowering for both designers and non-designers.<br><br> <br>This is a rare chance to shape both the product vision and the design culture of a company from the ground up. ✨<br><br> <br>👩 💻 The Role<br>Title: Senior Product Designer<br>Location: Central London (onsite, 5 days a week in the office)<br>Salary: £60–80k (but can be flexible for the right person)<br>Team: ~12 people with backgrounds from Meta, Google, Amazon & BCG<br>Impact: A highly visible role where design decisions will directly shape the product’s success<br><br> <br>You will work on a complex B2B SaaS platform (UX-heavy) that enables people to create smarter and faster without losing creativity. They’ll have the opportunity to work across research, flows, prototypes, and high-fidelity design while also laying the foundation for the company’s design culture.<br><br> <br>🛠️ Responsibilities<br>Design elegant, intuitive interfaces for an AI-first platform<br>Simplify complex workflows into powerful, usable experiences<br>Conduct research, prototyping, and usability testing to guide decisions<br>Collaborate closely with product and engineering in a fast-moving startup environment<br>Establish the principles and practices that will guide a growing design team<br><br> <br>✅ Requirements<br>5+ years of product design experience, ideally with complex web apps or B2B SaaS<br>A portfolio demonstrating end-to-end design, from UX to polished UI<br>Comfort working on products involving AI, workflows, or systems thinking (experience with LLMs, node-based tools, or creative platforms a bonus)<br>Strong communication skills, able to explain design rationale to technical and non-technical teams<br>Based in London (or willing to relocate) — this role is onsite only<br><br> <br>🌟 Ideal Candidate<br>Thrives on turning technical complexity into simple, intuitive experiences<br>Is curious about the future of human–AI collaboration<br>Wants to shape both product and culture in an early-stage startup<br>Enjoys high-trust, fast-paced environments where impact is immediate<br><br> <br>🎁 What’s on Offer<br>Competitive salary aligned with experience<br>Meaningful equity ownership with significant upside<br>A pivotal role in shaping the design vision of an AI x creativity platform<br>A collaborative, ambitious, and supportive team culture<br><br> <br>👉 This is an opportunity to help redefine how creative work happens with AI.<br /><br /><em><em>We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.</em></em>

Senior Product Designer - AI/SaaS

✨ <strong>Senior Product Designer | Hybrid (London)</strong> ✨<br><br>We’re looking for a <strong>Senior Product Designer</strong> to join a fast-growing digital product studio that’s shaping apps and platforms for <strong>global brands</strong> 🚀.<br><br>This is your chance to work on products that actually get shipped and used - from mobile apps 📱 to web platforms 💻. No endless pitch decks, no “make it look pretty” briefs - just <strong>real product challenges</strong> where your craft makes a difference.<br><br>💡 What we’re after:<br><ul><li>Strong in either <strong>UX or UI</strong> (we love specialists with a clear superpower!)</li><li>Experienced in <strong>product-focused design</strong> (apps + web, not branding)</li><li>Able to collaborate with cross-functional teams to bring ideas to life</li><li>A problem-solver who’s passionate about <strong>creating experiences people love</strong></li></ul><br>🌍 The setup:<br><ul><li>Hybrid role – 2 days a week in the London studio (Weds + Thurs) 🏢</li><li>Salary: <strong>£60–70k</strong> 💸</li><li>Straightforward <strong>3-stage interview process</strong></li></ul><br>Why join? 🙌<br> You’ll be part of an ambitious team working at the intersection of <strong>design + technology</strong>, helping brands reimagine how they connect with their audiences through thoughtful, impactful products.<br /><br /><em><em>We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.</em></em>

Senior Product Designer - Design Studio

✨ Creative Lead (Brand + Product) | AI Startup | Bristol / Hybrid ✨<br><br> We’re working with a stealthy AI startup (founded by the team behind a UK unicorn 🦄) that’s building the world’s first AI software builder for serious teams + projects. They’ve been in deep build mode for 2 years, with a public beta next year and big launch end of 2025. 🚀<br><br> Now they’re looking for a Creative Lead to shape their brand and product aesthetic from the ground up. This isn’t just a “make it pretty” role - you’ll be the guardian of their visual identity across product, marketing, and brand strategy, ensuring everything they put into the world is simple, beautiful, and distinctive.<br><br> What you’ll do 🖌️<br>•    Lead visual design across product & brand<br>•    Craft a world-class aesthetic that builds excitement & trust<br>•    Collaborate with founders + UX to keep the product joyful ✨<br>•    Manage external partners when needed<br><br> What they’re after 🔍<br>•    A portfolio showing brand + product design impact<br>•    Experience in scaling visual identity + design systems<br>•    Someone who loves fast-moving, ambitious teams<br>•    Bristol or London-based - able to be in the office 1–2 days a week<br><br> The offer 💸<br>•    £60 to 90k (DOE) + meaningful share options<br>•    Work directly with founders who’ve already built one unicorn 🦄<br>•    15-person, self-funded team<br>•    A truly unique chance to shape the brand + future of AI software<br /><br /><em><em>We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.</em></em>

