Building environments where great design thrives

My leadership philosophy is built on a simple foundation: empower talented people, establish clear processes, and relentlessly connect design's impact to business success. I don't just manage designers, I cultivate a culture of strategic partnership, operational excellence, and continuous growth.

My leadership philosophy

I lead with empathy, clarity, and a deep-seated belief in the power of collaboration. For me, a successful design organisation is one where every team member feels a strong sense of ownership, psychological safety, and a direct connection to the customer. My core principles are:

  • People First, Always: The best products are built by happy, motivated, and supported teams. I prioritize mentorship and create clear career pathways to help every designer grow and achieve their professional goals.
  • Clarity over Comfort: I foster an environment of radical candor where constructive feedback is a gift. We challenge ideas, not people, ensuring we arrive at the strongest possible solutions.
  • Business-Minded Creativity: I champion a culture where designers are strategic partners. We don't just solve user problems; we identify opportunities and deliver solutions that are viable for the business and technically feasible.  

Building & scaling teams

Building a high-performing design team is my passion. It's a deliberate process of identifying the right talent, defining clear roles, and creating an inclusive environment where everyone can contribute their unique strengths.

  • Hiring & Onboarding: At Prozis, I built the UX design practice from the ground up, hiring and onboarding an 8-person distributed team. I developed a structured hiring process that assessed not just craft, but also collaborative spirit and strategic thinking.

  • Mentorship & Career Growth: I believe in growing leaders from within. I establish regular 1:1s, personalized development plans, and skill-based workshops. I successfully mentored senior designers into lead roles, strengthening the team's overall capability.

  • Structuring for Success: As UX Manager at OutSystems, I helped structure a large, 80-person design and research organization. This involved defining clear responsibilities for sub-teams like Design Systems and Research Ops to ensure we could operate effectively at scale.  

Fostering cross-functional collaboration

Design cannot succeed in a silo. I act as the connective tissue between design, product management, and engineering, ensuring we operate as one cohesive product development team.

  • Shared Rituals & Processes: I integrate design into the entire product lifecycle by establishing shared rituals like co-creation workshops, design sprints, and regular triad meetings (Product, Design, Engineering). This builds mutual respect and a shared understanding of goals.
  • Communicating the 'Why': I ensure the team is not just executing on a roadmap but understands the "why" behind it. By connecting design decisions to user needs and business KPIs, I empower my team to make better, more autonomous decisions.
  • Creating a Common Language: I champion tools and processes that create transparency. Whether it's a shared Figma library, a transparent project tracker, or joint planning sessions, my goal is to break down barriers and foster a "one team" mentality. 

Design operations & systems 

Creativity needs a framework to be effective at scale. I specialize in building the operational backbone that allows design teams to deliver high-quality, consistent work efficiently.

  • Driving Design System Adoption: At Namecheap, I managed the Design System team, creating a robust set of components and guidelines. This wasn't just about building a library; it was about driving adoption, providing training, and establishing a governance model that empowered both designers and developers to build faster and more consistently.
  • Establishing Communities of Practice (CoPs): To nurture our design culture at OutSystems, I established four CoPs (Product Design, UX/UI, Content, Research). These communities became the engine for skill-sharing, standardizing critiques, and elevating our collective craft.
  • Optimizing Tools & Workflows: I constantly evaluate and refine our team's tools and workflows to remove friction. This includes standardizing our design process, managing our software stack, and implementing systems that free up designers to focus on what they do best: solving problems.

Made with ❤️ by Sónia Gomes @2024

Get in touch!    ☎  +351 917 373 380    ?  hello@soniagomes.me

Get in touch!                                                                                        ☎  +351 917 373 380    ?  hello@soniagomes.me