How I lead

How I lead

Design is a tool of business. Valuable while it moves a business KPI - revenue, retention, adoption, trust. In a real product process that is messy, full of opinions and short timeframes - that takes a strong team, clear focus and right culture. Here is how I build them.

Design is a tool of business. Valuable while it moves a business KPI - revenue, retention, adoption, trust. In a real product process that is messy, full of opinions and short timeframes - that takes a strong team, clear focus and right culture. Here is how I build them.

Design is a tool of business. Valuable while it moves a business KPI - revenue, retention, adoption, trust. In a real product process that is messy, full of opinions and short timeframes - that takes a strong team, clear focus and right culture. Here is how I build them.

8

Full-time

designers hired

within career

300

Candidates

per role

on average

Candidates

per role

on average

80%

Retention rate

over 5 years

at enmacc

1 : 8

Designer

to developers

ratio

Designer

to developers

ratio

3

Designers promoted

to Senior and Staff

roles from mid-level

2

Former reports

got Lead and Staff

roles after Senior

roles in my team

Former reports

got Lead and Staff

roles after Senior

roles in my team

"An indispensable member of our Tech Triad leadership (Product + Engineering + Design)... His ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels, including C-Level executives, is a testament to his strategic thinking."

CTO, Enmacc
(former supervisor)

"An empathic leader who built an amazing design team from the ground up... a fresh and easy-going way of supporting each team member's growth, helping us move from mid-level roles to senior positions."

Design Lead, Enmacc

(former direct report)

"He built enmacc's design function from the ground up. Starting with close to nothing, he created a strong foundation himself and then scaled it by hiring and mentoring a talented team. That ability to scale while maintaining high standards is rare."

Co-founder and Managing Director, Enmacc

"In chaotic situations, he always keeps keeps his composure and delivers results. He provides clear guidance and expectations... The time I spent with Andrei helped me grow not only as a designer but also as a professional."

Visual Designer, Enmacc

(former direct report)

Align visions and gain stakeholders' trust

Align visions and gain stakeholders' trust

Align visions and gain stakeholders' trust

At enmacc design org I built went from order-taker to strategic partner. We designed a whole suite of pre-trade, trading and post-trade products with minimal headcount and 1-to-8 ratio to developers.

Research-driven decisions end taste debates.


Show the rationale and the business case, not just the mockup.

Research-driven decisions end taste debates.

Show the rationale and the business case, not just the mockup.

Trust is the asset everything depends on.


Slowly earned through empathy, storytelling, and research.

Trust is the asset everything depends on.

Slowly earned through empathy, storytelling, and research.

Positive communication moves teams.


No one sees the future - so make it bright, together.

Positive communication moves teams.

No one sees the future - so make it bright, together.

Driving change through influence.


Growing “idea seeds” among the stakeholders to make changes happen when the time is right.

Driving change through influence.

Growing “idea seeds” among the stakeholders to make changes happen when the time is right.

Company OKR as a guiding star.


Being aligned with business priorities is the way to decide what gets executed this quarter.

Company OKR as a guiding star.

Being aligned with business priorities is the way to decide what gets executed this quarter.

Presenting the "Concept Car" UX Vision to C-suite and Engineering

Quarterly OKR workshop with Tech Triad: CTO, Head of Product and Head of Engineering - turning company goals into design priorities

Grow and run a team

Grow and run a team

Grow and run a team

As a leader my job is to make design function work without me. Autonomy of each designer and ability to tackle tasks without my help is a main metric.

Every designer has a natural strength.


I find it, put it to work, and help fill what's missing. We've used Gallup StrengthsFinder to make this deliberate.

Every designer has a natural strength.

I find it, put it to work, and help fill what's missing. We've used Gallup StrengthsFinder to make this deliberate.

Ownership of live features, not just Figma.

My designers ship, measure, and iterate real products. You learn more from one shipped feature than ten prototypes.

Ownership of live features, not just Figma.
My designers ship, measure, and iterate real products. You learn more from one shipped feature than ten prototypes.

Room to make mistakes, time to grow.

No one grows on someone else's failures. I protect the safety to take risks and the time to build new skills.

Room to make mistakes, time to grow.
No one grows on someone else's failures. I protect the safety to take risks and the time to build new skills.

Rituals with a purpose, not overhead.

1-on-1s, focus time, group feedback, cross-team retros - each earns its place or it goes.

Rituals with a purpose, not overhead.
1-on-1s, focus time, group feedback, cross-team retros - each earns its place or it goes.

360-degree reviews for each designer.

Making development plans and summarising feedback of 10 colleagues

360-degree reviews for each designer.
Making development plans and summarising feedback of 10 colleagues

The team at PUSH UX conference, Munich - investing in growth

Gallup StrengthsFinder workshop - mapping natural strengths

Weekly design feedback round on Mondays

Cross-team retros - catching misalignment and conflict early.

Multiplier work

Multiplier work

Multiplier work

1

UX Vision I created with the team unlocked a whole new product category.


Multi-commodity trading products (Clean Spark spreads, Green-Grey swaps etc) became possible with a change in software architecture.

UX Vision I created with the team unlocked a whole new product category.

Multi-commodity trading products (Clean Spark spreads, Green-Grey swaps etc) became possible with a change in software architecture.

2

Design System adopted by engineering.


That brought 20% speed up in delivery of features.

Design System adopted by engineering.

That brought 20% speed up in delivery of features.

3

My team’s Task ticketing was adopted by 3 other departments.


I built it using Zoho CRM, that company used, but approach is tool agnostic.

My team’s Task ticketing was adopted by 3 other departments.

I built it using Zoho CRM, that company used, but approach is tool agnostic.

4

New internal documents package was adopted by Legal and Sales.

New contracts with clients and employees are now perfectly readable, clear and branded.

New internal documents package was adopted by Legal and Sales.
New contracts with clients and employees are now perfectly readable, clear and branded.

5

Branded assets library was heavily used by Sales and Marketing.

That included image library, corporate Zoom backgrounds, presentation templates, Icons, logotypes.

Branded assets library was heavily used by Sales and Marketing.
That included image library, corporate Zoom backgrounds, presentation templates, Icons, logotypes.

Show appreciation and build belonging

Show appreciation and build belonging

Show appreciation and build belonging

Teams, not lone stars. Room for everyone to shine and share the credit.

Recognition for substance, not hours. People put their soul in - make sure it's seen.

It should be fun and challenging. We spend days in front of screens - make it worth it.

A custom hoodie with the frame-rate number that saved a deadline for E-world Trade fair - appreciation made personal.

Wall of Fame - every team member, recognised

Custom made branded beers

Leading means hard calls too: saying no, cutting a loved feature, telling someone it's not there yet. I do it directly, with care.

Leading means hard calls too: saying no, cutting a loved feature, telling someone it's not there yet. I do it directly, with care.

Leading means hard calls too: saying no, cutting a loved feature, telling someone it's not there yet. I do it directly, with care.

I am targeting Staff / Principal Product Designer roles and Product Design Lead / Manager roles. Based in 🇩🇪 Munich. Open to hybrid and remote.


Let's get in touch!

I am targeting Staff / Principal Product Designer roles and Product Design Lead / Manager roles. Based in 🇩🇪 Munich. Open to hybrid and remote.


Let's get in touch!

I am targeting Staff / Principal Product Designer roles and Product Design Lead / Manager roles. Based in 🇩🇪 Munich. Open to hybrid and remote.


Let's get in touch!

I am targeting Staff / Principal Product Designer roles and Product Design Lead / Manager roles. Based in 🇩🇪 Munich. Open to hybrid and remote.


Let's get in touch!