Director, Product Design

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Director, Product Design based in the United States.

Lead and develop a talented product design team shaping the future of developer tools and AI-powered software development experiences. In this strategic and hands-on leadership role, you will oversee design across a diverse product portfolio, including graphical interfaces and command-line tools. You will establish high standards for design quality while remaining actively involved in prototyping, critique, and product creation. Working closely with product managers, engineers, design researchers, and design engineers, you will transform complex technical systems into intuitive, accessible, and engaging user experiences. You will also help define how AI tools enhance the design process while ensuring human judgment remains central to creative decisions. This fully remote opportunity offers the chance to influence product strategy, grow design talent, and shape tools used by developers worldwide.

• Product Design Leadership: Lead, mentor, and develop the product design team, fostering a culture of collaboration, ownership, creativity, and continuous improvement.
• Talent Development: Support designers at different career stages, from mid-level through senior and staff, by providing clear expectations, constructive feedback, coaching, and opportunities for professional growth.
• Design Quality and Craftsmanship: Establish and maintain high standards for design excellence across the product portfolio, leading design critiques and contributing directly to the quality of product experiences.
• Hands-On Design Execution: Remain actively involved in the design process, from early concepts and prototypes to detailed interaction design, spacing, interface states, motion, and product copy.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with product and engineering leaders from the beginning of initiatives to align design decisions with technical constraints, user needs, business objectives, and delivery priorities.
• Technical Product Experience: Translate complex developer workflows, infrastructure, and technical systems into clear, intuitive experiences across graphical user interfaces and command-line interfaces.
• Design Strategy and Vision: Help shape the product design direction for existing and emerging products, ensuring consistency, usability, and a high standard of execution across the portfolio.
• Designer Empowerment: Give designers ownership of meaningful problems while providing the strategic context, guidance, and autonomy needed to make effective decisions.
• AI-Enabled Design Practices: Define how AI tools are incorporated into design workflows, using automation and AI-assisted capabilities to improve efficiency while maintaining strong human oversight and judgment.
• Design Systems and Engineering Collaboration: Work with design engineers and design system teams to improve shared components, streamline workflows, maintain consistency, and enable innovation without unnecessarily restricting creative solutions.
• Stakeholder Influence: Communicate a clear design perspective to product and engineering leaders, encourage constructive debate, and incorporate feedback to achieve stronger outcomes.
• Continuous Improvement: Evaluate design processes, team practices, and emerging technologies to improve collaboration, accelerate delivery, and raise the overall quality of products.

Requirements:

• Leadership Experience: Proven experience leading a product design team of comparable size through organizational or product changes, with a track record of developing designers from mid-level through senior and staff positions.
• Product Design Expertise: Extensive experience designing digital products, with the ability to balance strategic direction, team leadership, and hands-on contribution.
• Strong Design Craft: Demonstrated ability to create and critique high-quality user experiences, including interaction flows, prototypes, interface details, component states, motion, and copy.
• Recent Portfolio: A strong portfolio showcasing product design work from the past year, demonstrating hands-on involvement, design judgment, and the ability to deliver polished, effective experiences.
• Technical Collaboration: Experience working closely with design engineers, software engineers, and technical leadership, with the ability to understand and contribute to discussions about technical decisions that influence the user experience.
• Complex Product Design: Proven ability to transform technically sophisticated systems into clear, intuitive, and accessible product experiences.
• Strategic Communication: Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate a clear point of view, influence senior stakeholders, receive constructive criticism, and adapt to better ideas.
• AI Tool Proficiency: Practical experience using AI tools in daily design work, including the ability to demonstrate how they improve productivity, support exploration, and accelerate execution while recognizing when human intervention is necessary.
• Design Team Development: Strong coaching, mentoring, and feedback skills, with the ability to build a high-performing team and create an environment that encourages accountability, trust, and professional growth.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Experience collaborating with product management, engineering, user experience research, and design systems teams to deliver cohesive product experiences.
• Preferred AI Product Experience: Experience leading design for AI-powered products or autonomous agent experiences, including interfaces that extend beyond traditional graphical user interfaces.
• Preferred Developer and Enterprise Experience: Familiarity with products that support both developer-led adoption and the complex needs of enterprise customers.
• Preferred Technical Prototyping: Ability to prototype using front-end technologies such as React or TypeScript.
• Remote Collaboration: Ability to work effectively in a globally distributed, remote-first environment, with working hours that overlap U.S. and European time zones.
• Work Authorization: Current authorization to work in the United States is required. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Benefits:

• Competitive Compensation: Annual base salary range of $206,500–$295,000, depending on qualifications, experience, and role-related factors.
• Equity Compensation: Equity participation for full-time employees, providing an opportunity to share in the organization's long-term growth.
• Remote-First Work: Fully remote work environment, with offices available in Seattle and Paris for collaboration and team connection.
• Flexible Scheduling: Flexibility to manage your working hours while meeting team and business objectives.
• Generous Time Off: Paid time off, quarterly wellness days, and a designated end-of-year wellness break.
• Home Office Support: Resources to help establish a comfortable, productive home workspace.
• Technology Stipend: Monthly technology allowance equivalent to US$100 net to support work-related needs.
• Learning and Development: Annual stipend for conferences, courses, certifications, and other professional development opportunities.
• Paid Parental Leave: 16 weeks of paid parental leave after six months of employment.
• Healthcare Benefits: Comprehensive medical benefits, with specific coverage varying by country.
• Retirement Benefits: Retirement plans designed to support long-term financial well-being, depending on location.
• Paid Holidays: Paid holiday benefits, subject to applicable country policies.
• Team Culture and Connection: Opportunities to connect with colleagues across a globally distributed team and participate in collaborative activities.
• Company Merchandise: Branded merchandise for employees.
• Inclusive Workplace: A commitment to diversity, equal opportunity, and building teams that benefit from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.