Technical Operations Manager (Design team)

At JetBrains, code is our passion. Since 2000, we’ve been committed to creating world-class tools that empower developers to do their best work. Our tools automate routine tasks so engineers can focus on creativity, innovation, and solving real problems. The Design Operations Manager is the operational backbone of JetBrains’ design organization. Reporting to the Head of Design, this role builds the systems, tools, and processes that make design faster, smarter, and more scalable – empowering designers to focus on creativity and quality. They optimize demand, improve throughput, and implement automation, tooling, and outsourcing to balance speed with excellence.

 

• Speed: Reduction of average request-to-delivery time while maintaining design quality and creativity.
• Quality: Increase in internal stakeholder satisfaction (NPS), with measurable gains in perceived design quality, reliability, and responsiveness.
• Creativity: Increase in the percentage of projects rated “high creativity” in post-reviews, indicating that operational systems enable, not limit, creative excellence.
• Team workload balance: Reduction in the percentage of designers reporting sustained overload.
• Automation impact: Increase in the percentage of recurring or repetitive tasks automated.
• Smart outsourcing impact: Increase in the percentage of tasks effectively outsourced to optimize team focus, cost, and stakeholder satisfaction, with a focus on improving overall quality rather than driving volume.

• Process and workflow optimization

○ Document and standardize end-to-end workflows across all design sub-teams.
○ Redesign the intake and prioritization system for design requests to ensure clarity, transparency, and realistic timelines.
○ Implement tiered service levels (“quick-turn” vs. “strategic”) to balance responsiveness with deep creative work.
○ Automate repetitive tasks using templates, libraries, and AI-based tools.

• Capacity and resource management