Design Leadership

Role: Product Design Manager

Organization: Corpay (Fintech)

Team size: 4 Product Designers and 1 Researcher (1 lead, 2 senior, 1 intermediate, 1 junior)

Overview

When I joined Corpay as Product Design Manager, I stepped into a team full of experienced, talented people. Some had been with the company for years and knew the product inside out. But even with all that individual strength, the team was missing shared structure, clear focus, and scalable ways of working. My goal was to bring everyone together, build alignment, and shape a strong, human-centered design team that could thrive in a fast moving fintech environment. I also made it a priority to align our design strategy with company values and business goals, so the team's work could drive real impact.

Team Development & Culture Building

Challenges

No consistent 1:1s or career growth plans.
Designers feeling siloed from each other and from product/engineering.
Limited feedback loops or space for design critique.

What I Did

Introduced weekly 1:1s with a focus on trust, coaching, and career goals.
Created a shared design ritual calendar (crits, retros, async feedback).
Developed a growth framework aligned with performance reviews, with clear leveling and competencies.
Facilitated a shift toward a coaching culture with designers mentoring each other.

Result

Designer satisfaction (measured via pulse surveys) improved by 40%.
Designers began proactively initiating cross-team collaboration.

Laying the Foundation

When I joined the company, there was no design system; just scattered styles and inconsistent patterns. I started by identifying repeatable UI elements, documenting them, and working with engineers to align on standards. It was a slow build, but over time we created a shared foundation that made our work faster, more consistent, and easier to scale.

Establishing a Design Roadmap

Challenge

Design work was largely reactive, tied to product tickets, and lacking long-term vision.

What I Did

Co-created a quarterly design roadmap aligned with product OKRs and tech timelines.
Prioritized initiatives across core product UX, design debt, and research needs.
Created a visibility layer for stakeholders through a shared Figma/Miro dashboard.

Result

Reduced design rework by 30% due to clearer planning.
Design now participates early in quarterly planning and roadmap reviews.

Cross-Functional Alignment

Challenge

Design was not always seen as a strategic partner by product and engineering.

What I Did

Established Design–Product–Engineering weekly syncs.
Ran joint kickoff workshops to align on problem space and constraints.
Introduced a shared language around design principles, business impact, and UX metrics.

Result

Faster alignment, fewer iterations caused by misalignment.
PMs now involve design in early problem definition, not just UI execution.

Performance & Impact

Turning 1:1s into real conversations

Instead of just status updates, I made space for honest, focused chats around growth, challenges, and wellbeing. These regular check-ins helped the team feel more supported and seen.

Making our work more visible

I introduced simple tools , shared roadmaps, async updates, open design reviews, so design wasn’t happening in a vacuum anymore. Stakeholders knew what we were working on and felt more connected to the process.

Building a stronger sense of team

We set up rituals like design critiques, retros, and even a shared Slack channel just for feedback. These helped us collaborate more closely and create a culture where everyone’s voice mattered.

Getting design involved earlier
We went from being brought in late to having a seat at the table. I worked with PMs and engineers to bring design into product planning early, so we could shape solutions instead of just polishing them.

What I learned

Good management is more about creating clarity and psychological safety than giving answers.
Scaling culture is just as important as scaling output.
Listening deeply and adapting your leadership style per designer unlocks growth faster than one size fits all mentorship.

Final Thoughts

This experience solidified my identity as not just a design leader, but a team builder, coach, and strategic partner. My north star as a manager is to enable autonomy, empower people, and scale impact; one conversation, system, and vision at a time.