Product Design Coach (PROJ-4323)
Job Description
Remote is seeking a Product Design Coach to join the team in The Department of Home Affairs. The Product Design Coach will be crucial in driving the successful introduction of Product Design capabilities within the newly established Product Operating Model (POM). The role focuses on fostering customer satisfaction by empowering product teams to understand, evaluate, and enhance the entire end-to-end product experience. With a holistic approach to both digital and physical touchpoints, the role ensures that product teams are equipped with the skills, tools, and methodologies needed to design seamless, user-centred products that effectively address customer needs and expectations. By delivering a mix of training, mentoring, and hands-on support, the Product Design Coach helps teams navigate the transition to design-centric thinking and fosters a culture of user-centred design practices. (RFQ-HA-4-2025)
Role Description
Key Responsibilities:
Customer-Centric Coaching and Advocacy
- Training and Workshops: Deliver structured training sessions and workshops on customer-centric design principles, methodologies, and tools within the POM framework, emphasising their importance in improving customer satisfaction.
- Communication and Promotion: Actively communicate the value of understanding customer needs and designing products accordingly, addressing any resistance to adopting a user-centred approach.
- Resource Development: Create and curate resources such as customer journey mapping templates, persona development guides, and best practice documentation to support ongoing learning.
Product Team Guidance and Mentoring
- Individual Coaching: Provide one-on-one coaching to product teams on applying customer research insights to inform product design decisions tailored to their specific contexts. This includes optimising the POM's practices and methodologies to individual product needs and challenges.
- Hands-on Support: Collaborate directly with product teams during key phases of product discovery, including user research, journey mapping, prototyping, and usability testing.
- Mentoring in Product Design Skills: Mentor teams in developing the skills and competencies required to effectively operate within the new POM, such as product design, user research methodologies, and accessibility considerations.
Customer Research Facilitation
- Conducting Customer Research: Guide product teams in conducting effective customer research to gather insights into user needs and preferences.
- Developing Personas and Journey Maps: Assist teams in creating detailed customer personas and journey maps that inform product design strategies.
- Providing Insights: Offer actionable insights based on research findings to Product Management and product teams for informed decision-making.
Implementation Support and Feedback
- Pilot Program Support: Focusing on a select number of initial products to pilot the POM and identify any areas for improvement. The coach will work closely with these teams to ensure successful implementation and gather valuable feedback.
- Feedback Collection and Analysis: Collecting feedback from product teams on their experiences with the POM, identifying pain points, and suggesting improvements to the model itself. This will contribute to the ongoing refinement and optimisation of the POM.
- Iteration and Refinement: Working with the POM development team to incorporate feedback and iterate on the model, ensuring it remains relevant and effective over time. This includes adapting the POM to the specific needs of the government department and addressing any challenges that arise during implementation.
Transition Management
- Change Management Support: Working with the Product Implementation Team to support the change associated with the introduction of the POM, addressing any cultural or organisational barriers to adoption.
- Community Building: Fostering a community of practice among product designers, facilitating knowledge sharing and peer support. This can involve organising regular meetups, creating online forums, and encouraging collaboration.
- Measuring Success: Defining and tracking key metrics to measure the effectiveness of the POM and the success of its implementation. This data will be used to demonstrate the value of the POM and inform future improvements.
Desirable Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Human-Computer Interaction, User Experience Design, Service Design, or related field
- Certified User Experience Professional (CUXP) or similar UX certification
- Design Thinking certification (e.g., IDEO U, IBM Enterprise Design Thinking)
- Advanced qualifications in coaching or mentoring (e.g., ICF accreditation)
- Change management certification (e.g., Prosci, APMG)
- Professional certification in Agile. For example:
o [http://Scrum.org|http://Scrum.org|smart-link] : Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO I)
o SAFe: Product Manager Product Owner (PSPO6)
Required Knowledge/Experience and tools:
- Minimum 5 years of Product Design or Service Design experience, with at least 3 years in a coaching or leadership role.
- Proven track record of conducting user research and applying insights to inform product and service design.
- Familiarity with service design tools and techniques, such as journey mapping and service blueprinting.
- Experience working in cross-functional teams and collaborating with product managers, developers, and designers.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to synthesise complex data into actionable insights.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions to diverse audiences.
- Experience with design thinking and other innovation frameworks and practices.
Highly Desirable:
- Experience with agile frameworks.