John Isaac — Co-Founder
Design hiring is broken - noisy, slow, and risky. I help startups & scaleups turn it into a sharp, repeatable advantage as their design talent partner. If you’re scaling a product team, you can’t afford mis-hires, bloated interview loops, or “looks good on paper” portfolios that fall apart on the job. What I Actually Do I’m a design talent partner for product-led companies. I help you: → Vet and assess product designers with real signal • Deep portfolio & case study reviews • Live 1:1 working sessions using a structured skills-verification framework I’ve developed from thousands of reviews • Skills-based scorecards so you see how designers think, decide, and ship - not just how they talk in an interview. → Coach & level up high-potential talent I work directly with designers to sharpen their storytelling, business context, stakeholder management, and leadership behaviours so they hit the ground running and stay. → Design hiring systems, not just fill roles Lightweight, repeatable processes for sourcing, screening, interviews, & decision-making so your team can consistently spot top 5-10% talent and avoid expensive mistakes. Who I'm A Good Fit For You’re likely: → Scaling a product/design team & can’t afford another bad hire → Tired of 5+ interview rounds that still feel like guesswork → Unsure how to judge real-world skills from polished case studies → Struggling to retain top performers through growth or change You want someone who has sat on every side of the table: designer, hiring manager, educator, & coach, who can translate all of that into clear decisions. Quick Bio → 25+ years in design across Australia, Canada, and the US → 10+ years teaching and mentoring at leading design bootcamps → Helped thousands of designers break into and grow in tech → People I’ve coached now work at global companies across SaaS, fintech, gaming, and enterprise Today, I focus on helping founders and design leaders build elite product and design teams by combining coaching, hiring strategy, and deep talent evaluation. 👋 Want to work together? → DM me here on LinkedIn → Book a free 15-min strategy call: https://calendly.com/thejohnisaac/15-min-chat-with-john Follow me on Instagram → @thejohnisaac
Stackforce AI infers this person is a Design Talent Partner specializing in coaching and recruitment for startups and scaleups.
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Experience: 12 yrs 5 mos
Skills
- Recruiting
- Product Design
- Strategic Consulting
- Teaching
- Design Education
- User Experience (ux)
- Coaching & Mentoring
- Ux Research
Career Highlights
- 25+ years of design experience across multiple countries.
- Expert in building elite product and design teams.
- Proven track record in coaching and mentoring designers.
Work Experience
Anderson & Isaac
Founding Partner | Design Talent Architect & Startup Advisor (10 mos)
RMIT Online
Design Thinking Course Mentor | UX and Design Program Lead (5 yrs 5 mos)
Springboard
UX Design Mentor (2 yrs 1 mo)
Designlab
Design Mentor | UX and Product Design | Data-Driven Design Course (7 yrs 9 mos)
CareerFoundry
UX Design Mentor (1 yr 7 mos)
John Isaac
Founder & Principal Talent Strategist (Design/Product/Startups) (9 yrs 8 mos)
General Assembly
UX Design Lead Educator | Product Design | Research Methodologies | Personal Branding (9 yrs 4 mos)
GMG Digital
Head of UX Design & Strategy (4 yrs)
Virgin Money
Lead Product Designer | B2C Fintech (1 yr 2 mos)
White Wall
Associate Design Director | UX & Brand Strategy | B2C (11 mos)
NSW Health
Senior Digital Manager | UX & Content Strategy | B2B SaaS and Intranet Design (1 yr)
Education
Master of Business Administration - MBA at ENEB - Escuela de Negocios Europea de Barcelona
Masters at ENEB - Escuela de Negocios Europea de Barcelona
Master at Nuclio Digital School
Design at UNSW
