Senior Manager, Product Design

Senior Manager, Product Design

Full-Time 60000 - 80000 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
Strava

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead design for Explore, Live, and Map, shaping the future of athlete experiences.
  • Company: Join Strava, the app that connects over 180 million athletes worldwide.
  • Benefits: Flexible hybrid work model, competitive salary, and a supportive, inclusive culture.
  • Other info: Be part of a movement that motivates people to live their best active lives.
  • Why this job: Make a real impact in the active community while developing your design leadership skills.
  • Qualifications: Proven experience in product design leadership and team management.

The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.

About Strava

Strava is the app for active people. With over 180 million athletes in more than 185 countries, it’s more than tracking workouts—it’s where people make progress together, from new habits to new personal bests. No matter your sport or how you track it, Strava’s got you covered. Find your crew, crush your goals, and make every effort count. Start your journey with Strava today. Our mission is simple: to motivate people to live their best active lives. We believe in the power of movement to connect and drive people forward.

About This Role

The Explore, Live, and Map teams build the surfaces that help athletes discover, navigate, and share their active world in real time — from route planning and turn‑by‑turn navigation to live activity sharing and place discovery. These are high‑stakes, technically rich product areas that sit at the heart of what makes Strava essential to an athlete's day. As Manager, Product Design, you'll lead design across all three of these verticals — setting design direction, driving craft quality, developing your team of 4 designers, and partnering closely with PM and Engineering leaders across each vertical. You'll be Strava's senior design voice for these areas in London and a foundational hire for what Strava's European design hub becomes — reporting directly to the Senior Director of Product Design. We follow a flexible hybrid model that translates to more than half of your time on‑site in our London office, three days per week.

What You'll Do

  • Own design direction and quality across Explore, Live, and Map — setting the craft bar, making decisions at the feature and project level, and establishing a point of view on where the product should go.
  • Stay actively in the work: give precise, substantive craft feedback, engage in design decisions at the detail level, and set the standard through your own taste and judgment — not just through management.
  • Directly manage and develop a team of 4 Product Designers distributed across London, Chamonix, and Berlin — with a focus on craft growth, career development, and raising the quality of their output through consistent, high‑quality coaching.
  • Partner with PM and Engineering leads for each vertical — contributing to product planning, shaping scope, and ensuring design is a meaningful input to decisions early.
  • Lead design reviews, maintaining a high bar for craft and strategic clarity across all three verticals.
  • Establish what 'good' looks like on this team — through feedback culture, explicit standards, and your own example — so quality is named, expected, and consistently raised.
  • Represent the London design perspective in conversations with the Senior Director of Product Design and the broader global Design org.
  • Contribute to Strava's design system, cross‑functional design culture, and shared standards across the product org.

What You'll Bring to the Team

  • Demonstrated experience leading Product Design at a senior manager level (or equivalent), with a track record of managing designers and owning design direction across multiple product areas.
  • Ability to set and articulate a clear design vision — not just reacting to what's in front of you, but establishing a point of view on where the product should go and bringing others along with it.
  • Still in the work at a high level — you give precise, substantive craft feedback, engage in design decisions at the detail level, and set the bar through your own taste and judgment, not just through oversight.
  • Demonstrated ability to raise craft and quality across a team — you develop others and build a culture where quality is expected, named, and consistently raised.
  • Strong cross‑functional partnership skills: you've worked alongside PM and Engineering leaders to shape product direction and you know how to hold a point of view in senior conversations.
  • Experience with consumer product design at meaningful scale — you've worked on products that real people rely on, and you understand the responsibility that comes with that.
  • Comfortable leading a distributed team across multiple European locations — London, Chamonix, and Berlin.
  • Based in London or actively relocating.
  • Experience designing for mapping, navigation, real‑time data, or location‑based products is a plus.
  • Experience with AI‑powered product features, health and fitness products, or building design culture in a regional office is also welcome.
  • Familiarity with Strava as a user or designer is a bonus but not required.

For information on benefits, please click here.

Why Join Us?

Movement brings us together. At Strava, we’re building the world’s largest community of active people, helping them stay motivated and achieve their goals. Our global team is passionate about making movement fun, meaningful, and accessible to everyone. Whether you’re shaping the technology, growing our community, or driving innovation, your work at Strava makes an impact. When you join Strava, you’re not just joining a company—you’re joining a movement. If you’re ready to bring your energy, ideas, and drive, let’s build something incredible together. Strava builds software that makes the best part of our athletes’ days even better. Just as we’re deeply committed to unlocking their potential, we’re dedicated to providing a world‑class, inclusive workplace where our employees can grow and thrive, too. We’re backed by Sequoia Capital, TCV, Madrone Partners and Jackson Square Ventures, and we’re expanding in order to exceed the needs of our growing community of global athletes. Our culture reflects our community. We are continuously striving to hire and engage teammates from all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives because we know we are a stronger team together. Strava is an equal opportunity employer.