Creative Lead (Brand + Product) | AI Startup

🚀 We’re hiring: Director of Product Design (London, Hybrid) 🎨<br><br> If you’re a design leader with a passion for AI, innovation, and building game-changing products, this might be the role you’ve been waiting for.<br><br> This growing AI-focused design studio works with everyone from healthtech pioneers to global sustainability ventures. They’re helping startups secure funding with vision prototypes, building AI-powered platforms, and reimagining data-rich tools for impact.<br><br> Now, they’re looking for a Director of Product Design — someone who can sit shoulder-to-shoulder with the founder, lead projects end-to-end, and help shape the future of the studio.<br><br> ✨ Why this role is exciting<br><br> Work at the frontline of AI innovation<br><br> Partner directly with the founder and shape the company’s direction<br><br> Hybrid working (2 days per week in central London)<br><br> £100k base + potential equity/profit share<br><br> A rare opportunity to join early and grow with a thriving studio<br><br> 🛠️ What you’ll bring<br><br> 10+ years in product/service design (strategy → research → high-fidelity execution)<br><br> A proven track record leading teams and clients in studios, consultancies, or startups<br><br> Confidence pitching, shaping new work, and ideally bringing your own network<br><br> A maker’s mindset (you’re still hands-on when it matters)<br><br> Curiosity about AI, data-rich products, or complex systems<br><br> 💡 What you’ll do<br><br> Win work: shape proposals, pitch, and build client relationships<br><br> Lead projects: run strategy, research, concepts, and execution<br><br> Stay hands-on: jump into Figma, Miro, or research when it counts<br><br> Grow the studio: shape its culture, reputation, and future trajectory<br><br> This is a rare chance to join a cutting-edge design studio early, deliver meaningful work, and help shape the company itself.<br /><br /><em><em>We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.</em></em>

Director, Product Design - AI Agency

<strong>Contract Product Strategist<br></strong><br><strong>Start:</strong> ASAP<br>  <br><br>Futureheads are representing a venture partner and looking to bring in a genuine product innovator vs a traditional product deliverer. We’re searching for a Contract Product Strategist who goes beyond feature level improvements and has been deeply involved in positioning, inventing, and launching products to new markets, potentially as a founder in the past.<br>   <br><br><strong>What will set you apart:</strong><br><ul><li><strong>You think beyond delivery -</strong> You’ve gone beyond executing roadmaps and deliverables. You’ve directly shaped a product’s market approach and challenged established directions, not just worked on feature sets.</li><li><strong>You’ve often found yourself having a broad remit: </strong>Your track record matters more than your job title, but you will have found yourself looking at ways to expand what you do.</li><li><strong>Innovation at its core:</strong> You’ve brought original solutions to life whether at corporate venture arms or design innovation consultancies, or in environments where you had true freedom to drive product strategy and invent.</li><li><strong>Method-driven:</strong> You use proven methods for innovation, validation, and market-entry, not just standard delivery processes.</li></ul><strong>This is not a conventional role, however the type of experience that will likely suit:<br></strong>  <br><ul><li>End-to-end product innovation experience, from ideation to go-to-market.</li><li>The ability to challenge assumptions and pioneer new approaches.</li><li>Experience influencing C-suite and senior stakeholders with evidence-led product direction.</li><li>A strategic mindset, with the expertise to map out market opportunities and create winning value propositions.</li></ul>If your background is purely in digital agency delivery or classic product management, we’ll be looking for evidence that you had both the freedom and methods to innovate beyond the norm.<br /><br /><em><em>We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.</em></em>

