Head of Product Design, Value Delivery

Job Description

Team

Woven by Toyota is building Arene, a world-class software development platform that supports Toyota's renewed focus in Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) development and empowers the evolution of the relationship between hardware and software. Arene is at the core of this foundational shift and will provide the pipeline, tools, and processes that engineers need to deliver new software to the vehicles — quickly and safely. Join the Arene User Experience team and get to represent the voice of our users as we shape the future of the automotive industry! You will report to the head of Value Delivery. This role is a hybrid role.

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for a passionate and seasoned product design leader who will guide and inspire our User Experience team to deliver valuable products that are founded on customer understanding and user-centered insights. A strategic manager who can grasp high-level business needs, and then balance user needs, business requirements, and technical constraints. Someone who has experience optimizing but also clarifying the ambiguous by helping to take products from 0 to 1.

Someone who is comfortable engaging business and engineering stakeholders in thoughtful conversations, who can understand their expectations and has experience collaborating with them. Above all, someone who is committed to lead design and research activities, while advocating for user-centered practices across and beyond our organization.

The fact is: the automotive world is complex and full of moving parts, and technology is evolving at a rapid pace. That's why we need a leader who is capable of analyzing the issues we are tackling, embrace the intricacies of the processes, foresee the ramifications of UX decisions on products no one has built before, and deliver value to Toyota. The team, alongside our product partners, will shape the future of mobility software — it's a big deal.

Responsibilities

As the Head of Product Design for Arene, you will drive the UX strategy and execution in a technical environment, leading the team that is setting the standards for vehicle software development at Toyota. You'll advocate for the user and customer needs across the organization to steer the products and their roadmap.

Specifically

• Translate strategic goals into well-scoped activities that support the end-to-end UX design strategy, according to the broader UX and company-wide goals
• Build trusting relationships with product and business leadership to increase transparency, understanding, and awareness of the importance of user needs
• Lead and mentor a team of product designers and user researchers through constructive feedback
• Ensure the voice of our users is the foundation for product and design strategy, and is backed by qualitative and quantitative insights gathered through research
• Maintain visual and service design standards that promote a user experience and align products with our overall brand vision

Day-to-day, you will have the chance to reshape the future of software development at Toyota and help grow the practice of UX within Toyota. By working with teams located all over the globe, you'll take part in Toyota's transition from a "traditional" car manufacturer into a mobility company.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience delivering UX, product, or service design work for software tools and web (with 5 years of experience in a team management role)
• Experience launching new products from conception to go-to-market
• Experience with user-centered design principles and practices and a portfolio to prove it
• Great stakeholders management at all levels
• Experience with UX leadership, including mentorship and demonstrated desire to support the growth and success of a group of outstanding designers and researchers
• Spoken and written English fluency

Nice to Haves

• Experience designing enterprise software tools and services, including developer tools
• Experience working with new technology and helping product teams create new products
• Experience with UX practice in an enterprise (B2B) environment
• Experience in the automotive industry
• Japanese language proficiency

If you are located outside of Japan we will set up an interview over Google Hangout Meet or Skype.

About the Company

Woven by Toyota is the mobility technology subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation. Our mission is to deliver safe, intelligent, human-centered mobility for all. Through our Arene mobility software platform, safety-first automated driving technology and Toyota Woven City — our test course for advanced mobility — we’re bringing greater freedom, safety and happiness to people and society.

Our unique global culture weaves modern Silicon Valley innovation and time-tested Japanese quality craftsmanship. We leverage these complementary strengths to amplify the capabilities of drivers, foster happiness, and elevate well-being.

What We Offer

• Competitive Salary - Based on experience
• Work Hours - Flexible working time with NO core-hours
• Paid Holiday - 20 days per year (prorated)
• Sick Leave - 6 days per year (prorated)
• Holiday - Sat & Sun, Japanese National Holidays, and other days defined by our company
• Japanese Social Security - all applicable (Health Insurance, Pension, Workers’ Comp, and Unemployment Insurance, Long-term care insurance)
• In-house Training Program (software study/language study)

Our Commitment

• We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity.
• We pledge that any information we receive from you will be used ONLY for the purpose of hiring assessment.