Are you looking to hire an Interim Head of Product Design or transition into the role yourself? These temporary but crucial positions ensure continuity in product design and development, driving innovation and seizing market opportunities. Whether you’re a client seeking talent or a professional exploring this sector, this guide covers key skills, responsibilities and contract considerations.
An Interim Head of Product Design usually reports into the Product Design Director, although this can vary depending on the business type or structure. The Interim Head of Product Design is directly responsible for overseeing the performance and output of their team of Product Design Manager‘s and any of their direct line reports.
Interim Head of Product Design roles
If you are looking for an Interim Head of Product Design job role or would like to find out how to become an Interim Head of Product Design, what skills you need, and what salaries are on offer, you will find a complete guide below.
If you’re an employer looking to recruit an Interim Head of Product Design position, please see our product design and UX recruitment services, our interim recruitment page and the full overview of our services to employers. If you need to hire and would like our services, contact us today.
What is an Interim Head of Product Design?
The Interim Head of Product Design is a temporary senior-level position in the design department of a company, usually bridging a gap during periods of leadership transformation.
They are responsible for leading a team of designers and overseeing the design process for all products developed by the company. The Interim Head of Product Design is a critical role in any organisation that values user-centred design, innovation, and creating products that meet the needs of customers.
The Interim Head of Product Design is responsible for defining the design strategy for the company’s products. This includes establishing design principles and guidelines that ensure the products are consistent in their design language, style, and functionality.
They work closely with the product management team to identify customer needs, business objectives, and market trends that influence product design decisions. The Interim Head of Product Design must have a deep understanding of the company’s target market, customer needs, and user behaviour to ensure that the design of products meets those needs.
Why hire a specialist Interim Head of Product Design?
Hiring a specialist Interim Head of Product Design provides immediate access to seasoned leadership that blends creative expertise with strategic insight. Unlike a general interim placement, a specialist interim brings targeted knowledge in areas such as SaaS platforms, fintech, e-commerce, or enterprise UX – meaning they can make faster, more informed decisions that align with sector-specific challenges.
These professionals are not only adept at stabilising teams during leadership transitions, but also skilled at identifying growth opportunities, optimising workflows, and accelerating product innovation. When time is critical, a specialist interim can hit the ground running, offering both vision and hands-on execution without the ramp-up delay of a permanent hire.
What makes a successful Interim Head of Product Design?
To be successful in this role, the Interim Head of Product Design must have a deep understanding of user-centred design principles, a keen eye for aesthetics and the ability to balance business needs with user needs. They must also possess strong leadership and communication skills, as they will be responsible for managing and mentoring a team of designers and collaborating with cross-functional teams across the organisation.
One of the primary responsibilities of the Interim Head of Product Design is to define and communicate the company’s design vision and strategy. They must ensure that the design team is aligned with the company’s goals and that the product design direction is consistent with the company’s brand identity. This requires a deep understanding of the company’s mission, values and target audience.
In addition to defining the design vision and strategy, the Interim Head of Product Design is also responsible for establishing and maintaining design standards and guidelines. They must ensure that the design team is adhering to best practices and that all design work meets the highest standards of quality and consistency. This helps to ensure that the company’s products are not only visually appealing but also easy to use and accessible to all users.
The Interim Head of Product Design must also stay up-to-date with the latest design trends, technologies, and tools. This requires a deep understanding of the design industry and a willingness to continuously learn and experiment with new ideas and approaches.
When is a specialist Interim the right choice?
A specialist interim is the ideal solution when a business is facing high-stakes design challenges that require deep expertise and fast execution. Unlike a general interim leader, a specialist brings proven experience in your industry or product domain, allowing them to deliver impact from day one.
You should consider hiring a specialist Interim Head of Product Design when:
- You’re undergoing a product pivot or rebrand and need expert guidance.
- Your organisation is scaling rapidly and requires temporary leadership to maintain design quality.
- You’re launching a new product in a competitive or regulated market and need a domain expert.
- The current Head of Product Design has exited unexpectedly, and you need someone with relevant experience to steady the team.
- You want to inject a fresh perspective from someone who has solved similar challenges in other organisations.
Whether filling a leadership gap or accelerating delivery, a specialist interim ensures business continuity without compromising on quality or strategic direction.
Product design tools
As an Interim Head of Product Design, you rely on various tools to effectively manage and enhance the design process, the same as a Head of Product Design would. Here’s a webpage outlining a new set of essential tools that you might find valuable, along with links to their respective websites:
Framer – A powerful interactive design and prototyping tool that allows you to create rich, interactive experiences with code components.
Abstract – A version control platform designed specifically for designers. Abstract enables seamless collaboration, versioning, and organization of design files.
MURAL– An online collaboration and visual workspace tool that facilitates brainstorming, ideation, and design thinking workshops.
Procreate – A digital illustration and sketching app for iPad, offering a wide range of brushes and tools to create stunning visual designs.
Overflow – A user flow diagramming tool that helps you visualize and present user journeys and interactions in a clear and engaging manner.
Lottie – A library and animation tool that allows you to add high-quality, lightweight animations to your designs, enhancing user experience.