Product Strategist

Role: Digital Experience Designer<br>Client: Digital Agency<br>Term: 9-12 month fixed-term-contract<br>Location: Abergavenny (Hybrid, 2 days per week in-office)<br>Salary: £33-37k<br> <br>We’re working with a digital agency based in South Wales, who are searching for a Digital Experience Designer to join their team. This role suits a multidisciplinary designer who is confident in creating intuitive digital experience and compelling visual communications, working on a wide range of projects and design mediums. Someone who works collaboratively but can take ownership of design work for client projects.<br> <br>Core skills:<br><ul><li>Experienced in designing for web; balanced across UX & Visual Design</li><li>Has worked on branding, iconography & illustration</li><li>Comfortable creating social media and marketing assets</li><li>Experience in data visualisation and information design</li><li>Well versed in presentation design</li><li>Excellent communication skills – written and verbal</li><li>Confident in presenting work and rationale to internal and external stakeholders</li></ul> <br>Candidates must be based in the UK, be willing to work 2 days per week in Abergavenny and must have UK right to work.<br /><br /><em><em>We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.</em></em>

Digital Experience Designer

<p>Guillaume Buat-Menard is a director at Flipside, a London based digital product agency part of Weber Shandwick.</p>
<p>Flipside develops high end digital products, technical innovation and digital transformation for clients as diverse as Coca Cola, Novartis, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, Scope and Public Health England.</p>

<p>Flipside acquired Aqueduct in January 2020, where Guillaume developed a practical digital transformation offering for organisations in need of support during their own transformation. He currently leads the digital transformation practice at Flipside.</p>
<p>Guillaume is an agile and beyond budgeting enthusiast and believes in learning by doing, which, underpins Flipside&rsquo;s approach to digital transformation.</p>
<h2>1. In what shape has your business emerged from Covid-19?</h2>
<p>Really well actually. In terms of logistics and IT we already had a remote working culture, so it was not difficult to adapt to the lockdown. We had to adapt somewhat, rationalise and reduce regular meetings, and ensure everybody has a decent home working set-up.</p>
<p>In terms of business we are lucky enough that we have a broad client base across many verticals, so whilst some clients have slowed or paused projects, some have continued as usual and some have increased spend due to COVID.</p>
<p>This means that financially we are in a good position compared to our competitors.</p>
<h2>2. What are the most important and emerging skills to work in the new normal?</h2>
<p>I would say that the most important thing is to have a positive attitude to change and take initiative at all levels. These skills are basically akin to agile ways of working, dealing with constant change as a normality and having the right processes to thrive financially in that environment. In order to achieve this, the most successful companies have switched from a hierarchical management culture to an empowered autonomous one with leadership at all levels. Concretely, this means getting managers to lead and support their colleagues rather than micromanage them, and involve the managers more in doing some of the client work &ndash; this also means organisation can react better to workload spikes.</p>
<h2>3. What changes have you made in operations and hiring that are here to stay, and what will you lose?</h2>
<p>The main change was to have more openness and clarity on how the business is run on a daily basis, and give everyone access to some financial numbers. This was so that they all knew how we are doing and why we are making certain decisions.</p>
<p>In terms of hiring, the process is not that different as video calls and interviews are ubiquitous, but I must admit it is not easy for new starters to get inducted and get to know people quickly. In order to help them and the other members of staff to get a sense of community, we organise &lsquo;virtual desks&rsquo; chatrooms (which mimic office desks with colleagues) and regular virtual company meets so social interactions can still happen, albeit online.</p>
<h2>4. What has been your biggest key learning and how will this prepare you for the future?</h2>
<p>Our perceived constraints are only what we make of them, for example: we can&rsquo;t all work from home, we can&rsquo;t trust people to do the right thing, we can&rsquo;t adopt a new technology rapidly, we can&rsquo;t change that fast and so on.</p>
<p>As Henry Ford used to say &ldquo;Whether you think you can, or you think you can&rsquo;t, you&rsquo;re right&rdquo;</p>
<p>Akin to agile principles, the key learning for me is that organisations must transform to adapt to change and not just to weather the current situation. Companies must embrace business agility and set-up for continuous change so they can constantly adapt to a rapidly changing world.</p>
<p>People and organisations can change and adapt pretty quickly, as long as they know why, and they have visibility and rationale for the decision making. This requires strong leadership and a shift from &lsquo;command and control&rsquo; to &lsquo;autonomy and purpose&rsquo;, it means changing processes, governance, incentivisation and shifting the focus of many roles and supporting them transition without fear.</p>
<h2>5. What has been the biggest surprise to you?</h2>
<p>The speed at which most organisations have taken to remote working and moved their business online when it seemed almost impossible, or a very lengthy process, for most of them before COVID. It really shows that nothing prepares people as much as contact with the enemy, and when radical change happens, most of us can adapt very rapidly.</p>

