Angela Pesta
Fractional VP of Product Design & UX
An accomplished technology executive with 20+ years of experience driving product and UX excellence at world-class companies including Amazon, GitLab, Elastic, and New Relic. Angela has a proven track record of scaling global design organizations, establishing strategic vision, and delivering measurable business impact through user-centered innovation.
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Working Style: Remote-first, open to travel
Angela excels at solving two critical business challenges:
1) Fixing Broken Situations & Restoring Momentum
Is your company facing this?
The UX team is fragmented, morale is low, product quality is suffering, or user satisfaction is declining.
Angela delivers:
Rapid diagnosis of core issues, restores team health, and implements a clear vision and quality framework to get your product back on track quickly.
2) Driving Innovation & Future-Proofing Your Product
Is your company facing this?
You need to reinvent your product, leverage emerging technology like AI, and define a long-term vision to stay ahead of the competition.
Angela delivers:
A passionate, creative partner who leads strategic initiatives, explores novel offerings, and helps you discover the future of your product beyond the traditional user interface.
Key Outcomes & Expertise
Angela provides strategic guidance and hands-on leadership to drive measurable results:
Strategic Leadership:
Developing long-term "experience visions" to serve as an organizational north star.
Integrating UX metrics into core business KPIs to demonstrate value.
Advising on product discovery, innovation strategy, and go-to-market alignment.
Team & Operations:
Scaling and managing high-performing, remote UX teams (design, research, and writing).
Establishing robust design operations (DesignOps), career frameworks, and lean workflows.
Hiring, coaching, and upskilling talent to meet future challenges like AI.
Product & Execution:
Leading accessibility initiatives to ensure equitable and inclusive products (DEI).
Implementing quality frameworks to systematically improve user satisfaction and product usability.
Ensuring a consistent, high-quality user experience across all channels.
Career Highlights & Quantifiable Impact
Amazon: As the first designer on the AWS team, she created the initial web console. Later, she led a high-profile initiative to unify the Kindle Fire store experience, which included biweekly reviews with CEO Jeff Bezos.
New Relic: Drove a platform unification that led to a 20% annual revenue increase and increased customer accounts from 14k to 15k. Improved Net Promoter Score (NPS) from -9 to +10 in three quarters.
GitLab: Led a cross-functional quality campaign that increased Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) from 67% to 83% and System Usability Scale (SUS) from 66.5 to 70.3 in two quarters. Spearheaded an accessibility initiative that reduced 4,000+ critical issues to under 30.
Tesco: Led a UX improvement initiative for the Clubcard loyalty program, improving task success rates by 40% and digital conversion from 1% to 3.5%.
Ideal Client Profile
Angela thrives when partnered with passionate, values-led leaders who are seeking to make a meaningful impact.
Leadership: Prefers collaborative and innovative leaders who see UX as a strategic partner.
Company Size: Ideal for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), scale-ups (Series A+), and enterprise teams seeking transformation. Prefers smaller organizations for a more hands-on impact.
Industry: Adaptable to all industries but is particularly interested in opportunities outside of developer tools to diversify her experience.
Engagement & Availability
Availability: 25+ hours per week.
Start Date: Available upon request.