Marvel – An all-in-one design and prototyping platform that enables you to create interactive prototypes, collaborate with stakeholders, and conduct user testing.
Hotjar – A user behaviour analytics tool that provides heatmaps, session recordings, and feedback polls to help you understand how users engage with your product.
Principle – A powerful animation and prototyping tool that allows you to create advanced interactions and micro-interactions for your designs.
Optimizely – An experimentation platform that enables you to test and optimize your designs and user experiences through A/B testing and personalisation.
Interim Head of Product Design day rate
In today’s market a typical Interim Head of Product Design’s day rate would be in the region of £550 to £700.
Interim Head of Product Design job description
A typical Interim Head of Product Design job description will read something like the below:
Job title: Interim Head of Product Design
Location: Remote or on-site
Duration: 3-12 months
Reporting to the Product Design Director, the Interim Head of Product Design will support the business development of new opportunities. This will be achieved through managing the design lifecycle from start to finish, designing best practice processes for the design team.
The Interim Head of Product Design is responsible for a wide range of activities including client pitches, company-wide presentations, and leading operational objectives. Skills required to do this role effectively include leadership, collaboration and communication with both your immediate and wider management team.
The Interim Head of Product Design will work to:
- Grow the existing product design team by 2 in the next 6 months
- Build a cadence with the team, cascading best practises whilst coaching and mentoring the team to success
- Lead the design process and develop best in class procedures to support a collaborative and innovative team
- Take a user centric design approach and rapidly test and iterate your designs
- Design and test new products based on consumer insight and a deep understanding of technology, the market landscape and business objectives
- Ensure that all products are designed to our brand standards and quality guidelines
- Promote excellent cross-functional communication between the product management team and senior stakeholders
To be successful in this Interim Head of Product Design role, you will:
- Have 8+ years working within Product Design, with at least 2 years within a previous Head of Product Design role
- Be comfortable working in a fast-paced start-up environment
- Have previous experience managing a diverse product design team, with previous experience owning and delivering a user-centric design process
- Have a proven background in delivering world class consumer facing products, with a portfolio of UX focused work samples for web and app applications
- A history of successful collaboration with technical and commercial partners
- Excited by challenges and the ability to create something new
- Be confident across a range of user research methods
Product Design interview questions
Read our guide to the top 50+ Product Design interview questions, often asked by employers at interview.
What is the Difference Between an Interim and Fractional Head of Product Design?
While both roles are temporary and bring senior-level design expertise, there are key differences:
- Interim Head of Product Design: Works full-time and is deeply embedded in the company, overseeing design strategy, team leadership and execution for a defined period. They drive initiatives, align design with business goals and ensure seamless collaboration across teams.
- Fractional Head of Product Design: Provides part-time support, often working with multiple companies simultaneously. They focus on high-level strategic guidance rather than day-to-day execution or management.
The right choice depends on your company’s needs. If your business requires hands-on, dedicated design leadership to manage teams, implement processes and execute a design vision, an interim role is the better fit. For broader, advisory-level input without full-time commitment, a fractional role may be more suitable.
Interim Head of Product Design vs Specialist Interim Product Leader
While both roles offer temporary leadership, the distinction between a standard Interim Head of Product Design and a specialist interim product leader lies in the depth of expertise and strategic contribution.
An Interim Head of Product Design typically focuses on maintaining continuity, team leadership, and operational delivery during a transition period. Their goal is to keep design output stable and aligned with current business goals.
In contrast, a specialist interim brings additional value through niche expertise — whether it’s in a specific industry (e.g. healthtech, SaaS, fintech) or a design discipline (e.g. accessibility, mobile UX, service design). They’re often brought in to solve complex problems, lead high-stakes initiatives, or accelerate innovation in areas that require hands-on expertise beyond general leadership.
In summary:
- Use a standard interim when continuity and coverage are your primary needs.
Choose a specialist interim when strategic intervention, targeted transformation, or domain-specific experience is required.
What skills are employers looking for in an Interim Head of Product Design?
This role will require skills such as:
- Balancing leadership with being detailed driven
- Ability to facilitate idea generation and evaluation
- Ability to drive a compelling vision, and lead the product team along that journey
- Effective communicator to ensure cross functional collaboration is clear, concise and actionable
- Time management to ensure all designers meet design timelines and budgets
- Team management to ensure our designers to develop over time in line with career development plans
Here are some essential technical and soft skills that employers look for:
Technical skills:
UI/UX design: Highlight your proficiency in user-centred design, wireframing, prototyping, and creating visually appealing interfaces. Provide examples of projects where you successfully applied these skills to deliver intuitive and engaging user experiences.
Design tools: Mention the design and prototyping tools you are proficient in, such as Sketch, Figma, or Adobe Creative Suite. Include links to your online portfolio or attach relevant design samples to showcase your technical abilities.
Design research: Demonstrate your expertise in conducting user research, usability testing, and gathering actionable insights. Discuss how your research findings influenced design decisions and contributed to improved product experiences.