Futureheads Five Stories – Guillaume Buat-Ménard

<p>It has been a year quite unlike any other. There are some things which, for better or worse, have become synonymous with 2020 &ndash; banana bread and sourdough, the Zoom pub quiz, home-schooling. Against a backdrop of Covid, there have been cultural and social phenomena which have grabbed the nation&rsquo;s attention &ndash; Black Lives Matter, the Greta effect and Marcus Rashford, among others.</p>
<p>But we&rsquo;re not here to talk about the obvious. Instead, we&rsquo;ve delved deeper into 2020 to uncover a few of the lesser known trends that may have simply passed you by.</p>

<h2>Going NOLO</h2>
<p>Surprisingly,&nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">sales of low and no-alcohol (NOLO) drinks</span>&nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">soared 30% in the UK during lockdown.</span>&nbsp;Waitrose, for example, saw a 54% increase in low and no-alcohol ale compared to the same time last year as many consumers now choose to go dry. UK drinking habits, particularly among the younger generations, have been edging towards a hangover-free future over the last couple of years and, despite what you may think, it appears that the stresses of lockdown and homeschooling actually didn&rsquo;t end up driving everyone to drink.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>The rise of the newsletter</h2>
<p>Already starting to edge their way into the mainstream last year, the rise of email newsletters in 2020 has been supersonic. They&rsquo;ve become the go-to channel for brands and individual writers alike, thanks largely to the growth in popular platforms such as Substack and Mailchimp. In our opinion,&nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">newsletters offer a welcome return to a direct relationship between publisher and reader</span>, driven by good old-fashioned content and entirely unaffected by the increasingly frustrating algorithms of Facebook et al. Long may they continue.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Reaching for the past</h2>
<p>Speaking of old-fashioned, in times of crisis, it&rsquo;s a well known fact that we tend to turn to nostalgia to give us that warm comforting hug of familiarity and feeling of security. During the first lockdown,&nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">Spotify reported a 54% increase in searches for &lsquo;oldies&rsquo; or &lsquo;throwback&rsquo; with a surge in nostalgic playlists.</span>&nbsp;And it&rsquo;s not just music that we&rsquo;ve been using as a comfort blanket; UK consumers have been revisiting dishes from their childhood too. According to Co-op, sales of packet trifle have increased this year by a staggering 738%&hellip;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Elasticated waistbands</h2>
<p>Given all that nostalgic eating, the Telegraph&rsquo;s report that&nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">sales of trousers with elasticated waistbands rose by 16% this year</span>&nbsp;should come as no surprise. With most of us working from home, work smart has gone out the window and the elasticated waistband combines comfort (without going quite as far as all-day pajamas) with some level of respectability. Who would have thought that the mainstay of 1930s fashion would make such a comeback?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Surge in adult e-learning</h2>
<p>Whether down to furlough, redundancy or simply the absence of the daily grinding commute, we&rsquo;ve all found ourselves with a bit of unexpected extra time this year. Some have used it to grow their side-hustle&nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">(1 in 5 of us have one apparently)</span>, others have spent hours learning entirely new skills. Enrolments on online courses have surged this year as we look to alleviate lockdown boredom or change our career path entirely, and digital is the hot ticket. The UK&rsquo;s Institute of Coding, for instance, saw an enormous jump in learners on their digital skills courses from 32,000 in January to more than 400,000 by June.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

Lesser Known Trends of 2020

<p>The thought of a job interview can be nerve-wracking, particularly for those who haven&rsquo;t been in an interview situation for a long time, years perhaps. Here are our tips to help you feel prepared for the interview, and how to follow up when that fantastic job offer comes along.</p>

