It has been just over a year since I transitioned from running a startup to being a department head at an established international company. It has been a huge learning experience and I’ve experienced massive change in the last year both professionally and personally (I also moved in with my girlfriend and got engaged!)

The new role.

My job is to oversee the design and development of around 150 products a year. Four teams report to me; products designers, sculptors, graphic designers and bespoke product designers for custom corporate orders.

I have to come up with the briefs for (hopefully popular) new products that meet the market requirements of the different countries we sell in. I have to ensure all the teams work together so they are launched on schedule, this includes the visual marketing assets as well as the design and engineering of the products. I also have to create and enforce the department budget and report at quarterly board meetings.

Challenges and achievements.

One of my biggest challenges as a young, new department head is to get my middle managers on board with my ideas for change. They are 10 to 20 years older than me and have been with the company as long. These seasoned managers have seen many department heads over the years and are naturally resistant to my agenda of change.

My biggest achievement in the last year was setting up the digital design studio. I hired a digital sculptor, invested in 3D scanners and 3D printers and trained the designers on the new technologies. The results of this are i) faster product development through faster iterations and ii) interesting designs that push the boundaries for pewter product design. The company is already on the forefront of pewter manufacturing and this new technology is allowing us to push it further into exciting new directions.

I’ve also put a huge effort on community and culture development in the department. I’ve set up a committee to organise regular social events and completely redecorated our floor to look more like a buzzing design studio. When I arrived both the culture and environment could be described as stale, but no it feels much more energetic. Culture and work environment seem to be primarily Western values, so as the only non-Malaysian in the company I am a front-runner in pushing for these types of  developments that don’t directly result in financial benefit.

I have initiated a product to rethink the companies packaging. We are moving towards 100% biodegradable packaging and reducing the size and amount of material used. Once in motion this will make a huge environmental impact as current solutions are large and use a lot of plastic foam.

The products that my team are creating are popular within the company (mostly still pre-launch) and I’m receiving comments about the cleverness of the designs and the nice new styles, which, as the head of design, is what I am striving to achieve.

I’m now getting into my stride with running the department and am focusing on creating exciting design efficiently.