Design systems: Highlight your knowledge and experience in developing and implementing design systems or pattern libraries to ensure consistent and scalable design solutions.
Soft skills:
Communication: Describe how you effectively communicated design concepts, presented your ideas to stakeholders, and collaborated with cross-functional teams throughout the design process.
Leadership: Discuss how you motivated and mentored team members, facilitated productive collaborations, and achieved successful project outcomes.
Collaboration: Describe how you have fostered a collaborative environment, solicited feedback, and integrated diverse perspectives into design solutions.
Problem-solving: Explain the strategies you employed to identify issues, analyse data, and propose innovative solutions that positively impacted the user experience.
The value a specialist Interim brings to product strategy
A specialist interim doesn’t just maintain design operations, they actively strengthen your product strategy. With their focused experience, they can quickly assess existing workflows, identify friction points, and align the design direction with broader business goals.
When you hire a specialist Interim Head of Product Design, you gain access to someone who can:
- Refine the product roadmap with a design-led perspective.
- Introduce scalable design systems and process improvements.
- Bridge gaps between design, engineering, and product management.
- Conduct strategic user research to validate high-level decisions.
- Lead vision-setting workshops that reposition your product for long-term growth.
Because of their cross-industry exposure and depth of domain knowledge, a specialist interim brings both outside perspective and tried-and-tested methodologies. They’re uniquely positioned to challenge assumptions, elevate design maturity, and contribute to executive-level decision-making.
Hiring a specialist interim | What employers should look for
When hiring a specialist interim, employers should prioritise more than just leadership credentials. The right candidate will combine hands-on design expertise with a proven ability to lead in high-pressure, fast-paced environments – often with limited onboarding time.
Key traits to look for in a specialist Interim Head of Product Design include:
- Domain-specific experience (e.g. consumer apps, enterprise tools, medtech, etc.)
- A portfolio of results, showing measurable impact in short-term placements
- Experience managing cross-functional teams during periods of change or growth
- The ability to introduce new design systems or rapidly mature existing ones
- Confidence working with C-level executives, presenting roadmaps and strategy
- Adaptability — someone who can slot into existing teams and start delivering value within days
A strong specialist interim is not just a placeholder – they are a catalyst for transformation and clarity when it’s needed most.
Case Scenarios | How specialist Interims accelerate product success
Hiring a specialist interim isn’t just about filling a gap, it’s about accelerating progress when it matters most. Below are examples of how businesses have leveraged the expertise of a specialist Interim Head of Product Design to achieve fast, high-impact results:
- SaaS Startup Undergoing Rapid Scale-Up:
A VC-backed startup hired a specialist interim with experience in B2B product design to lead a complete overhaul of its onboarding UX. Within 8 weeks, customer conversion improved by 18%, and time-to-value dropped by 30%. - E-commerce Brand Replatforming Its Frontend:
A digital retail company brought in a specialist Interim Head of Product Design during a critical site migration. Their domain knowledge helped redesign the mobile purchase flow, resulting in a 12% increase in mobile transactions. - Healthtech Firm Preparing for Launch:
Facing regulatory and user trust challenges, a healthtech firm needed deep UX and accessibility knowledge. A specialist interim was hired to lead design research and prototype development. The product launched on time with zero critical usability issues.
Each case demonstrates how the right specialist interim brings not just stability, but strategic traction, fast decisions, and measurable impact.
Ready to hire a specialist Interim Head of Product Design?
Whether you’re navigating a leadership gap or driving product innovation, we can connect you with a specialist interim who delivers fast, strategic impact. Get in touch today to discuss your needs and find the right Interim Head of Product Design for your business.
Interim Head of Product Design FAQs
- What does an Interim Head of Product Design do?
- Often reporting into the Product Design Director, the Interim Head of Product Design steps in temporarily to lead the design team, guide design strategy, and ensure product design aligns with company goals during a period of transition or growth. They stabilise and support the team while the company hires a permanent leader or navigates change.
- What is an Interim Product Design Lead?
- An Interim Product Design Lead may also be called an Interim Head of Product Design or a Product Design Director. Their role is to support the business development of new product opportunities. This will be achieved through managing the design lifecycle from start to finish, designing best practise processes for the design team.
- When should a company hire an interim design leader?
- Companies often hire an interim design leader when the previous head leaves unexpectedly, during a leadership gap, during rapid scaling or when they need specialised experience for a short-term challenge - like launching a new product or rebuilding design systems.
- What’s the difference between an interim and a permanent Head of Design?
- An interim leader is brought in for a defined, short-term period and focuses on stability, execution and transition. A permanent Head of Design is a long-term strategic hire responsible for growing the design function over time, including team culture, structure and hiring.
- What skills are essential for an interim Head of Product Design?
- Key skills include design leadership, cross-functional collaboration, team mentorship, operational efficiency, product thinking, and the ability to thrive in ambiguity. Interim leaders must also be quick to onboard and make impact fast.
- How long do interim design roles usually last?
- Typically 3 to 6 months, but this can vary depending on company needs. Some interim roles turn into fractional or even permanent positions if the fit is strong on both sides.
