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Technical Operations Manager (Design team)

Amsterdam, Netherlands; Berlin, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; Warsaw, Poland
At JetBrains, code is our passion. Since 2000, we’ve been committed to creating world-class tools that empower developers to do their best work. Our tools automate routine tasks so engineers can focus on creativity, innovation, and solving real problems. The Design Operations Manager is the operational backbone of JetBrains’ design organization. Reporting to the Head of Design, this role builds the systems, tools, and processes that make design faster, smarter, and more scalable – empowering designers to focus on creativity and quality. They optimize demand, improve throughput, and implement automation, tooling, and outsourcing to balance speed with excellence.
 
Key KPIs
  • Speed: Reduction of average request-to-delivery time while maintaining design quality and creativity.
  • Quality: Increase in internal stakeholder satisfaction (NPS), with measurable gains in perceived design quality, reliability, and responsiveness.
  • Creativity: Increase in the percentage of projects rated “high creativity” in post-reviews, indicating that operational systems enable, not limit, creative excellence.
  • Team workload balance: Reduction in the percentage of designers reporting sustained overload.
  • Automation impact: Increase in the percentage of recurring or repetitive tasks automated.
  • Smart outsourcing impact: Increase in the percentage of tasks effectively outsourced to optimize team focus, cost, and stakeholder satisfaction, with a focus on improving overall quality rather than driving volume.

Key responsibilities

  • Process and workflow optimization

○ Document and standardize end-to-end workflows across all design sub-teams.
○ Redesign the intake and prioritization system for design requests to ensure clarity, transparency, and realistic timelines.
○ Implement tiered service levels (“quick-turn” vs. “strategic”) to balance responsiveness with deep creative work.
○ Automate repetitive tasks using templates, libraries, and AI-based tools.

  • Capacity and resource management

○ Maintain a live overview of team capacity, workload, and utilization.
○ Forecast upcoming demand and proactively adjust resources or outsourcing plans.
○ Lead vendor and outsourcing relationships for overflow or production design work.
○ Ensure sustainable team pacing and minimize overload

  • Tooling and systems

○ Own the design-tool ecosystem (Figma, DAM, YouTrack, Coverbaker, etc.).
○ Benchmark and pilot new technologies that improve efficiency and transparency.

  • Measurement and continuous improvement

○ Define and track key Design Ops KPIs (turnaround time, internal satisfaction, revision rates, automation coverage, etc.).
○ Create dashboards for leadership visibility and quarterly reviews.
○ Gather feedback from designers and stakeholders to iterate on processes.

  • Collaboration and communication

○ Act as the operational liaison between the Design team and internal “clients”.
○ Train teams on operational best practices and tool usage.
○ Support cultural initiatives that promote collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Initial priorities for the first six months

  • Audit current workflows – map all request paths, pain points, and hidden bottlenecks.
  • Design a new intake and prioritization model, tested with 1–2 pilot teams.
  • Launch a transparency dashboard (monitoring requests, queue, and turnaround) for internal visibility.
  • Establish quick-win automations (such as templated assets, intake forms, and AI support).
  • Define and run an outsourcing pilot scheme with a clear quality and review process.
  • Roll out a dashboard for tracking capacity and demand, presenting insights quarterly.
 
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