<p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">Prepare to stand out at interview:</span>&nbsp;Do your research! Check out your interviewers on Linkedin; get to know their background. You may have shared connections, or interests! Check out the product, be ready to give balanced feedback about what you like, and ideas for improvements. Prepare a list of questions; sometimes a great question is as good as a great answer. If you can ask them a question that really makes them think, challenges their assumptions or fuels further debate, they&rsquo;ll remember it!</p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">Do your reading:</span>&nbsp;Here are some of the most important technology developments around at the moment, so make sure you&rsquo;ve done your homework if the job is tech-related:</p>
<p>Healthcare: Data privacy and innovation within telemedicine&nbsp;Education: Adaptive content &amp; investment in online learning&nbsp;Fintech: strategic partnerships and marketplaces&nbsp;Insurance: AI for risk management &amp; case management<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">Following up after an interview:</span>&nbsp;Sending a positive follow-up email can leave a great final impression on the hirer, but be mindful that the reader is likely to be time-poor so keep it brief. Thank them for their time and reaffirm your interest in the position. If something didn&rsquo;t go well, acknowledge it, and offer new suggestions having reflected on the question or task.</p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">Negotiating salary following a job offer:</span>&nbsp;You performed fantastically at the interview and they&rsquo;ve offered you the job, so now&rsquo;s the time to discuss salary which many can find tricky. Try and get an understanding of the salary on offer prior to communicating your expectations, give context around your thoughts and offer some level of benchmarking to show you know the industry. Communicate other motivations for joining the business as well as financial ones; employers want to hire candidates that are invested in their brand and product; while money is important, it shouldn&rsquo;t be the primary motivator.</p>

Futureheads Top Tips series: Preparing for that interview and getting the job!

<p>Mags Hanley is a career coach, mentor and trainer, based in Melbourne Australia. She has worked in UX for over 25 years in the US, UK and Australia. Her passion is to help UX professionals find into the roles that suits them best.</p>
<p>She works with primarily with senior practitioners moving into leadership, and senior women defining their role for the next phase of their lives. She has recently launched a new 8-week programme The Way Forward for senior women in digital.</p>
<p>You can connect with Mags on&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/magshanley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LinkedIn</a>&nbsp;or read her latest blogs on her&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://magshanley.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">website.</a></p>

<h2>What&rsquo;s the story of your career so far?</h2>
<p>I started in digital when it was called Multi-Media. I fell into the work, having trained as a librarian and graduated in a recession &ndash; no grad positions for me!</p>
<p>My first role was at Yellow Pages in Australia as a Cybrarian &ndash; so 1990s. As we were all making it up, I asked if I could look after the search engine, because I knew how people searched &ndash; and my career as an IA started.</p>
<p>I&rsquo;ve lived and worked in the US and UK for 15 years, and have been back in Australia for 5 &frac12; years.</p>
<p>My career has been varied; an IA, project manager, product manager, Head of UX, Executive Producer, Consultant. The one I love the most is Career coach, Mentor and Trainer.</p>
<p>In the last year, I have developed a practice supporting senior practitioners move into leadership, and women in Design to thrive in their careers.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>What&rsquo;s the most important lesson you&rsquo;ve learnt over the course of your career?</h2>
<p>Be authentic and true to yourself!</p>
<p>I love managing people and products, and seeing both grow, but I have struggled all of my career managing up. I&rsquo;ve improved over time, working relationships with the mostly male leadership, but this has been my greatest weakness.</p>
<p>To move into the higher levels of digital management I felt I wasn&rsquo;t myself; I had to be less emotional, female, and kind. I left my last job feeling disheartened, stressed and unconfident in my skills.</p>
<p>I saw Bren&eacute; Brown speak a week after leaving that job, and did the Value assessment. I realised I was not living my values of authenticity and kindness. So any new opportunity must match my values.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>How can organisations ensure they thrive, rather than simply survive, as they attempt to return to a &lsquo;new&rsquo; normal over the next few months?</h2>
<p>There are a number of realisations for organisations:</p>
<ol>
<li>The commute to the inner city office is wasted time &ndash; people love the extra time with their families.</li>
<li>Knowledge workers can be productive working from home. I&rsquo;ve had a number of bosses who have actively discouraged it, thinking we were skiving off.</li>
<li>Child care and flexibility is important to keep women in the workforce. The burden of looking after children intensified as women worked from home.</li>
</ol>
<p>To thrive, organisations should look at what worked well &ndash; with their staff &ndash; and leverage it.</p>
<p>They should:</p>
<p>Plan for the majority of staff to work from home&nbsp;Reimagine work spaces as distributed hubs where people come in collaborate&nbsp;Find the best online tools for collaboration&nbsp;Provide support for their team&rsquo;s mental health&nbsp;Used the money saved from corporate office leases to include child care in their benefits packages&nbsp;</p>
<h2>You&rsquo;ve recently written a blog about the challenges faced by women in UX and in particular by those women who are well into their careers &ndash; can you tell us more about that, and how women can really exploit the opportunities available to them in the digital workplace?</h2>
<p>Many of my peers have been 20-25 years in digital; we are now considering what&rsquo;s next. How can we use our skills and experience in work that gives us joy?</p>
<p>Interface design is commoditised, creating pixel perfect prototypes; it&rsquo;s not the space we want to play in.</p>
<p>We do deep thinking, breaking apart problems and putting together solutions. My friend Tom Coates describes it as finding the nugget of truth that the rest of the model hangs off.</p>
<p>I am introducing the concept of Elder for women in Design; someone brings a depth of experience and wisdom to a role.</p>
<p>Elders don&rsquo;t have to be a Head or Director, they are Certain of their value and place; Grown and grounded in their skills and experience, and a Model by the way they behave, speak and write.</p>
<p>Once we know who and what we offer, we can then find those opportunities.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>What&rsquo;s going to be the biggest challenge in your particular industry over the next 12 months?</h2>
<p>The biggest challenge for women in digital is learning how to blend all aspects of your life into the work you do. We need to find the right blend that gives us financial stability, life with our families, and joy in work.</p>
<p>With the ongoing instability of COVID pandemic changing the way we work, the next 12 months will be stressful. Women need to find their stable base for their lives, learning how to flex with working from home and the rest of life.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s not about being a superwoman, but finding what new normal feels like and working with it. We have moved from pandemic crisis mode into living with the pandemic; therefore we need change our lives in response to it.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

