Director, Product Design

A+E Networks•New York, NY

1d•$188,034 - $220,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Product Design is a hands-on design leader responsible for defining and executing the product design vision across A+E’s streaming experiences, with an app-first approach that establishes native mobile and TV experiences, as the foundation for the broader platform ecosystem. Leveraging deep expertise in product design, this role leads through influence and example, partnering closely with UX, Design Systems, Product, Engineering, and cross-functional teams to deliver scalable, high-quality design solutions. As a people leader, the Director fosters a growth mindset by elevating product design craft through mentoring designers across skill levels and championing incremental, iterative ways of working that drive continuous improvement. The A+E streaming owned-and-operated (O&O) product suite includes ad-based TV Everywhere/TVE and subscription-based Video OnDemand/SVOD services (A&E, A&E Crime Central, HISTORY, HISTORY Vault, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Club and FYI brands).

Requirements

12+ years of experience in Product Design, UX/UI, or a related field, delivering high-quality, consumer-facing digital products.
5+ years of people management experience, or demonstrated leadership through mentoring, initiative ownership, or cross-team design leadership.
Bachelor’s degree in design or a related discipline (or equivalent professional experience).
Deep, hands-on experience designing complex consumer-facing digital products across web and native mobile platforms, with demonstrated ability to produce high-quality, development-ready designs and specifications in Figma.
Proven experience operating within agile product teams across the full product development lifecycle, from discovery and concept definition through delivery, iteration, and optimization.
Demonstrated leadership in contributing to, evolving, or setting direction for a design system supporting multiple digital platforms, with an understanding of how systems enable scale, consistency, and efficiency.
Strong track record of leading high-impact design initiatives, managing multiple concurrent workstreams, and driving clarity, alignment, and progress across cross-functional teams.
A portfolio that reflects principal-level product design craft, showcasing excellence in visual, interaction, and information design, with a clear focus on usability, clarity, and scalable solutions.
A well-articulated design point of view grounded in strong fundamentals, including typography, layout, hierarchy, color, and composition, and the ability to apply these principles consistently across platforms.
Advanced working knowledge of platform-specific guidelines (Human Interface Guidelines, Material Design) and accessibility standards, with experience applying these principles in production environments.
Demonstrated ability to partner closely with engineering teams to deliver scalable, technically sound design solutions that balance user needs, business goals, and technical constraints.
Confidence presenting work at a senior level and clearly articulating design rationale, trade-offs, and decisions to a wide range of stakeholders, including executive audiences.

Nice To Haves

Experience designing for connected TV and Smart TV platforms is a plus.
Familiarity with CMS-driven and content-heavy product experiences, including publishing workflows and content modeling, is a plus.

Responsibilities

Lead complex, high-impact product design efforts through deep collaboration with all members of the Experience Team across disciplines (UX, User Research and Design), as well as with Product, Technology, Project Management, Editorial, Marketing, and various stakeholders. This includes validating design approach via user research, business goals, and technical feasibility.
Drive conceptual design and experience definition for prioritized product enhancements. This effort includes competitive research, collaborating with UX/user research and the initial translation of business and user goals into applied UI designs.
Produce and refine principal-level applied UI designs in Figma that establish the quality bar for platform-native experiences, incorporating iterative feedback, accessibility best practices, and platform-specific guidelines to ensure consistency and excellence across products.
Deliver comprehensive, development-ready design specifications in Figma to one or more engineering teams, including all relevant states, breakpoints, behaviors, and annotations required to support successful, high-quality implementation across platforms.
Partner closely with Product, Technology, and Project Management throughout planning and delivery to ensure design intent is clearly understood, technically feasible, and fully represented within development and QA workflows.
Provide ongoing design support throughout development and QA to ensure successful execution, including resolving design-related blockers as they arise.
Conduct design acceptance reviews on development builds to validate alignment with intended design and identify issues prior to release (including ranking priorities).
Provide people leadership for the Product Design team, including performance management, coaching, career development, and ongoing feedback, with accountability for individual growth and team effectiveness.
Establish and uphold a high bar for design quality across platforms by setting clear expectations, guiding critique and review practices, and ensuring consistency in craft, usability, and experience outcomes.
Serve as a senior design representative in cross-functional planning and stakeholder forums, advocating for user-centered solutions while balancing technical feasibility, timelines, and business priorities.
Partner with Design Systems team members to support the evolution, adoption, and governance of shared patterns, standards, and workflows that enable scale and consistency across the product portfolio.
Partner with the Senior Director, Experience Design in the oversight of resourcing and capacity planning across multiple initiatives, ensuring appropriate skill alignment, effective utilization, and sustainable delivery (includes hiring and onboarding efforts).