Senior Director of Product Design

About Skyscanner

Everyone loves travelling, but planning comes with its challenges ✈️. That’s why we’ve spent 20 years building tools that turn travel-planning chaos into a breeze. Today, around 100 million travellers count on us every month to skip the whole “47 browser tabs open” phase and find flights, cars, and accommodation quickly and easily 💻.

Joining Skyscanner means becoming part of a global brand that's striving to become the planet’s go-to travel hack accessible for all 🌍.

Our vision? To be the world’s number one travel ally. (Ambitious? 💪 Yes, but, hey, that’s what got us here.)

Now, we’re on the lookout for a Senior Director of Product Design to lead and elevate our Product Design team to the next level — shaping the future of how millions of people discover, fall in love with, and return to Skyscanner.

You can be based in Glasgow, Edinburgh, London or Barcelona, where we adopt a hybrid working policy of working in the office twice a week.

About the role
Hybrid

We’re looking for a visionary, impact-driven design leader to head up our Product Design discipline — spanning the full product experience, from first click to lasting loyalty. As a senior leader at Skyscanner, you’ll not only help define our product vision, but also set the long-term direction for Product Design — ensuring we stay ahead of the curve in both design innovation and the AI-powered future of travel.

You’ll lead a global team of nearly 40 Designers, Design Managers, and Design Directors — partnering with senior peers across Product, Engineering, Research, and Brand to deliver elegant, joyful, and human-centred experiences that meet brand, business, and traveller needs at scale.

What you’ll be doing

• Set the vision: Define and rally teams around a bold, long-term design strategy that supports Skyscanner’s ambitions and sparks transformation.

• Accelerate velocity: Remove roadblocks, streamline systems, and empower teams to deliver high-quality design faster — experimenting with AI-powered tools along the way.

• Empower leaders & teams: Mentor and grow our design community, developing future leaders and nurturing a thriving culture of creativity and collaboration.

• Foster innovation: Build a culture that balances curiosity and momentum — re-imagining how we design, test, and scale breakthrough ideas.

• Champion users: Ensure traveller-first thinking runs through every pixel, partnering closely with Research to translate insights into delightful experiences.

• Nurture craft: Elevate design quality and consistency through systems thinking, design ops excellence, and deep investment in UX and visual craft.

• Influence at scale: Collaborate across disciplines and senior leadership to shape seamless experiences and amplify design’s impact across the business.

About you

• Experienced design leader: 15+ years in product design with a proven record of building high-performing teams and delivering outstanding experiences at scale.

• Visionary strategist: You think long-term, set direction with clarity, and lead confidently through change and transformation.

• AI-enthusiast: You’re curious and optimistic about how AI can elevate creativity, quality, and speed — and you’re ready to test and learn your way forward.

• Proven people manager: You’ve built or transformed design organisations, mentored design leaders, and cultivated a strong, inclusive culture.

• Skilled communicator & influencer: You articulate design’s value in ways that resonate across the business — from exec discussions to everyday delivery.

• Results-driven: You balance craft and commercial outcomes, ensuring great design drives measurable impact for travellers and the business.

• Craft expert: You bring depth in UX, visual design, and systems thinking — raising standards and inspiring excellence at every level.

What it’s like here

We are the real deal — no corporate gloss, no empty promises. Just a team of genuinely curious, caring humans ❤️, building things that help travellers explore the world a little easier 🧭.

Skyscanner is made up of brilliant humans from every corner of the world. We believe travel makes the world better — and that the same is true of our diverse teams. We're proud to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive and products that are accessible to all ✨.

Sound like your kind of adventure? 🚀 Apply now and help us shape the future of travel.

We're committed to ensuring our application and recruitment processes are inclusive and accessible to everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments or accommodations for interviews, and/or wish to apply under the Disability Confident scheme, please let your recruiter know. If you’d like more information on any of our policies, such as hybrid working or Parental Leave policies (typically we pay a minimum of 24 weeks birth parent/maternity leave globally), our recruitment team can provide more information on these.