Director of Product Design, APAC

Zendesk is seeking a Director of Product Design to lead design across our Foundational & Core Platform product areas—two of the most critical pillars of our world-class customer experience. This role is central to shaping how millions of people interact with our products every day, setting the design direction for flagship experiences.

Based in Melbourne, VIC, you will also play a broader, unofficial leadership role within our APAC Design organization, acting as a cultural and strategic anchor for the region. This is an exciting opportunity for a seasoned design leader who thrives at the intersection of vision, execution and culture, guiding teams to create experiences that are not only elegant and intuitive but also scalable and impactful for our customers’ most complex business needs.

What You’ll Do

• Define and drive the design vision, strategy, and execution for Foundational and Core Platform product areas, ensuring alignment with Zendesk’s overall business goals and customer experience strategy.
• Identify opportunities for innovation and differentiation that strengthen Zendesk’s competitive advantage in the market.
• Partner with senior Product, Engineering, and Research leaders to embed design thinking into the product strategy and influence executive decision-making.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead and inspire a team of design managers and senior ICs, nurturing a high-performing, inclusive, and collaborative culture.
• Mentor and develop future leaders, ensuring career growth pathways for designers at all levels.
• Drive initiatives that promote equity, inclusion, and belonging across the design organization.

Impact & Innovation

• Champion customer-centric design practices, ensuring every solution solves real problems and delivers measurable value.
• Translate complex workflows and systems into intuitive, human-centered experiences.
• Establish methods for measuring design effectiveness and continuously improving quality, usability, and business impact.

Communication & Collaboration

• Articulate design goals, vision, and strategies clearly to senior stakeholders, cross-functional partners, and the broader design org.
• Build deep partnerships with Product, Engineering, and Research, ensuring design is a proactive force in product development.
• Model open, inclusive, and collaborative communication practices across global teams.

Operational Excellence

• Partner with other design leaders to set 1–3 year strategic plans for the global design organization.
• Ensure operational efficiency across design initiatives—balancing speed, creativity, and scalability.
• Contribute to broader Zendesk initiatives, shaping how design elevates product and company-wide outcomes.

What You’ll Bring

• Proven strategic leadership: Demonstrated ability to define, communicate, and execute design strategies that drive tangible business results.
• Influence at scale: Experience collaborating with senior executives and cross-functional leaders to align on shared goals and priorities.
• Team leadership at depth: Success in managing managers and leading organizations of 10–15+ designers, with a track record of growing diverse, high-performing teams.
• Customer-first mindset: Expertise in leveraging user research, journey mapping, service design, and Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) frameworks to uncover needs and shape end-to-end product journeys.
• Enterprise product experience: Extensive background in designing complex, enterprise-grade software, particularly productivity or business operations tools.
• Commitment to inclusive design: A strong belief in building accessible, equitable, and inclusive experiences that scale globally.
• Bonus points: Experience in SaaS solutions, customer service platforms, or other scaled business-critical systems.

At Zendesk, we believe that design is at the heart of delivering exceptional customer experiences. As our Director of Product Design, you will have the chance to:

• Shape the future of products used by thousands of businesses and millions of end users worldwide.
• Lead and grow talented design teams in APAC and beyond, setting cultural standards for excellence and inclusivity.
• Work at a global SaaS leader, collaborating with colleagues across product, technology, and business functions.
• Influence the next chapter of Zendesk’s story, where customer experience is the differentiator.