Futureheads Five Stories – Margaret Hanley

<p>Mark McDermott is the CEO of ScreenCloud, a global digital signage platform helping over 8,500 businesses communicate meaningful content using screens.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>He is also the co-founder of Codegent, an independent digital product studio based in London, UK and Bangkok, Thailand.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mark spoke to Futureheads as part of our FFS series, a regular interview series where business and industry leaders share their insights and personal experience. Other articles in the series can be found here.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h2><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">Tell us about the impact that Covid-19 and the lockdown measures have had on your business?</span></h2>
<p>The world has changed and it&rsquo;s unlikely it will be the same again. It&rsquo;s been tough seeing some of our smaller customers who have been with us since we started ScreenCloud being so badly affected.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the demand for workforce communication tools that help separate what&rsquo;s important from the noise is more important than ever, and we&rsquo;ve pivoted to bring features like &ldquo;Company TV at home&rdquo; quickly to our customers, which have been very well received.</p>
<h2><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">How have you adapted your operational and hiring practices?</span></h2>
<p>Operationally we&rsquo;ve always worked at least partly remotely, but we have put new initiatives in place to help everyone feel more connected like regular All Hands sessions, &ldquo;ScreenCloud Radio&rdquo; and virtual fitness classes.</p>
<h2><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">What are your top tips for successfully managing a remote recruitment process?</span></h2>
<p>We&rsquo;ve not been recruiting during this period so I don&rsquo;t have much to add here, but it&rsquo;s interesting to read about the challenges and solutions that others have experienced.</p>
<h2><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">Has this crisis made you look at your business differently or consider changes moving forwards?</span></h2>
<p>It&rsquo;s actually helped to clarify our mission more, around helping workforces to communicate better to their employees using tools that curate and collect what&rsquo;s important, rather than just adding to the noise.</p>
<h2><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">What advice would you give to anyone in a similar position to you at the moment?</span></h2>
<p>Clear your mind. Do what you need to do. If you think &ldquo;what would happen if I fail?&rdquo; and you&nbsp;plant that seed in your mind, then you WILL fail. It&rsquo;s time to go back to basics.&nbsp;People don&rsquo;t want &lsquo;complicated&rsquo; in tough times, they want&nbsp;simple and relatable and a narrative that fits. If the focus of your narrative in boom time is about innovation and the future, reframe it for now;&nbsp;what innovation that you&rsquo;ve done to date is useful for today? You have to be instantly relevant.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

Futureheads Five Stories – Mark McDermott

<p>Matt has 20 years experience starting and scaling business through digital media.</p>
<p>As the founder of marketing technology business&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.driftrock.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Driftrock</a>, Matt helps brands like BMW, Honda and The University of Birmingham deliver marketing that people actually want to see, whilst protecting privacy.</p>
<p>Previously, as 3rd employee Matt helped Forward Internet Group scale to over &pound;100 million+ revenue and 500 staff. He also founded top mobile phone comparison site Omio, which merged with uSwitch in 2010 as well as co-founding Forward Labs helping test and grow startups.</p>

