Ngozi Balogun
Fractional CDO
Nigeria
Design ops0→1 teams
Interview a fractional design leader this week. Book a free call
For companies
Executive design leadership, sized to your stage.
You are not ready for a full-time CDO, but a senior designer cannot set direction across the company. The Talent Hub sits exactly in between: a proven design executive, part-time, accountable to a business outcome.
Find a design leader01
Tell us the mandate
The design problem you need led, the cadence, and the outcome you are accountable for.
02
Meet a shortlist
Two or three executives from the bench whose track record fits, with full profiles, not CVs.
03
Engage part-time
One placement fee, then a direct fractional engagement, a day or two a week, month to month.
The bench
View all design leadersA curated roster of design executives.
Tobi Adeyemi
VP, Design
Nigeria
Org designHiring
Wanjiru Kariuki
Head of Design
Kenya
ProductCraft
Kojo Asante
Design Director
Ghana
ResearchSystems
The standard
Every listing clears a standard.
Experience reviewed
Senior leadership history and relevant work are checked.
Human vetted
Every practitioner completes Design Lever's review process.
Independent
Practitioners work independently and agree their engagement terms with the company.
Engagement models
Two ways to bring an executive in.
Embedded / Fractional
Ongoing part-time design leadership, the executive owns direction and sits on your leadership calls.
monthly
2 - 3 days/ week
Advisory
A lighter cadence, a standing executive perspective for a founder or an in-house design lead who needs a sounding board.
monthly
4 - 8 hours
The model
One company-side fee. No practitioner commission.
Clean and one-sided: a single 20% placement fee from the company on a confirmed match. Practitioners never pay to be placed. No retainer to Design Lever, no agency margin on the ongoing engagement.
COMPANY PAYS
20%
of the first month's engagement value, charged once on a confirmed match.
PRACTITIONER PAYS
₦0
Executives never pay a fee to get placed. Ever.
Senior mandates
Work at the level you already operate, not as execution capacity.
Keep your fee
Design Lever charges the company, not the practitioner.
Work across markets
Take defined engagements from Africa or the diaspora without relocating.
For executives
Build a portfolio career at executive level.
Join the bench and let matched mandates come to you, vetted companies, clear briefs, and complete independence. You are never contracted to Design Lever.
Join the Talent HubThe design executive you need, without the permanency.
Tell us the mandate and meet a matched shortlist within about two weeks.
FAQs
The Talent Hub, answered.
How is this different from the fractional practice?+
The fractional practice is Design Lever's own embedded fractional-CDO engagement, delivered with the LEVER method. The Talent Hub matches you to an independent design executive from a curated bench for a lighter, ongoing fractional role.
And how is it different from the Network?+
The Talent Hub is the executive tier of the Network, director-level and above, for fractional leadership roles specifically, rather than the full range of certified practitioners.
Are the executives employed by Design Lever?+
No. Every executive is independent. The Hub makes the match; the engagement is directly between you and them.
What does it cost?+
A one-time placement fee of 20% of the first month's engagement value, paid by the company on a confirmed match. Practitioners never pay a fee to be placed. The ongoing engagement fee is set directly with the executive, no agency margin.
How fast can we start?+
Typically about two weeks from brief to a matched executive in the room, depending on the specificity of the mandate.