In keeping with the values of Strava, we make all employment decisions including hiring, evaluation, termination, promotional and training opportunities, without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, physical handicap, mental disability, medical condition, disability, gender or identity or expression, pregnancy or pregnancy‑related condition, marital status, height and/or weight. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

Senior Manager, Product Design employer: Strava

Strava is an exceptional employer that fosters a vibrant and inclusive work culture, where employees are encouraged to grow and thrive while contributing to a mission that motivates people to lead active lives. With a flexible hybrid model based in London, employees benefit from collaborative teamwork across multiple European locations, ample opportunities for professional development, and the chance to make a meaningful impact on a global community of athletes. Join Strava to be part of a passionate team dedicated to innovation and excellence in product design.

Strava

Contact Details:

Strava Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Senior Manager, Product Design

Show Off Your Portfolio

In the world of UX/UI design, your portfolio speaks volumes! Make sure it's packed with your best work and showcases your process, not just the final product. We want to see how you tackle design challenges, so consider adding case studies that reflect your thought process and user-centric approach.

Get Involved in Design Communities

Jump into local or online design meetups and workshops! Places like UXPA or local design events can be goldmines for networking and learning. Plus, mingling with fellow designers can introduce you to potential job openings that might not be listed elsewhere.

Tailor Your Applications

When you find a role that excites you, like the one at Strava for a Senior Manager, Product Design, make your application count! Highlight specific projects and skills that directly relate to the job description. Hiring managers are looking for candidates who fit into their specific team, so show them you’re the one!

Leverage Social Media

Don't underestimate the power of social media in finding a UX/UI design job! Follow design leaders on platforms like Twitter or Instagram, share your work, and engage in conversations. It’s a great way to get noticed by recruiters and even catch wind of openings at companies like Strava before they go live!

We think you need these skills to ace Senior Manager, Product Design

Product Design Leadership
Team Management
Design Direction
Craft Quality
Cross-Functional Partnership
Design Vision Articulation
Feedback Culture Development

Some tips for your application 🫡

Showcase Your Design Process:When you're applying for a UX/UI Design role like Senior Manager, Product Design at Strava, make sure to include examples that clearly highlight your design process. We want to see not just the final product but also the journey that led you there—wireframes, user personas, and iterations demonstrate your thought process and user-centric approach!

Tailor Your Portfolio:A tailor-made portfolio is crucial for a full-time design role! Curate your best projects that align with the kind of work Strava does. We suggest including 3-5 case studies that showcase a variety of skills such as wireframing, prototyping, and user testing to really make your application pop.

Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter should not just be a summary of your CV. Use it to express why you’re excited about UX/UI Design and what draws you specifically to Strava. Mention any relevant experience, tools you’re proficient in (like Sketch or Figma), and how you can contribute to their projects.

Highlight Collaboration Skills:In the world of UX/UI Design, teamwork is crucial. Make sure to highlight any past experiences where you worked in cross-functional teams. Illustrate how you communicated design decisions and listened to feedback, as this will resonate well with the culture at Strava.

How to prepare for a job interview at Strava

Show Off Your Portfolio

When you're gunning for a full-time UX/UI design role, your portfolio is your best friend! Make sure you've got a solid selection of your work, showcasing not just the final designs, but the process behind them—think wireframes, user flows, and any user research you've conducted. During the interview with Strava, be prepared to discuss your design decisions and how they solve specific user problems.

Prepare for Design Challenges

Expect to face some practical design tasks during your interview. Strava might ask you to tackle a quick design challenge or critique an existing interface. Brush up on your problem-solving skills and try to articulate your thought process as you work through these scenarios. Showing how you approach a design problem is just as important as the final output!

Know the Tools of the Trade

Familiarise yourself with the tools commonly used in the industry—figma, Adobe XD, or Sketch should be second nature to you. Be ready to discuss your preferred tools during the interview and how they've shaped your design process at previous positions. This knowledge could give you an edge at Strava!

Show Passion for User Experience

In a full-time UX/UI design role, having a genuine passion for improving user interactions can set you apart. Be prepared to share instances when you went above and beyond to ensure a great user experience in your previous projects. This will demonstrate that you’re not just a designer, but a user advocate, which is exactly what Strava is looking for.