Design Leadership Partner
A retained partner to Heads of Design at Series A–C startups

I help Heads of Design untangle complexity, grow happy, high-performing teams, and make confident decisions they’ll still feel good about a year from now.

You get a mix of coaching, advisory, and hands-on support from someone with deep expertise leading design at fast-growing consumer product companies like Monzo, BuzzFeed, and Babylon Health.

I work best with leaders of 1–10 person design teams who want to move quickly, scale well, keep quality high, and avoid expensive missteps. It’s the expertise of a seasoned design leader, without the full-time headcount.

How it works

How it works

How it works

Regular rhythm: Two 60-minute 1:1 sessions per month, usually on an agreed Thursday slot (flexible if needed)

Hands-on partnership: A mix of coaching, advisory, and hands-on support focused on strengthening design’s business impact

Support between sessions: Async input for quick questions, feedback, or pre-reads with timely responses so you don’t have to wait for our next call

Focused Partner Time: Around 2–3 hours per quarter to help shape key in-flight artefacts, like career frameworks, org plans or ways of working improvements.

Simple structure: Billed quarterly, paid up front.

Business impact

Business impact

Business impact

Faster, more confident decisions — on product direction, org design, and hiring

Strong execution at pace — while developing leaders who can scale their impact as the company grows

Better cross-functional alignment — smoother ways of working with product and engineering, keeping quality high and bureaucracy low

Higher retention — by keeping people engaged and committed through change and growth

Reduced hiring risk — stronger signals, sharper processes, and fewer costly mis-hires when you’re hiring


Testimonials

Testimonials

Testimonials

“

Tom has been an instrumental partner to me in scaling Monzo’s Design org. I’ve learned so much and levelled up as a leader throughout our time working together. Among other things he overhauled our hiring process, career framework and design reviews to strengthen product design at Monzo. His leadership working with product teams across the business has influenced and improved both our customer-facing experience and our complex internal tooling. A loved leader and trusted coach to those he manages, his leadership approach consistently brings the best out in others and sets an inclusive tone for our thriving design community.”

— Vuokko Aro, Chief Design Officer at Monzo

“

Tom has been an instrumental partner to me in scaling Monzo’s Design org. I’ve learned so much and levelled up as a leader throughout our time working together. Among other things he overhauled our hiring process, career framework and design reviews to strengthen product design at Monzo. His leadership working with product teams across the business has influenced and improved both our customer-facing experience and our complex internal tooling. A loved leader and trusted coach to those he manages, his leadership approach consistently brings the best out in others and sets an inclusive tone for our thriving design community.”

— Vuokko Aro, Chief Design Officer at Monzo

“

Tom has been an instrumental partner to me in scaling Monzo’s Design org. I’ve learned so much and levelled up as a leader throughout our time working together. Among other things he overhauled our hiring process, career framework and design reviews to strengthen product design at Monzo. His leadership working with product teams across the business has influenced and improved both our customer-facing experience and our complex internal tooling. A loved leader and trusted coach to those he manages, his leadership approach consistently brings the best out in others and sets an inclusive tone for our thriving design community.”

— Vuokko Aro, Chief Design Officer at Monzo

“

Tom’s superpower is using his deep empathy to build relationships quickly and help others around him thrive. During my time working with him, I witnessed first-hand how Tom’s thoughtfulness and craft expertise leveled up the designers around him. But even more than that, the example Tom set for his team and peers — for how to work through challenges together, how to accept critical feedback and action on it, and how to approach complex, messy product and org problems — had a lasting impact on his teams and on those he managed.”

— Cap Watkins, VP of Product Design at Lattice

“

Tom’s superpower is using his deep empathy to build relationships quickly and help others around him thrive. During my time working with him, I witnessed first-hand how Tom’s thoughtfulness and craft expertise leveled up the designers around him. But even more than that, the example Tom set for his team and peers — for how to work through challenges together, how to accept critical feedback and action on it, and how to approach complex, messy product and org problems — had a lasting impact on his teams and on those he managed.”

— Cap Watkins, VP of Product Design at Lattice

“

Tom’s superpower is using his deep empathy to build relationships quickly and help others around him thrive. During my time working with him, I witnessed first-hand how Tom’s thoughtfulness and craft expertise leveled up the designers around him. But even more than that, the example Tom set for his team and peers — for how to work through challenges together, how to accept critical feedback and action on it, and how to approach complex, messy product and org problems — had a lasting impact on his teams and on those he managed.”

