Leadership through artifacts and cadence, not org charts.
That means I lead with things a team can point to and rely on: clear documents and diagrams (the artifacts) and a steady rhythm of critique, reviews, and releases (the cadence), rather than a title on an org chart. I work upstream of screens, where the workflow is the product, procurement is real, and the demo has to survive contact with operators. And I do the hands-on work: with AI tools like Cursor, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, and Figma Make, I turn that thinking into working prototypes fast, then hand engineering clean Figma dev specs, not just documents.
I lead with artifacts a team can rely on and a steady rhythm of critique, reviews, and releases, not an org chart. And I do the hands-on work: AI-assisted prototypes and clean Figma dev specs for engineering.
What I do before, during, and after a screen exists.
Most product portfolios show outputs. The work that matters happens earlier, in the choices about how the workflow should run, what stays safe, and what the system refuses to do, then later in who runs the work and how it ships. I use a double diamond process: widen first to map how the business actually works, then narrow to a design that compresses those steps without breaking the company's core goals or opening security gaps. The four layers below are how I move from enterprise ambiguity to delivery-ready, shipped product.
Operational mapping
Discovery with subject matter experts and operators. Workflows, handoffs, escalation paths, failure modes, audit posture, and the legal, financial, or safety consequences of getting it wrong.
Workflow architecture
Journey maps, system diagrams, role models, state machines, and decision tables that engineering, QA, sales, and clients can all use as the same source of truth.
Design system and handoff
WCAG AA design systems, accessibility tokens, interaction standards, prototypes, and developer-ready documentation. The artifacts that survive past the demo.
Team leadership and PM
Recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and leading designers and engineers. End-to-end product management: sprint creation, ticket creation, release planning, and roadmap planning.
Lead the work, do the work
Founding product hire at NextGen, setting product experience, the design system, and SDLC rhythm while co-managing 7 developers across three countries with the lead developer. Player-coach without formal direct reports. Same model at GWSK: leadership through artifacts.
Systems shipped, not styled
Shipped a WCAG AA glass design system from zero at NextGen and a WCAG AA system adopted across product teams at Apply to Education. Contributed to the WCAG AA design system at IPRO that unified product lines fragmented by acquisition.
Rhythm built from zero
Established critique, review, stakeholder alignment, sprint structure, and SDLC rhythm across three countries at NextGen, starting from none. The Slingshot Doctrine, a critique and delivery cadence I introduced, was adopted by the CEO and engineering leadership.
Honest about the scope
Hired and managed 5 designers at GWSK Product Studio since 2021: recruiting, contracts, scoping, delivery, and mentorship. Player-coach at NextGen without formal direct reports. Seven years CAF Infantry Reservist and DP2 Small Arms Coach, Royal Regiment of Canada and Royal Winnipeg Rifles. Six years Royal Canadian Air Cadets, Warrant Officer Second Class and Second-in-Command across two squadrons. Leadership earned under operational pressure, not titles.
Principles I have run in production.
How I operate as a lead product designer and player-coach, drawn from the same work behind the case studies. Each principle is something I have run in production, not a value statement.
Through artifacts and cadence, not headcount
I lead as a player-coach. At NextGen I set product experience, the design system, and the SDLC rhythm while co-managing 7 developers across three countries with the lead developer.
Design system as the contract
I ship WCAG AA design systems from zero. At NextGen I designed and shipped the glass design system with accessibility tokens enforced at the system level. At Apply to Education I shipped a WCAG AA system adopted across product teams. The system is the contract between design and engineering, not a style guide.
Mechanic, Operational Why, Tradeoff
Every significant design decision is documented as a mechanic, the operational reason behind it, and the tradeoff it accepts. It makes decisions reviewable by engineering, QA, sales, and clients, and defensible in a room full of stakeholders.
Trust over perceived speed
On TrialDirector I rejected optimistic UI for critical actions so the interface only reflected server-confirmed evidence states. In high-stakes systems, showing a state the server has not confirmed is a liability. Trust is the product.
Cross-functional partnership at scale
At NextGen the model runs across product, engineering, QA, sales, executives, and client teams in three countries on one delivery rhythm. The leadership work is keeping those groups aligned on the same artifacts, not managing a large org chart.
Practical leadership, shipped through product work.
The operating model behind the principles. Upstream discovery, systems that enforce accessibility by default, and close engineering partnership in production.
How I work
- A double diamond process: understand the real business workflow first, then design one that compresses it without breaking core goals or opening security gaps.
- Cursor, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, and Figma Make in the workflow, so direction becomes working prototypes fast, with Figma dev specs handing engineering clean work. The strategy-to-handoff gap is engineered out, not narrated.
- Workflow diagrams built with sales that clients sign off on, then reused as the delivery spec.
- Design systems with accessibility tokens enforced at the system level.
What I bring beyond design craft
- Founder and operator experience. Two ventures under the GWSK umbrella. One enterprise AI engagement as Product Experience Lead.
- Engineering partnership. Currently co-managing 7 developers across three countries with the lead developer.
- In person across borders. On-site in the company's Albania office, and in Florida and New York for conferences and to work in the room with the US team. Not run only over video.
