Not every company needs a full-time head of design. But almost every company needs someone who can spot the mess, bring clarity, and get things moving again.
That is where fractional design leadership comes in.
This is not freelancing. It is not a stack of pitch decks. It is not management theatre pretending to be progress.
It is deep design and product experience, applied at the right level for where your team is right now.
Recently, I spoke with a small startup who believed they just needed a contractor to “finish off” some design work. But once we started talking through their context, it became clear that execution was not their problem. They were struggling with direction. They had design, product, and brand decisions piling up with no clear through line. What they actually needed was someone to help shape the design function itself and build internal capability. Not someone to tick off tickets.
That is fractional design leadership: bringing strategic clarity that creates immediate momentum.
I have led design in banks, fintech startups, digital agencies, and early-stage health tech. I have built design teams from scratch, repaired broken ones, and embedded design capability into environments where it had never existed before.
Strategic focus without the full-time overhead
You get senior design leadership and product clarity without needing to hire a full-time executive. I work part-time, but think about the whole system. I give you what is essential now, and set up what is needed next.
Calm senior input when everything feels messy
When teams are overwhelmed, I help cut through the noise. I do not bring more process. I bring order. I have helped companies navigate messy growth stages, both in lean startups like Up and in complex corporates like Bendigo Bank.
A simple system to clarify priorities and unblock your team
From day one, I help teams work out what actually matters and what can wait. Most design problems are really just clarity problems. Once the path is clear, momentum follows.
Design thinking that connects product, brand, and engineering
Design is not a silo. It sits across every part of the product. I help teams work across boundaries and make better decisions together. The best work happens when brand, product, and tech pull in the same direction.
Guidance on first hires or course-correcting past ones
I have built design functions from scratch and reset ones that lost their way. If you are hiring your first designer, or realising that you hired too junior, I can help you work out what good looks like and get your team on track.