Head of Design Department

Head of Design Department

Location: Bucharest, Romania
Position Type: Full-time, hybrid

Mission & Scope

The Head of Design Department is responsible for defining and leading the creative and visual direction of all Ezugi products, games, and branded experiences.
This leadership role ensures consistency, innovation, and excellence across UI/UX, game art, motion design, video editing, and visual identity.

The position combines strategic management, creative direction, and cross-departmental coordination, ensuring that every visual element — from early concept to final delivery — aligns with the company’s product strategy and player experience goals.

Key Responsibilities

A. Department Leadership & Management

• Lead and mentor the Design team (UI/UX Designers, Game Artists, Video Editors, and Motion Designers).

• Define the department’s vision, strategy, and design standards aligned with company objectives.

• Manage team structure, hiring, onboarding, and continuous professional development.

• Conduct regular 1:1 meetings, feedback sessions, and annual performance evaluations.

• Prioritize and allocate workload across the team, ensuring efficient delivery and balanced distribution.

• Foster a collaborative, innovative, and high-performing creative culture.

• Represent the Design department in management meetings and cross-functional planning sessions.

B. Creative Direction & Design Oversight

• Define and maintain visual guidelines and brand identity standards for all Ezugi products and internal projects.

• Supervise the full creative pipeline — from research and ideation to design, prototyping, and delivery.

• Approve final creative assets before handoff to development or marketing.

• Ensure that the user interface (UI), game environments, and visual storytelling are consistent across products.

• Guide and validate the UX flow and player experience across all devices and game types.

• Lead creative reviews and design critiques to ensure high-quality visual output.

• Oversee the creation of mood boards, wireframes, and game flows that define the artistic direction.

• Collaborate with Product Owners to align design intent with functional and business requirements.

C. Process Management & Workflow Optimization

• Establish and continuously improve internal workflows for discovery, ideation, design, delivery, and optimization.

• Oversee project tracking and workload visibility in Jira and Confluence.

• Maintain accurate documentation of processes, asset libraries, and sign-off procedures.

• Ensure clear handoff procedures for development teams, including Figma exports, SharePoint uploads, and Confluence sign-offs.

• Monitor timelines, dependencies, and deliverables across all ongoing design projects.

• Implement and refine internal review cycles, version control, and feedback loops.

• Drive standardization and automation where possible (templates, asset management, naming conventions).

D. Cross-Departmental Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with R&D, Product Owners, Growth Team, Studio Operations, Arcade, Commercial (KAMs), and QA.

• Participate in project kick-offs to understand technical, product, and marketing requirements.

• Act as the primary creative liaison for branding, game customization, and special event designs (e.g., seasonal themes such as Halloween or Branded Roulette).

• Support integration and development teams by providing accurate and adaptable visual assets.

• Coordinate with IT and Infrastructure for file storage and hosting (OneDrive, local servers).

• Collaborate with external studios and suppliers (e.g., ParcFilm) for high-end production content.

• Ensure the creative team delivers within cross-departmental SLAs and communication standards.

E. Tools, Technology & Innovation

• Manage tool adoption and licenses across the Design team (Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, Premiere, Audition, Gemini, nano-banana, etc.).

• Evaluate and integrate new AI-driven creative tools to optimize design production.

• Maintain relationships with IT for hardware and storage performance (e.g., OneDrive, cloud management, video file hosting).

• Drive innovation in visual storytelling through 3D, animation, and real-time visual prototyping.

• Explore the use of generative AI (e.g., Gemini, Nano-Banana) to streamline asset creation and design ideation.

F. Quality Assurance & Sign-Off

• Review and approve all visual assets before release to ensure consistency, performance, and compliance with brand guidelines.

• Collaborate with QA teams to validate final game visuals against design specifications.

• Ensure sign-off processes are documented and followed in Confluence.

• Conduct post-launch reviews to identify improvement opportunities and lessons learned.

• Oversee optimization of assets for performance and scalability.

G. Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Prepare monthly and quarterly reports summarizing:

  • Design output and project delivery metrics

  • Team performance and capacity utilization

  • Ongoing initiatives and innovation highlights

• Identify recurring bottlenecks and implement corrective measures.

• Propose strategic design initiatives to improve the player and operator experience.

• Maintain department OKRs aligned with company goals and creative innovation.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Design, Visual Communication, or related creative fields.
  

• Experience:

  • Minimum 7–10 years in creative or design roles, with at least 3 years in leadership.

  • Proven track record in UI/UX design, game art, and creative direction.

  • Experience in online gaming, entertainment, or software product environments preferred.

• Technical Proficiency:

  • Expert in Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Jira, and Confluence.

  • Working knowledge of video and sound editing tools (Premiere, Audition).

  • Familiarity with AI image-generation tools (Gemini, Nano-Banana).
    

• Languages: Fluent English (written and spoken).

Core Competencies

• Creative Vision: Ability to define and maintain a coherent artistic and design direction.

• Leadership: Empowers and motivates designers across diverse disciplines.

• Strategic Thinking: Balances innovation with business and operational realities.

• Communication: Clear, structured, and persuasive when interacting with stakeholders.

• Organization: Manages multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.

• Attention to Detail: Ensures pixel-perfect delivery and visual harmony.

• Adaptability: Quickly incorporates feedback and navigates shifting priorities.

• Collaboration: Builds strong partnerships across teams and departments.