- Stakeholder narrative experience. Product clarity for buyers, partners, and stakeholders, not only end-user UX.
What I am looking for
Lead Product Designer, Product Design Lead, Design Manager, and Staff Product Designer roles at enterprise AI, enterprise SaaS, and workflow-heavy B2B companies. Selective advisory engagements through GWSK Product Studio. Based in Toronto, open to remote Canada and US roles, Toronto hybrid, and relocation only for New York City, Amsterdam, or London.
Work eligibility
For US roles I qualify for a TN visa: a work permit for Canadian professionals that can be approved in under 24 hours with an offer letter, has no annual cap, and costs an employer nothing to sponsor. As a NEXUS holder, I also cross the US border quickly.
Operating signal, separated from marketing signal.
Closed revenue is separated from pipeline. Pipeline is separated from scope. Scope is separated from target. Each line below is sourced from resumes or internal case study material.
- Led product experience at NextGen AI across an enterprise AI workforce automation platform.
- Co-manage 7 developers with the lead developer at NextGen, including weekly one-on-ones and goal tracking. Run the product management function end to end (sprints, tickets, release planning, roadmap).
- Facilitated discovery and solution architecture with NDS Logistics and additional enterprise clients across logistics, document workflow, and finance operations.
- Influenced $150K+ in closed enterprise revenue and $1M+ in expansion pipeline. Built workflow diagrams with the sales team that clients signed off on, opening that pipeline and a white-label platform designed for a global electronics manufacturer, now in the client's internal review.
- Built WCAG AA design systems at NextGen AI and Apply to Education, with reusable components, accessibility tokens, interaction standards, and engineering handoff.
- At Apply to Education (October 2023 to January 2025), shipped multiple new candidate hiring flows, redesigned the administrator side of hiring flow management, and designed a new Performance Improvement Plan product for school boards from scratch. The new applicant flow is live and becoming the standard for every school board candidate on the platform.
- Recruited, interviewed, and hired designers at both Apply to Education and Say Yeah to handle fine-touch execution while I led direction, system decisions, and the final polish pass.
- Designed core cloud-transition workflows, collaboration models, audit states, and developer-ready documentation for TrialDirector's SaaS modernization.
- The TrialDirector team and product I contributed to at IPRO were retained by Reveal Data after it acquired IPRO.
- The advanced search builder and keyword builder I designed are part of the Reveal product today.
- First designer on Logikcull, a legal-technology product: I designed the initial screens and product flows, with a second designer later handling data representations. Logikcull shipped and was acquired by Reveal Data alongside IPRO in a combined $1B+ transaction.
- Founded GWSK Product Studio, working across AI, defence technology, HR technology, education, and early-stage ventures. Hired and managed 5 designers since 2021, across the Say Yeah client engagement and GWSK research and branding: recruiting, contracts, scoping, delivery, and mentorship. No formal in-house design management claimed.
- Co-founded Drumlin with Mykyta Bozhenko, building Package-Master: infrastructure that lets teams running large fleets of Linux servers prove their software is safe and untampered, producing portable, signed evidence for security reviews and audits. Selected for Altitude Accelerator's Market Readiness Program, Winter 2026 cohort.
- Presented at Canada's first Defence Tech Hackathon to CEOs, investors, and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry. Covered by The Globe and Mail (Pippa Norman, September 2025).
- UnivJobs marketplace launch covered in blogTO and Oakville News. Pitched at Y Combinator Startup School.
- CAF Infantry Reservist and DP2 Small Arms Coach, 7 years. Royal Regiment of Canada and Royal Winnipeg Rifles. Qualified to coach and instruct under operational field conditions. Royal Canadian Air Cadets, Warrant Officer Second Class and Second-in-Command across two squadrons, 6 years. At seventeen, helped lead more than 200 personnel across summer training: 25 staff cadets and roughly 180 cadets across 6 platoons.
Product strategy and workflow design for enterprise AI teams moving from demo to scale.
Advisory and product strategy through GWSK Product Studio. Scoped engagements with a clear artifact out, not open-ended design support.
AI workflow product strategy
Turn agent demos into procurement-grade workflow architecture, governance posture, and vertical packages buyers can operate.
Enterprise SaaS dashboard and operations experience
Design dense operator surfaces where audit, permissions, and state machines matter more than visual novelty.
Workflow architecture and agent orchestration documentation
Swimlanes, decision tables, and handoff artifacts that sales, engineering, and client operators share as one source of truth.
Product narrative for demos, procurement, and stakeholder conversations
Enterprise buyer and stakeholder narratives grounded in operational reality, not feature lists.
Design system direction with accessibility tokens
WCAG AA systems with tokens enforced at the component level so compliance is default, not retrofit.
Prototyping and handoff with Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and Figma
Turn approved direction into working prototypes with Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and Figma Make, then hand engineering production-ready Figma dev specs they can build from on day one.
Founder support: from problem framing to MVP to first commercial proof
Scope, prototype direction, and stakeholder artifacts for early-stage founders moving from concept to first revenue or funding conversation.