DESIGNING
FOR GROWTH.
LEADING WITH
STRATEGIC
VISION.

A global design leader with 20+ years turning design into a growth engine across Africa, APAC, EMEA, and the Americas. Building teams, products, and brands that drive revenue, retention, and industry shifts. Translating UX and brand vision into measurable outcomes.

Trusted by many

Trusted by many

Latest Projects

Chope

Rebrand & Design System

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Chope

Rebrand & Design System

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Chope

Rebrand & Design System

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Chope

Rebrand & Design System

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ABSA Bank Group

Design Thinking Curriculum & Training

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ABSA Bank Group

Design Thinking Curriculum & Training

View Project

ABSA Bank Group

Design Thinking Curriculum & Training

View Project

ABSA Bank Group

Design Thinking Curriculum & Training

View Project

View all my projects

"I’m a huge fan and highly recommend Ryan to any company that’s looking for the rare individual who’s both talented in many aspects of design and super strong in all aspects of hiring, managing and leading people."

Peter Burchhardt

Co-founder of ExpressVPN

"I’m a huge fan and highly recommend Ryan to any company that’s looking for the rare individual who’s both talented in many aspects of design and super strong in all aspects of hiring, managing and leading people."

Peter Burchhardt

Co-founder of ExpressVPN

Building product experiences and brands that people love.


Ryan Neebe

Global Head of Design. Strategic Design Leader. Business Outcome Driver.

My work history

Choas Theory & Cloudbet

Head of Design

2023-Present

ExpressVPN & Kape Technologies

Global VP of Design

2022-2023

ExpressVPN

Design Director

2020-2022

Chope

Head of Product Design

2018-2020

ABSA & Barclays Africa Group

Product Design Director, VP

2016-2018

Gloo & Ogilvy JHB

Creative Director

2013-2016

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View my full resume

I’m a global design leader with over 20 years’ experience, focussed on building and scaling high-performing design organisations across APAC, EMEA, and North America. Currently Head of Design at Chaos Theory, I specialise in structuring centralised design teams that drive end-to-end impact across product, brand, and marketing.

From scaling teams of 2 to 35+, leading major rebrands, embedding AI to accelerate workflows, and partnering directly with C-level executives on organisational transformation, I help businesses unlock design as a strategic growth driver.

Previously Global VP of Design at ExpressVPN and Kape Technologies, I unified multi-brand design teams, defined multi-year product design visions, and embedded customer research into business strategy, driving both revenue and retention outcomes.

My leadership philosophy is grounded in building high-performance cultures, enabling designers to focus on what drives value for users and business alike, and elevating design as a true business function.

I’m a global design leader with over 20 years’ experience, focussed on building and scaling high-performing design organisations across APAC, EMEA, and North America. Currently Head of Design at Chaos Theory, I specialise in structuring centralised design teams that drive end-to-end impact across product, brand, and marketing.

From scaling teams of 2 to 35+, leading major rebrands, embedding AI to accelerate workflows, and partnering directly with C-level executives on organisational transformation, I help businesses unlock design as a strategic growth driver.

Previously Global VP of Design at ExpressVPN and Kape Technologies, I unified multi-brand design teams, defined multi-year product design visions, and embedded customer research into business strategy, driving both revenue and retention outcomes.

My leadership philosophy is grounded in building high-performance cultures, enabling designers to focus on what drives value for users and business alike, and elevating design as a true business function.

I’m a global design leader with over 20 years’ experience, focussed on building and scaling high-performing design organisations across APAC, EMEA, and North America. Currently Head of Design at Chaos Theory, I specialise in structuring centralised design teams that drive end-to-end impact across product, brand, and marketing.

From scaling teams of 2 to 35+, leading major rebrands, embedding AI to accelerate workflows, and partnering directly with C-level executives on organisational transformation, I help businesses unlock design as a strategic growth driver.

Previously Global VP of Design at ExpressVPN and Kape Technologies, I unified multi-brand design teams, defined multi-year product design visions, and embedded customer research into business strategy, driving both revenue and retention outcomes.

My leadership philosophy is grounded in building high-performance cultures, enabling designers to focus on what drives value for users and business alike, and elevating design as a true business function.

Skills & tech to
amplify my impact.

My tech stack

Figma

Framer

Webflow

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe After Effects

Canva

Jira

Notion

Miro

Slack

MidJourney

ChatGPT

Claude

Anthropic

Leadership & Strategic Impact

Product & Experience Design

DesignOps Excellence & Scale

Commercial & Growth Impact

Brand & Product Unification

Design Org Building

Design System Architecture

AI Workflow Integration

Read what my colleagues & managers have to say.

Working with Ryan was one of the best experiences I have had inside a corporate. He created the space for design to flourish and thrive. His team executed every delivery with consistent attention to detail and crafted experiences.

Justin Zeeman

CX & Service Design at ABSA

Working with Ryan was one of the best experiences I have had inside a corporate. He created the space for design to flourish and thrive. His team executed every delivery with consistent attention to detail and crafted experiences.

Justin Zeeman

CX & Service Design at ABSA

Ryan is an artist. He takes his passion, transforms it into astonishing works of art. He knows how to get his team going, keep them accountable and get the best out of them; true leadership.

Cornelius Parkin

Agile PjM Lead at ABSA

Ryan is an artist. He takes his passion, transforms it into astonishing works of art. He knows how to get his team going, keep them accountable and get the best out of them; true leadership.

Cornelius Parkin

Agile PjM Lead at ABSA

Ryan is one of the most focused, talented, calm & collected individuals. He's extremely devoted to excellence. I will always respect his work ethic and he continues to be one of the leaders who've inspired me and pushed me to do great work.

Fraternity Mathabatha

Product Designer at ABSA

Ryan is one of the most focused, talented, calm & collected individuals. He's extremely devoted to excellence. I will always respect his work ethic and he continues to be one of the leaders who've inspired me and pushed me to do great work.

Fraternity Mathabatha

Product Designer at ABSA

Ryan is one of the most focused, talented, calm & collected individuals. He's extremely devoted to excellence. I will always respect his work ethic and he continues to be one of the leaders who've inspired me and pushed me to do great work.

Fraternity Mathabatha

Product Designer at ABSA