Sónia Gomes

Fractional Product Design Partner & Educator @ Independent

Portugal Lisbon (UTC+1) 22+ yrs in design

About

I've spent more than 20 years designing digital products, shaping product strategy, leading design teams, teaching and building my own businesses. I've worked across startups, scaleups and global organisations, including OutSystems, Uphold, Blip/Betfair and the UN World Food Programme. Today, I'm a Product Design Partner & Educator and the founder of Close to the Sun. Having sat in different seats changed how I see the work. Sometimes what looks like a design problem is a product decision, a team dynamic, or a conversation nobody has had yet. I like helping people untangle that. My approach is calm, direct and curious. I'll listen, ask the hard question with care, and help you see the patterns shaping your situation so you can decide what to do next. Bring a real situation, even if you haven't quite found the words for it yet.

How I can help

I can help UX and product designers navigate career transitions, portfolios and case-study storytelling, job searches, salary negotiations, and the move into more senior or influential roles. I am especially useful when the challenge is not design craft alone: understanding team dynamics, working more effectively with product and engineering, influencing stakeholders, deciding between the IC and management paths, or making your judgement and contribution more visible. With more than 20 years across product design, strategy, leadership, teaching and consulting, I help designers see the product, organisational and human patterns shaping their situation, and turn that clarity into practical next steps.

Ask me about

Influence without authority

Stakeholder standoffs

Presenting to execs

Craft to strategy

Growing into leadership

IC to manager

Freelance to full-time

Returning from a break

Layoffs

A failed launch

A reorg

Getting passed over

First or only designer

Imposter syndrome

Negotiating comp

First design hires

Not the right mentor for: Breaking into the industry

Expertise

Sessions

Let’s see if we’re a good fitFree
15 min
A short conversation to get to know each other, hear what you’re navigating, and see whether I can help. Bring a question or situation you’re working through—we’ll use it to explore what support would be useful.
1:1 Mentoring — Find clarity on your next career step$99
60 min
A focused 60-minute session to work through one specific career or workplace challenge. We can explore your next career move, professional positioning and LinkedIn, job-search strategy, choosing portfolio projects, growing into a senior role, IC versus management, or influencing decisions with product, engineering and stakeholders. Before we meet, I'll send you a short questionnaire so I can understand your context and prepare. We'll use the session to untangle what's happening and agree on a clear direction. Afterwards, you'll receive a concise summary of the next steps we've identified.
Portfolio Audit — Make your experience visible$120
Async · video reply within a few days
A tailored, asynchronous review of how your portfolio positions you and communicates the thinking behind your work. You'll complete a short questionnaire about your career goals, target roles and available projects. I'll review your portfolio against that context, looking at first impressions, professional positioning, case-study storytelling, clarity of your design process, strategic thinking, and the overall reading experience. You'll receive a written Portfolio Audit Report with a clear diagnosis, prioritised recommendations and concrete actions you can implement. This is an asynchronous service: no live call is included.
Portfolio Audit + Strategy — Turn feedback into a clear plan$220
60 min
An in-depth portfolio audit with a live strategy conversation to help you decide what to change and why. After a short questionnaire about your goals, I'll review your portfolio and prepare a written report covering your positioning, case-study storytelling, design process and strategic thinking. We'll work through the feedback together, discuss trade-offs, decide which projects to foreground and turn the recommendations into a clear, prioritised action plan. You'll also have two weeks of email follow-up for focused questions as you begin implementing the changes. Includes a short Portfolio Audit Brief, the full written audit report, a live strategy conversation and two weeks of email support.

English, Portuguese

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