<h2>1. In what shape has your business emerged from Covid-19?</h2>
<p>With the new Covid-19 restrictions, we&rsquo;re very much still in the thick of things. We took a hit in April, but thankfully, changes we made have had an overall positive effect on the business and our clients. We&rsquo;ve recovered revenues and now enjoying some growth this quarter.</p>
<p>We feel very privileged with the global situation to be able to resume hiring again to expand our team.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>2. What are the most important and emerging skills to work in the new normal?</h2>
<p>With the ever changing global landscape we&rsquo;ve taken time and researched how we build resilience and agility into our organisation (more on some of those changes below). One of our core principles has always been continuous improvement, but now more than ever, we need to constantly evaluate and adapt to changing circumstances.</p>
<p>Like lots of tech companies we made a decision to close our office, and migrate to becoming a fully remote organisation. This has had a huge knock-on effect on the way we work and the skills we need to thrive in the new normal.</p>
<p>After lots of research, the core skills we&rsquo;ve focused on are a results-driven culture and asynchronous working. As well as being critical skills for distributed teams, these changes have had a big impact on our productivity and focus &ndash; regardless of where we are working.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>3. What changes have you made in operations and hiring that are here to stay, and what will you lose?</h2>
<p>Like many companies in 2020, we&rsquo;ve made more changes to the organisation than in any of our previous 7 years. For the results-driven focus we leveraged the&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.eosworldwide.com/eos-model" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EOS</a>&nbsp;framework and&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.cio.com/article/3302036/okr-objectives-and-key-results-defined.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">OKRs.</a>&nbsp;This has influenced processes across everything we do from the product roadmap to HR processes. We&rsquo;ve made strides to work asynchronously using new collaboration tools and over-communicating where we can in everything we do.</p>
<p>We&rsquo;ve completely overhauled our hiring, onboarding and ongoing HR processes too in order to do things remotely. This mainly involved more deliberate, planned meetings and connections to integrate and improve relationships across the teams. Whereas previously things happened serendipitously, we&rsquo;ve found it important to work hard on these.</p>
<h2>4. What has been your biggest key learning and how will this prepare you for the future?</h2>
<p>Our biggest learning has been the benefits of focus and a shared vision across the business. Whilst it was important before, we&rsquo;ve seen first hand how being ruthlessly focused has improved our ability to deliver more value for our clients and the company.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s resulted in some features being deprecated, huge improvements to our products and services, and new processes across the board that have been very positive.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>5. What has been the biggest surprise to you?</h2>
<p>During the height of lockdown we onboarded two new teammates remotely, which was a daunting experience.</p>
<p>Thanks to some heroic work by Maryline, our Operations Manager and teammates who are always happy to jump in and help each other out, it&rsquo;s been a good experience overall.</p>
<p>One of our new teammates is having to shield, so we&rsquo;ve never met in person, yet we&rsquo;ve still managed to build bonds together. That said, we can&rsquo;t wait to meet up again as a team in person and celebrate!</p>
<p>To find out more about how Driftrock are helping clients generate more leads and grow their business through social advertising, visit their&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.driftrock.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">site</a>&nbsp;or follow them on&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/driftrock/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LinkedIn.</a></p>

Futureheads Five Stories – Matt Wheeler

Part of our founding offering; since 2009 we have been part of the growth and evolution of the Design market in the UK. With a comprehensive network across all major skills-sets we have consistently helped businesses hire world-class Design talent. 

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>Part of our founding offering; since 2009 we have been part of the growth and evolution of the Design market in the UK. With a comprehensive network across all major skills-sets we have consistently helped businesses hire world-class Design talent.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5> Our network includes Designers with skills in:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Digital Product (UX/UI) Design</li>
      <li>User Interface (UI) Design</li>
      <li>​Visual Design</li>
      
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Product Design

With positions across agencies, brands, start-ups and tech companies, we work with Creatives delivering new brands, campaigns and integrated experiences. From hiring freelance Creative Teams to your first in-house Copywriter, we’ve got it covered. 

