Org Builder
Builds teams from scratch
I've built UX teams from zero — hiring frameworks, career ladders, design operations, and a culture of craft. I don't inherit teams. I create them.
1 to 30 designers. Zero to full design org.
Senior Product Design Leader · 20+ Years · Open to Leadership Roles
Great design doesn't happen by accident.
I build teams & systems
that make it inevitable.
Design orgs grown from one to thirty. Governance serving 15+ product teams. UX strategy argued — and won — at the leadership level.
Experienced at & delivered for
Agilysys
Scientific Games
Sutherland
Marriott
Hilton
Drury Hotels
Inspire
Pinehurst
Mandarin Oriental
Microsoft
Universal+
Years leading design
1→
Designers · org built from scratch
+
Products & teams served
%
VPAT accessibility certified
What you get when you hire me
A design leader who builds — not just delivers.
Keep scrolling — the cards stack ↓
Executive Translator
Speaks the language of the executive team
I present UX strategy to senior leadership, translating user behavior into roadmap investment decisions with measurable commercial impact.
Strategy presented directly to senior leadership.
Systems Thinker
Makes great design repeatable
I build the infrastructure that scales craft — design systems, governance models, and centralized functions serving 15+ product teams.
40% reduction in design-to-development time.
Craft + Code
Designs it and ships it
A design leader who can also build. From Figma to front-end — I've designed, coded, and shipped production-ready products end to end.
Senior leadership commendation, agilysys.com.
Selected work
All Case Studies
Strategy you can measure.
Design System
Enterprise Design System
15+ product teams, one shared language — tokens, components, governance.
Web · Front-end
Agilysys.com Redesign
Full UX, front-end and CMS overhaul — designed, coded and shipped solo.
Product UX
Hospitality UX Transformation
15+ legacy products modernized across PMS, POS, Kiosk, SPA & Golf.
Areas of expertise
Where strategy, craft and leadership meet.
01
Product & UX Strategy
Turning ambiguous business problems into clear product direction, roadmaps and investment cases.
02
Design Systems
Token architecture, component libraries and governance that scale craft across many teams.
03
Team Building
Hiring, career ladders, mentorship and a culture where designers do their best work.
04
AI-Driven Design
Bringing AI into products and into the design process — responsibly and usefully.
05
Research & Discovery
Interviews, journey mapping, usability and experimentation that de-risk decisions.
06
Business Impact
Connecting design to revenue, retention, efficiency and customer-experience outcomes.
How I lead
"I design for the person who shouldn't have to think about the software. The one who just needs to get the work done."
One designer. Zero process. Fifteen products later.
I built a design organization from the ground up — and used it to transform a portfolio of aging enterprise software into modern, competitive SaaS products.
I hired the talent, managed the budgets, defined the process, and built the systems — making sure design had a seat at every table that mattered.
See How I Lead Teams
1→30
Designers · org built
In practice
Design happens with people.
"He didn't just fill the role of Director of Product Design — he elevated it. He brought structure where there was ambiguity, and delivered outcomes that moved the needle."
SC
Sameer Chavan
AI-First Product Design Leader · Ex-Head of Design, Flipkart · Managed Rajkumar directly
Raj is an exceptional professional — a strong combination of technical skill and user-centered thinking. He keeps the user experience front and center, and is the kind of teammate who elevates the entire project.
KT
Kirk Tutterrow
Digital Marketing Transformation Leader · Worked with Rajkumar across teams
Raj showed exceptional work in UI and UX that helped the organization adopt common design systems. His attention to detail, creativity, and problem-solving make him a valuable asset to any team.
MG
Mohanakrishnan G
Principal & Engineering Lead, Doc Ingestion AI @ Chubb · Same team
Craft backed by credentials.
5 certifications
Design Thinking: Insights to Viability
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Certified Usability Analyst
Human Factors International
Certified ScrumMaster
Scrum Alliance
Accessibility: Design for All
Interaction Design Foundation
Information Visualization
Interaction Design Foundation
Open to leadership roles
The right design leader changes everything.
If you're building a product organization and need someone who can lead design at scale — let's have a conversation.