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Tim Reerink · Head of Product Design & Research · Amsterdam

Design
orgs that
actually ship.

  • ing
  • jet
  • wallapop
  • iceo
  • randstad
  • scisports
  • xebia
  • adp

Hands on the wheel. Hands on the org. Design rarely gets stuck on the screen. It gets stuck between teams.

Most teams I joined were neglected, understaffed, underserved, or not yet mature as a discipline in the org. Work got stuck in execution, and decisions were made in silos. That's where I start.

Then I adjust the strategy, the rituals, the trust between functions and the structure, so the team keeps growing after I'm gone. I still design and prototype in code myself.

// 01 · beliefs

What I stand by.

I use frameworks as a guide, then act. Be pragmatic, be proactive, be assertive when it's needed, and own the outcome. I'd rather do, break and apologise than wait for perfect.

  1. 01 / 04Process is a toolbox, not a phased checkbox.

    Every company ran something different. Wallapop and JET ran double diamond, ICEO didn't, and Randstad was delivery-focused, with no design thinking in the process at all. What they shared was the ambition to do every step. In practice, most skipped the steps that mattered most. JET was the exception. I build the minimum structure with the people who have to live with it.

  2. 02 / 04Nothing is linear.

    Scan, learn, apply, iterate. Scaling a team, a product or a career never runs in a straight line, so I don't plan it like one. I make small bets, run fast loops and change course when the evidence says so.

  3. 03 / 04Know the system. Then break it.

    A design system sets the floor. Too many designers hide behind process and components to avoid being creative, and everything turns beige. I hire people who start at the north star, push it, then cut back to the smallest thing that ships. People who know when to use the system and when to push for something new, when to reuse a component and when to build one.

  4. 04 / 04Don't judge the book by its cover.

    Heavily inked and loud at first glance, but an introverted extrovert at heart. Rock 'n' roll in my headphones, neurology and psychology on my nightstand. So I don't hire on first impressions. I rate people across several disciplines and build teams that differ, because a mix brings out the best in people. A trap I keep seeing is a design team made up of the same kind of generalist.

// 02 · work

Three orgs. What I saw, what I adjusted.

01 / 03 · in progressrandstad

Department agentified

Randstad Global · 2026

The bottleneck wasn't speed. It was decisions. I put our standards into the tools, so designs stopped looping and started shipping.

6 wk → 1 dayOnboarding to dev-ready
1 → 4Directions per problem
WeeklyAI review, every designer
→ Open case
02 / 03iceo

Department built

ICEO · 2024

Three designers working one-on-one with founders. Structure first, then a hiring bar: 212+ interviews, six hires, five ventures.

3 → 9Designers
−30%Epic delivery time
4 → 6Team satisfaction
→ Open case
03 / 03jet

Merger managed

Just Eat Takeaway · 2022 · interim Head

Two design cultures after the merger, and no one steering. As interim Head, I gave consumer design one structure, one cadence and one way of working.

28Consumer designers led
1–2Leavers out of 28
~93Combined design dept
→ Open case

Earlier work · where the instinct was built

jetBet provenA fake door that green-lit a grocery vertical.2021 jetTrust designedFewer tickets, and two designers promoted.2020

// 03 · experiments

I test every adjustment on myself first.

// 04 · about

Set the system, build the trust, then get out of the way.

Energetic, ad rem, pragmatic, assertive. As a leader, Phil Jackson is my inspiration. He never stuck to one philosophy. He learned from many and applied what fit his team. He handed his players the tools to win, then got out of the way so they could own it.

Worked in Oslo · Berlin · Barcelona · Amsterdam, now

On rotation · my Deezer

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Let's merge
your silos.

timreerink@proton.meLinkedIn / Resume ↗