Head of Design Systems

Deutsche Telekom connects millions of people around the world.

We are a leading telecommunications company and a trusted companion in a connected world, at home, at work, everywhere.

We believe technology should serve people and the planet. We balance innovation with responsibility, combining business success with social and ecological impact. Our goal is simple: connect everyone to the opportunities of now while shaping a sustainable tomorrow.

Within Telekom, Products Innovation Experience (PIX) brings this vision to life. Designers, product thinkers and technologists from many disciplines work side by side to create products and services that people love and trust.

The heart of PIX is its people. Brave, curious and driven by purpose, they grow and innovate together. We value empowerment and balance, because meaningful innovation begins with people who feel inspired to create.

We are looking for a Head of Design Systems (m / f / d) to join our Design & Customer Experience team and lead the evolution of a shared design foundation that enables quality, consistency and scale across Telekom’s products and services.

What We Provide

We believe great work happens when people feel trusted, supported and inspired. Our culture combines ambition with humility, bold in what we create and grounded in how we collaborate. Our culture comes to life through:

- Value-based innovation culture that unites creativity, responsibility and purpose.
- International and diverse team of creative minds collaborating across domains and locations, empowered by Telekom’s world-class capabilities.
- Responsible impact through near-term and visionary projects that shape how people and businesses experience technology worldwide.
- Creative environment that encourages experimentation and collective problem-solving.
- Continuous learning and growth through horizontal and vertical development opportunities.
- Caring leaders who empower career development and a positive work environment.
- Flexible hybrid setup based in Barcelona, with collaboration shaped by project and individual needs (up to 50 % onsite, up to 20 % travel).

What You’ll Do

You lead how design scales at Deutsche Telekom, turning the design system into a shared capability that enables teams to build consistent, accessible and high-quality experiences that customers can trust and teams can rely on.

- Own the design system vision and strategy – define how the system supports Telekom’s products today and evolves for future needs.
- Lead the design system team – coach and develop designers, fostering clarity, growth and strong craft standards.
- Build and govern the system – oversee components, tokens, patterns and guidelines, ensuring quality, consistency and accessibility.
- Support teams at scale – help designers, engineers and product teams adopt and contribute to the system across products and platforms.
- Balance standardization and flexibility – create clear standards while allowing teams to innovate responsibly within the system.
- Champion accessibility and inclusion – ensure accessibility is embedded into system foundations and continuously improved.
- Drive system evolution – integrate emerging technologies, tooling and workflows to keep the system relevant and future-ready.

Your Skills

As Head of Design System at Telekom, you combine strategic thinking, people leadership and deep craft.

- Design system leadership – own and evolve large-scale design systems across multiple products or platforms.
- People leadership – lead and develop designers in a disciplinary role through feedback, coaching and clear expectations.
- Design craft – shape interaction design, visual systems and component-based thinking at scale.
- Technical fluency – collaborate closely with engineers and work confidently with design tokens, front-end frameworks and system tooling.
- Accessibility knowledge – embed inclusive design principles and accessibility standards into system foundations.
- Strategic thinking – connect system decisions with business goals and product strategy.
- Communication and facilitation – align diverse stakeholders through clear guidance and shared understanding.

Your Profile

- Degree in Design or a related field, with significant experience in digital design and design systems.
- Several years of experience leading design systems and design teams in complex, multi-team environments.
- Fluent in English; German or other languages are a plus.