Prototype Studio Lead (Director)

Job Description

Do you want to lead a department that makes people’s dreams a reality through invention, making, breaking, and unconventional approaches? Do you go through life with a childlike playful curiosity, asking how things work and what fills people with joy and have a desire to make life more playful? 

Yes? Then grab your leadership super pack and head to the Prototype Studio ─ a collaborative, fun, innovation lab where ideas come to life through rapid experimentation, learning, and iteration.

Lead, Grow and Mentor the teams on failing fast, embracing challenges and working together to refine and deliver products and help realise ideas. Come and join the LEGO Group’s Play Discovery Team in the Creative Play Lab. 

To lead the teams this role requires a proficient working knowledge of physical prototyping methodologies, technical machine understanding, and the creation of new machines, product development, design, and engineering through a multi-disciplinary approach.
 

Core Responsibilities 

You are a thought leader with a makers mindset, you dream for a living and are driven by curiosity, iteration and playfulness. We would like the Prototype Studio Lead to:  

• As a thought leader in problem-solving, you will inspire and guide your team with a hands-on maker mindset, approaching challenges with the curiosity and creativity of a child. 

• Embracing a desire for continuous learning, you will champion discovery and iteration, fostering a fearless entrepreneurial spirit. By leading teams to seek innovative and unobvious solutions, you will ensure they stay abreast of the latest advancements in machinery, materials, and methodologies, creating powerful play experiences that surprise and delight children worldwide.

• Foster an environment where the prototyping team (25+) can bravely explore new pathways and thrive in the unknown while also iterating within familiar territories. Create spaces for teams to be courageous, challenge the status quo, and reinvent their approach to discover new dimensions of play.

• Create a Visionary Roadmap by developing a strategic 3+ year vision for the Prototype Studio, collaborating closely with the business to support strategic goals and inspire teams to exceed targets through innovative play prototypes that unlock significant play value.

• Keep the LEGO System-in-Play fresh and ever evolving to maintain the LEGO Group as the thought leaders in the toy industry.  

• Be a Champion Operational Excellence: Support the lead team to champion a stable production of prototypes (quality, quantity, and speed) as well as operational excellence of all prototyping deliveries across the business by continuously improving our technology platform, process’ and standards across the teams and driving creative leadership. 

• Manage an Annual Operating Budget: Oversee a 12M DKK PLUS operating budget and investment plan with an annual depreciation cap. Analise multiple data points, proactively build business cases, and present recommendations to senior management, delivering on a productivity target of 5% year on year.

• Build a Powerful Network: Rather than addressing every challenge internally, leverage the right external partners at the right time to enhance efficiency, set industry standards, and foster innovative thinking. Lead exceptional freelancers, expert partners, and companies to their maximum potential by sharing common values and goals

Play your part in our team succeeding  

“To make the world a playground and create a life more playful, our job must be playground.” Play Discovery is a capability built on how kids play, and discovery is central to our purpose.  

We are a world class, diverse team of Play Experts that play together with everyone and help elevate the Play Experiences across the world, Pioneers ready for any eventuality, inventing the future of prototyping, immersive storytelling, visual sensorial communication methods, collaboration and building that extra powerful sense of exploration. 

This leadership role will inspire and guide teams to explore new avenues for discovering play, challenging conventional thinking, and pushing the boundaries of traditional formats, techniques, and mediums. By fostering a culture of creativity and experimentation, you will empower your team to engage audiences in fresh and exciting ways, encouraging them to think boldly and embrace innovative approaches.

Do you have what it takes?

Potential is more important than qualifications in a role like this. Most of our makers/prototypers have Outstanding but unexpected careers, self-directing their own path from one interesting project to the next opportunity.  You will have a proven track record of successfully leading a prototyping area that meets the user needs, the business goals, and the technical requirements. 

• Lead a Team with a Hands-On Maker Mindset: Inspire and empower a skilled team in creating prototypes and developing innovative play experiences, fostering a culture that values creativity and collaboration.

• Ensure Application of Advanced Prototyping Methodologies: Guide the team in applying advanced physical prototyping methodologies across disciplines, driving excellence while encouraging knowledge sharing and collective growth.

• Oversee a Multi-Disciplinary Department: Lead a department rich in multi-disciplinary expertise in product development, design, and engineering, ensuring seamless collaboration and synergy among team members.  

• Support and Grow Craftsmanship Capabilities: Drive the development of handmade and crafted prototyping techniques, supporting team members in honing their skills and unleashing their creativity.

• Guide Agile Teams for Fast Iteration: Champion agile methodologies, encouraging experimentation and fast iteration while fostering continuous learning that empowers each team member to contribute their best ideas.

• Drive Creation of Groundbreaking Prototypes: Inspire the team to push boundaries and create groundbreaking, never-seen-before prototypes that redefine play, encouraging bold ideas and innovative thinking.

• Lead a Technically Skilled Team: Empower a technically skilled team with strong machine and prototyping expertise, fostering an environment of collaboration and shared learning.

• Encourage Adoption of New Technologies: Ensure the team embraces new technologies and methods to enhance processes and outcomes, empowering everyone to drive innovation.

• Drive Operational Excellence with Team Focus: Foster a commitment to operational excellence, emphasizing quality, speed, and continuous improvement as shared goals for the entire team.

• Build a Resilient, High-Performing Department: Cultivate a resilient, high-performing department that thrives under pressure, emphasizing teamwork, support, and a shared sense of purpose.

Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis. However, please note we do amend or withdraw our jobs and reserve the right to do so at any time, including prior to any advertised closing date. So, if you're interested in this role we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

What’s in it for you?

Here is what you can expect:

Family Care Leave - We offer enhanced paid leave options for those important times.

Insurances – All colleagues are covered by our life and disability insurance which provides protection and peace of mind.

Wellbeing - We want our people to feel well and thrive. We offer resources and benefits to nurture physical and mental wellbeing along with opportunities to build community and inspire creativity.

Colleague Discount – We know you'll love to build, so from day 1 you will qualify for our generous colleague discount.

Bonus - We do our best work to succeed together. When goals are reached and if eligible, you'll be rewarded through our bonus scheme.

Workplace - When you join the team you'll be assigned a primary workplace location i.e. one of our Offices, stores or factories. Our hybrid work policy means an average of 3 days per week in the office. The hiring team will discuss the policy and role eligibility with you during the recruitment process.

Children are our role models. Their curiosity, creativity and imagination inspire everything we do. We strive to create a diverse, dynamic and inclusive culture of play at the LEGO Group, where everyone feels safe, valued and they belong.

The LEGO Group is highly committed to equal employment opportunity and equal pay and seeks to encourage applicants from all backgrounds (eg. sex, gender identity or expression, race/ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, age and religion) to apply for roles in our team.

The LEGO Group is fully committed to Children’s Rights and Child Wellbeing across the globe. Candidates offered positions with high engagement with children are required to take part in Child Safeguarding Background Screening, as a condition of the offer.

Thank you for sharing our global commitment to Children’s Rights.

Just imagine building your dream career.

Then make it real.

Join the LEGO® team today.