Find the perfect Heads of Design in Germany in minutes from 15,000 CVs with the power of AI.
Bring in design direction for product teams, brand systems, design ops, and cross-functional workshops. From design leadership to hands-on reviews and team alignment, get fast, precise matching with vetted, available freelancers.
About the role
What they do
A Head of Design sets the design direction and makes sure it holds across products, brand, and customer touchpoints. This is the person companies bring in when design needs structure, stronger decisions, and clear ownership.
- Define design principles and standards
- Lead product, brand, or UX design work
- Align design with product, engineering, and marketing
- Review interfaces, flows, and visual systems
- Improve design handoff and team routines
They often work under titles such as design director, design lead, or creative director, depending on the company setup. In Germany, they are common in B2B software, e-commerce, mobility, and industrial businesses that need design to support complex products and multiple teams.
Core skills
Strong Heads of Design combine taste with structure. They know how to critique work, set a clear bar, and still keep delivery moving.
- Product design and UX thinking
- Brand systems and visual consistency
- Team leadership and coaching
- Workshop facilitation and stakeholder alignment
- Design ops, process, and prioritization
They should be able to move between discovery, concept work, review, and decision-making. Good candidates know when to be hands-on and when to guide senior designers, freelancers, and agencies.
Typical work
Freelance Heads of Design are often brought in for change, scale, or turnaround work. Companies use them when they need design leadership before a permanent hire is ready, or when the internal team needs outside direction.
- Design audits and roadmap review
- Rebuilding a design system
- Leading a new product or rebrand
- Supporting a hiring process or team reset
- Coaching in-house designers and setting quality standards
In Germany, this is especially useful for teams that work across local and international markets, where clear communication in English and German may both matter.
What good looks like
A strong Head of Design leaves behind more than polished screens. They create clarity, better decisions, and a design culture that can keep working after the project ends.
- Clear design rationale, not just nice visuals
- Consistent output across channels and products
- Better collaboration with product and engineering
- Practical systems that teams can maintain
- A visible lift in quality and alignment
Look for someone who can explain trade-offs, run a review without ego, and adapt to the company stage. For freelance work, that balance matters more than a long title list.
Meet FRATCH Heads of Design
Martin Steiner
Product Design
Last position:
Product & Design Lead at Premium Technology
- Led product & design (5 reports), hiring and development of team
- Implemented product squads, innovated around data ingestion and analysis.
- €0.5M to €4M ARR in 18 months
Verena Michel
Design Lead
Last position:
Design Lead at Freelancer
- Deepening competencies in strategic leadership, AI applications in design, new work, innovation, and change management
- Completed full-time "Digital Leadership" program (grade: very good) and the "Super Intensive" English course (certificate: C1)
- Professional development through online courses, lectures, workshops, and active participation in industry and networking events
Reuf Kadic
Independent mechanical development engineer, head of design and development of the pipedeck
Last position:
Independent mechanical development engineer, head of design and development of the pipedeck at Herrenknecht Vertikal GmbH
- Development and design of a new oil drilling machine for the Beatrice oil rig in Scotland
- Concept design of the pipe-overdeck platform with crane, total load 200 tonnes
- Static FEM and CFD flow analysis to ensure safe discharge of oil-contaminated wastewater
- Planning, calculation and design of the concept
- Management of 5 designers
- CAD: CREO, Model Manager, SAP
- FKM, VDI 2230 and Euro Code 3
Chengbei Miao
Design Department Manager / AI Digitalization Engineer
Last position:
Design Department Manager / AI Digitalization Engineer at Günther Maschinenbau GmbH
- Design and implementation of an industrial CRM system to support sales, converting technical drawings into a structured product knowledge base, enabling fast, intelligent search and product-line presentations without a CAD environment – as a foundation for AI-driven configuration and layout automation
- Development of an internal AI-driven digitization web application (Machine Process Tracker) to centralize machine processes from completion to pickup, including DoD checklists, continuous improvement measures, and ERP integration
- Automatic risk detection using traffic light logic and data-based transparency across all business areas
- Technical and disciplinary leadership of the E-KON & M-KON teams
- End-to-end responsibility: machine design → hardware → software
- Standardization, quality management, and team and resource planning
- Introduction of new technologies to ensure the systems' future viability
- Design and implementation of graphical user interfaces for machine operation and monitoring
- Development of cross-platform applications with the Qt framework and C++
- Programming of machine controls
- Analysis of customer requirements and development of custom automation solutions
- Support for on-site commissioning of machines and systems
- Documentation and maintenance of code for sustainable upkeep and expansion
René Schiebelhut
UX and Design Lead
Last position:
UX and Design Lead at 50 Hertz Transmission GmbH
- UX strategy & analysis: analyzing requirements and research results as a basis for creating structured user journeys in the "MCCS" project (realtime data/data governance).
