Design Operations Lead

About Cleo

At Cleo, we're not just building another fintech app. We're embarking on a mission to fundamentally change humanity’s relationship with money. Imagine a world where everyone, regardless of background or income, has access to a hyper‑intelligent financial advisor in their pocket. That's the future we're creating. Cleo is a rare success story: a profitable, fast‑growing unicorn with over $300 million in ARR and growing over 2x year‑over‑year. This isn't just a job; it's a chance to join a team of brilliant, driven individuals who are passionate about making a real difference. We have an exceptionally high bar for talent, seeking individuals who are not only at the top of their field but also embody our culture of collaboration and positive impact.

About The Role

We’re hiring a Design Operations Lead to build and scale the operational backbone of Cleo’s Experience organisation. This is a strategic, systems‑oriented role focused on enabling Design and Research to operate with clarity, speed, and technical excellence. You will architect the infrastructure that powers how we plan, build, ship, and scale product experiences across our mobile AI product. This is not a coordination role; it is an operational leadership role responsible for building durable systems across tooling, workflows, planning, governance, and performance. You will partner closely with Product, Engineering, and the Core Experience team to ensure design operates as a high‑leverage, technically integrated function.

What You’ll Own

• Tooling & Infrastructure
• Own selection, implementation, licensing, and optimisation of design and research tooling
• Drive integration across Figma, prototyping tools, research platforms, documentation systems, and engineering workflows
• Ensure tooling scales with AI, design systems, and experimentation needs
• Operating Model & Rituals
• Define and run design rituals including reviews, critiques, planning forums, and all‑hands
• Establish clear intake, prioritisation, and capacity planning systems
• Standardise workflows across Design, Product, and Engineering
• Resource Planning & Org Effectiveness
• Lead resource allocation and capacity forecasting across teams
• Build hiring coordination processes for Design and Research
• Own onboarding systems that accelerate ramp‑to‑impact
• Career Architecture & Performance
• Develop and evolve career frameworks and progression paths
• Partner with leadership on performance cycles and calibration
• Ensure clarity in expectations across IC and Staff levels
• Design System Governance
• Establish governance models for the Design System in partnership with the Core Experience team
• Define contribution workflows, review standards, and release processes
• Ensure system adoption and consistency across product surfaces
• Vendor & Budget Management
• Manage contractors and external partners
• Track and optimise budget across the Experience org
• Ensure financial discipline while maintaining delivery quality
• Documentation & Knowledge Systems
• Architect and maintain high‑quality documentation in Notion
• Ensure institutional knowledge is accessible, structured, and current
• Improve cross‑functional visibility into design strategy and execution
• Team Health & Continuous Improvement
• Implement health and engagement tracking across the Experience team
• Identify operational friction and systematically resolve it
• Continuously improve how the Experience function operates at scale

What We’re Looking For

• A systems thinker who designs operational infrastructure with the same rigour product designers apply to user experience
• Experienced scaling DesignOps or ProductOps in a fast‑moving tech environment
• Fluent in modern design tooling ecosystems and cross‑functional workflows
• Comfortable working closely with Engineering and Product leadership
• Data‑driven in how you assess team health, performance, and delivery efficiency
• Highly organised, detail‑oriented, and with high agency to improve the team
• Motivated by building environments where exceptional design work can thrive

Compensation

• A competitive compensation package (base + equity) with bi‑annual reviews, aligned to our quarterly OKR planning cycles. You can view our public progression framework and salary bandings here:
• Work at one of the fastest‑growing tech startups, backed by top VC firms, Balderton & EQT Ventures
• A clear progression plan. We want you to keep growing. That means trying new things, leading others, challenging the status quo and owning your impact. Always with our complete support.
• Flexibility. We can’t fight for the world’s financial health if we’re not healthy ourselves. We work with everyone to make sure they have the balance they need to do their best work.
• Work where you work best. We’re a globally distributed team. If you live in London we have a hybrid approach, we’d love you to spend one day a week or more in our beautiful office. If you’re outside of London, we’ll encourage you to spend a couple of days with us a few times per year. And we’ll cover your travel costs, naturally.

Other Benefits

• Company‑wide performance reviews every 6 months
• Generous pay increases for high‑performing team members
• Equity top‑ups for team members getting promoted
• 25 days annual leave a year + public holidays (+ an additional day for every year you spend at Cleo, up to 30 days)
• 6% employer‑matched pension in the UK
• Private Medical Insurance via Vitality, dental cover, and life assurance
• Enhanced parental leave
• 1 month paid sabbatical after 4 years at Cleo
• Regular socials and activities, online and in‑person
• We’ll pay for your OpenAI subscription
• Online mental health support via Spill
• Workplace Nursery Scheme
• And many more!

Welcoming Everyone

We strongly encourage applications from people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and people from lower socio‑economic backgrounds. If there’s anything we can do to accommodate your specific situation, please let us know.

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