Building & SCaling High-Performing Design Orgs

In my career, I’ve built thriving design teams in every environment: creating a UX org from scratch, scaling for hyper-growth, and rebooting a team for business impact.

Across each, my approach is rooted in clarity of vision, operational rigor, and a deep commitment to elevating design’s influence on business outcomes.

Building a Design Org
from Scratch

General Electric

At GE, I launched a new UX organization from the ground up, securing $2.5M in program funding by presenting a compelling design-led strategy to Digital P&L leaders. In under a year, I scaled the team to 25+ researchers, designers, and strategists, with a clearly defined mission, value proposition, and operating model.

I also founded the award-winning Innovation Accelerator Lab—a hybrid of physical space, digital platform, and cross-functional team—that became central to GE’s business strategy. Within a year, the lab launched multiple new products and I took ownership of a $50M innovation budget, tightly integrating business strategy with design thinking.

To democratize innovation, we built an immersive Design Thinking Program that trained 100+ product leaders and analysts. This program expanded organizational capacity for user-centered problem-solving, dramatically improving our success-to-failure ratio and reshaping GE’s approach to R&D.

Role

  • Business Development
  • Engagement Scoping
  • Creative Direction
  • Workshop Facilitation
  • Program Management & Execution

TOP: Selected slides used to build support for the team's existence
BOTTOM: Standardized design process; RIGHT: Team roles & responsibilities

Preparing A Design Org
for Hyper-Scale

OpenGov

At OpenGov, my mission was to prepare the design team for aggressive growth ahead of a potential IPO—improving morale, building scalable foundations, and elevating design quality across an expanding product suite.

I addressed immediate needs by improving team morale, strengthening cross-functional relationships, and creating clear roles, responsibilities, and career ladders. I then developed a growth blueprint—mapping current skills to future needs, streamlining recruiting, and accelerating onboarding.

We established consistent design processes, launched a UX research program, and optimized internal workflows to improve efficiency and external collaboration. Within two years, the team grew to 15 designers across two new locations, strategically reducing per-headcount cost while attracting top-tier talent. This groundwork built the operational muscle for continuous discovery and data-driven design at scale.

OpenGov was acquired for $1.8 billion in 2024.

LEFT: Artifacts from initial team assessment; co-created design principles
TOP-RIGHT: Team retro workshop artifact;
BOTTOM-RIGHT: Sample career map exercise I hosted company-wide

Role

  • Business Development
  • Engagement Scoping
  • Creative Direction
  • Workshop Facilitation
  • Program Management & Execution
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
— Quote Source

Rebooting A Design ORG
for Impact & Scale

PandaDoc

At PandaDoc, I partnered with the CEO, CTO, and CPO to transform the company into a design-led organization. I spearheaded a comprehensive organizational overhaul to enhance quality and amplify design’s voice. Partnering with senior leadership, I secured buy-in for a transformation plan focused on talent, process, and measurable impact.

I reorganized the team from UI-focused roles to full-stack UX designers, aligned with product squads in a 1:1:1 ratio with PMs and engineers, each owning clear product metrics. I evolved UX Research to deliver strategic, big-picture insights that influenced company-wide decisions.

To scale excellence, I introduced a repeatable design process with early critiques, adopted planning ratios with EPD leaders, and embedded UX Research as a core driver of product improvements. I also invested in talent growth—rebalancing team seniority, implementing OKRs, and providing mentorship and training to build a resilient, high-performing organization.

Role

  • Creative Direction
  • Workshop Facilitation
  • Quality Control
  • UX Research
  • Synthesis
  • Ideation
  • Interaction Design