- Design & prototyping: transforming the journeys into a consistent UI design and interactive prototypes using Figma while meeting technical requirements.
- validation & documentation: conducting usability tests with follow-up design refinements and creating detailed technical documentation.
- Tools: Figma, Confluence, Lovable, Miro, Design Systems
Seisho Freelancer
Design Advisory
Last position:
Design Advisory at Pliant
- Supporting all design-related topics including rebranding projects
- Hiring designers and establishing a cross-functional collaboration model
Vale Querini
Product Design Team Lead
Last position:
Product Design Team Lead at saas.group
- Managed a central team of 3 senior product designers
- Acted as practice lead for several junior and mid-level designers across the brands of the group
- Developed the company's product design career framework, including level progression and competency matrix
- Provided strategic product design direction and process optimization support across multiple cross-functional teams
- Guided product leaders on design discovery methods and design-driven value creation, building and spreading knowledge across teams
- Developed educational content, including articles, templates, and presentations
Vito Ianniello
Chief Designer
Last position:
Chief Designer at Vitovision GmbH
- Market research and market trend analysis
- Design development for wheels and aerodynamic components in car refinement
- Design and construction support (prototype building, visualization, animation, car configurator)
- Project management including budget responsibility
- Design responsibility for the ABT group in coordination with internal and external partners
- Visualization of creative ideas in the management circle with passion and conviction
- Development of many innovations up to utility models and patents, recommended involvement in Formula E 2012
- Application of strong skills in 2D/3D CAD (Pro/Engineer Creo), rendering, and construction
- Advising ABT group management and external clients, full project leadership to market readiness
- Internal and external negotiations, technical sales approach
- Leading and motivating a design team (up to 4 designers)
Paul Feher
UX/UI Senior Engineering Consultant (UX/UI Design Lead)
Last position:
UX/UI Senior Engineering Consultant (UX/UI Design Lead) at ALTEN GmbH
- Design lead, introduction and workshop for Figma
- BMW SP25 and validation of MGU22
- Sixt branch software concept and design
- PVA Tepla software UX/UI
Discover over 15,000 top freelancers
Heads of Design statistics
Typical experience
18 years
Average project duration
5 years
Certifications per freelancer
2
Top business areas
Product Development, Project Management, Research and Development
Top industries
Information Technology, Manufacturing, Media and Entertainment
Most common languages
German, English, Italian
Bachelor's degree or higher
88%
Master's degree or higher
38%
Salary / Daily Rate Distribution
The chart shows how the daily rates of freelancers in this role are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows how many freelancers charge within that range. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Average rates for Heads of Design & Seniority distribution
Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.
The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.
The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.
Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions in mind? Get key insights about FRATCH
A Head of Design usually sets direction, reviews key work, and helps the team make consistent decisions. The scope can include product design, brand systems, design ops, or a mix of all three. Many clients also expect support in workshops, stakeholder alignment, and design critique.
Hire a Head of Design when the challenge is leadership, not only execution. If the team needs standards, alignment, or a stronger design system, this role is a better fit than a senior hands-on designer. A design lead may focus on one squad or stream, while a head of design looks across the whole function.
The best Head of Design candidates combine product thinking, visual judgment, and team leadership. They should be able to guide UX decisions, improve brand consistency, and work closely with product and engineering. Communication matters as much as craft, because the job is often about making trade-offs clear.
A Head of Design usually owns the design function across product, digital experience, or the broader customer journey. A creative director is often more focused on campaign work, brand expression, or agency output. In some companies the titles overlap, so the actual remit matters more than the label.
A freelance Head of Design makes sense when you need leadership quickly, have a gap in the team, or want outside perspective on a specific challenge. It also works well for redesigns, reorganizations, and interim cover. If the need is long-term team ownership and hiring, a permanent role may be better.
Yes, many Heads of Design work remotely, especially on systems work, strategy, and team setup. On-site sessions can still help for workshops, stakeholder interviews, or a reset with the full team. For German companies, English is often enough, but German can be useful in local stakeholder settings.
Look for clear examples of decision-making, not just polished portfolios. A strong Head of Design can explain how they improved quality, handled disagreement, and made the team more effective. Ask how they set standards, how they work with product and engineering, and what changed after their involvement.
A freelance Head of Design should prepare a quick view of the current design setup, the team structure, and the main pain points. It helps to review the product, brand assets, research findings, and any design system or guidelines already in place. The faster they understand the context, the faster they can make useful decisions.
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Philipp Thomaschewski
FRATCH CEO