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>With positions across agencies, brands, start-ups and tech companies, we work with Creatives delivering new brands, campaigns and integrated experiences. From hiring freelance Creative Teams to your first in-house Copywriter, we’ve got it covered.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes professionals in:</h5> 
    <ul>
      <li>Motion Graphics & Video Editing</li>
      <li>Branding</li>
      <li>Copywriting</li>
      <li>Art Direction</li>
      <li>Illustration</li>
      <li>Digital Design</li>
      <li>Marketing Design</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Creative

Navigating the complexities of AI, machine learning, and data integrity presents a growing challenge for businesses, especially when it comes to hiring professionals with the right blend of compliance, system integration and advanced analytics expertise. That’s where we come in. 

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  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>Navigating the complexities of AI, machine learning, and data integrity presents a growing challenge for businesses, especially when it comes to hiring professionals with the right blend of compliance, system integration and advanced analytics expertise. That’s where we come in.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network of data professionals includes experts in:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Data Engineering</li>
      <li>Data Science</li>
      <li>​Data Analytics</li>
      <li>​Machine Learning</li>
      <li>AI Research and Development</li>
      <li>​ML Ops</li>
      <li>​Data Governance</li>
      <li>Head of Data</li>
      <li>CDO</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Data & AI

Our niche is technical experts who specialise in IT and digital projects, across multiple platforms and technology stacks. Come and talk to us about all things Engineering, from entry to CTO-Level.

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>Our niche is technical experts who specialise in IT and digital projects, across multiple platforms and technology stacks. Come and talk to us about all things Engineering, from entry to CTO-Level.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes professionals across:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Front-end</li>
      <li>​Back-end​</li>
      <li>​Full-stack​</li>
      <li>Native Mobile​​</li>
      <li>Cross-platform​​</li>
      <li>Technical Architecture​​</li>
      <li>Solution Architecture​​</li>
       <li>DevOps / SRE / Platform Engineering</li>
      <li>Testing & QA</li>
      <li>Engineering Managers</li>
      <li>Head of Engineering</li>
      <li>CTO</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Engineering

We know that the world of Digital Marketing moves at a fast pace. That’s why our teams are on hand to support, and always ahead of the curve.

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  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>We know that the world of Digital Marketing moves at a fast pace. That’s why our teams are on hand to support, and always ahead of the curve.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes professionals in:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Multidisciplinary Marketing Management</li>
      <li>Product Marketing</li>
      <li>Growth Marketing</li>
      <li>Performance Marketing</li>
      <li>CRM</li>
      <li>Social Media</li>
      <li>Marketing Ops</li>
      <li>Affiliate Marketing</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Marketing

From recruiting your first Product Owner to hiring your next experienced Product Managers, our recruiters have developed a specialist Product network in the design and tech space. They are trusted experts in sourcing and delivering both permanent and contract professionals in the field.

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  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>From recruiting your first Product Owner to hiring your next experienced Product Managers, our recruiters have developed a specialist Product network in the design and tech space. They are trusted experts in sourcing and delivering both permanent and contract professionals in the field.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Chief Product Officers (CPO)</li>
      <li>VPs of Product Management​</li>
      <li>Directors of Product Management</li>
      <li>Product Managers​​</li>
      <li>Product Owners</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Product

With a deep understanding of what is required from Project Managers and Programme Managers in the digital and tech space, we can help you find the talent to deliver better budget controls, communication and reporting as well as ways to introduce new processes, tools and technology to optimise efficiency. 

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>With a deep understanding of what is required from Project Managers and Programme Managers in the digital and tech space, we can help you find the talent to deliver better budget controls, communication and reporting as well as ways to introduce new processes, tools and technology to optimise efficiency.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Digital & Technical Project Managers</li>
      <li>Programme Managers</li>
      <li>Delivery Managers</li>
      <li>Business Analysts</li>
      <li>Scrum Masters</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Projects & Delivery

From helping shape the London UX market in its early days, to running and sponsoring some of the best-known UX networking events in the UK, we're highly regarded for our breadth and depth of expertise in this space and for our ability to match top-tier UX practitioners into brilliant opportunities. 

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  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>From helping shape the London UX market in its early days, to running and sponsoring some of the most well-known UX networking events in the UK, we're highly regarded for our breadth and depth of expertise in this space and for our ability to match top-tier UX practitioners into brilliant opportunities.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes practitioners with skills across:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>User Research</li>
      <li>UX & Interaction Design​</li>
      <li>​Service Design​</li>
      <li>Content Design</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Sectors we cover

Product Design

Latest Product Design Jobs

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