With 13 years’ design experience, I’ve worked for high-profile organisations with centuries of history to share, as well as world-class digital teams creating their own brand new stories.
Being both a designer and a leader, I’m currently a Product Design Manager for BT and EE. Since June 2019, I’ve helped set up, grown, and am continuing to develop one of the UK’s largest private sector product design teams and establishing new user-centred ways of working across three brilliant brands. I've led complete re-designs of our flagship alliances to become more user centred whilst managing budgets of £11M+, empowered squads to re-invent our service space across 2 platforms, serving more than 34 million customers.
Leading with empathy first, creating a space where collaboration, transparency and respect are principles embedded into the culture. This includes recruiting and retaining a diverse range of designers at scale, whilst it is important spotting the right culture fit, individuals whom will elevate the quality of design and inspire others, but also those who will thrive and grow within the organisation.
“Dev is one of the best design managers I have ever worked with and he played a major part in building the amazing design team and team culture we have today at BT. Not only is he a super talented designer in his own right, but he is an amazing leader of people. Whatever the situation he always finds time for his team and other designers outside of his team which is a testament to his popularity and approachability. I have been working with Dev over the last 4.5 years and the feedback from his team and his peers has been consistently positive and as his manager he was a dream to manage. He is the ultimate team player, a great coach and design leader who really takes care of his people and you know that is true when, through many team reorgs, the people he manages want to follow him. The support he gives me is also amazing. Always puts others first, which is what makes him so special. Every design team needs someone like Dev.”
— Rich Chong. Head of Product Design at BT/EE
“It's really great to find a manager that is super-supportive, helpful and provides as many opportunities as they can to give feedback, help you drive your skills forward and realise your potential. Along with the above Dev also provides a very unselfish, fair, balanced and unbiased approach to individuals and will always try to find the best in people. Dev has also been helping us achieve a strong design team focus, deliver great work and is really, really customer and UCD-focused.”
— David Jupp. Product Designer at BT/EE
“I was introduced to Devinda only a few months ago and we belong to different verticals but he has become an incremental part of my work life. We coordinate cross verticals on resource matters, ways of working, roadmap alignment, etc. He is a great listener, open to new ideas and very proactive in helping me and our other colleagues. Since we've started working together, relations cross verticals have drastically improved and together we are dedicated to maintaining this. this He's a really talented designer and is focused on the well being of his team and others around him. He engages with those around him and I believe he is a great representatives of what the new core values for Kindred mean.”
— Kristina Berin Donzelli - Product Engineering Lead at Kindred