— Cap Watkins, VP of Product Design at Lattice

“

Tom is one of those rare leaders who doesn’t just help people succeed—he inspires them to believe in their own potential. A visionary coach, he unlocks possibilities and empowers people to achieve more than they ever thought possible. At Monzo, I saw the profound impact he had—not only on his team but also on his peers, myself included. Tom’s approach is rooted in trust, respect, and an unwavering belief in others' success. He’s positive, thoughtful, and transformative. If you’re lucky enough to work with him, you’ll find his guidance to be a game-changer. I can’t recommend him highly enough.”

— Hayley Camille Morgan, Board Member at FutureMoney

“

Tom is one of those rare leaders who doesn’t just help people succeed—he inspires them to believe in their own potential. A visionary coach, he unlocks possibilities and empowers people to achieve more than they ever thought possible. At Monzo, I saw the profound impact he had—not only on his team but also on his peers, myself included. Tom’s approach is rooted in trust, respect, and an unwavering belief in others' success. He’s positive, thoughtful, and transformative. If you’re lucky enough to work with him, you’ll find his guidance to be a game-changer. I can’t recommend him highly enough.”

— Hayley Camille Morgan, Board Member at FutureMoney

“

Tom is one of those rare leaders who doesn’t just help people succeed—he inspires them to believe in their own potential. A visionary coach, he unlocks possibilities and empowers people to achieve more than they ever thought possible. At Monzo, I saw the profound impact he had—not only on his team but also on his peers, myself included. Tom’s approach is rooted in trust, respect, and an unwavering belief in others' success. He’s positive, thoughtful, and transformative. If you’re lucky enough to work with him, you’ll find his guidance to be a game-changer. I can’t recommend him highly enough.”

— Hayley Camille Morgan, Board Member at FutureMoney

“

Tom had a bigger impact on me during the time he managed me than anyone else in my career. Whether through his soft-spoken questions, clever wit, or honest reflections, he always had my best interests at heart. One of many examples is when before meeting him, I was ashamed of my poor visual design skills. He helped me work through this with support from my peers in gamified workshops. He built me up in a way that I now recognise as masterful leadership. I went on to do the same for my reports when I became a manager and built more great relationships as a result. Tom set my standard for exceptional leadership and now you have the opportunity to discover the same.”

— Liam Carter-Hawkins, Head of Design at Kry Livi

“

Tom had a bigger impact on me during the time he managed me than anyone else in my career. Whether through his soft-spoken questions, clever wit, or honest reflections, he always had my best interests at heart. One of many examples is when before meeting him, I was ashamed of my poor visual design skills. He helped me work through this with support from my peers in gamified workshops. He built me up in a way that I now recognise as masterful leadership. I went on to do the same for my reports when I became a manager and built more great relationships as a result. Tom set my standard for exceptional leadership and now you have the opportunity to discover the same.”

— Liam Carter-Hawkins, Head of Design at Kry Livi

“

Tom had a bigger impact on me during the time he managed me than anyone else in my career. Whether through his soft-spoken questions, clever wit, or honest reflections, he always had my best interests at heart. One of many examples is when before meeting him, I was ashamed of my poor visual design skills. He helped me work through this with support from my peers in gamified workshops. He built me up in a way that I now recognise as masterful leadership. I went on to do the same for my reports when I became a manager and built more great relationships as a result. Tom set my standard for exceptional leadership and now you have the opportunity to discover the same.”

— Liam Carter-Hawkins, Head of Design at Kry Livi

About

About

About

A photo of Tom Harman stood in front of a colourful wall
A photo of Tom Harman stood in front of a colourful wall

Hi, I’m Tom—nice to meet you. I’m based in Walthamstow, London, with my wife and two young boys. Among other things, my world view has been informed by making music, long train rides and nine years lived in New York City.

For me, joy at work comes from two things; empowering people and making things. Intentional Partners emerged as a long-term way for me to orient my life around these core values. Partnering with great leaders, wherever they are. If that sounds like something you’re looking for, I’d love to chat.

Intentional Partners is Tom Harman
A fractional design leader and advisor based in London, working globally
LinkedIn Substack hi@intentional.partners