Lead/Principal Product Designer

Energage • Exton, PA

4d • $120,000 - $150,000 • Remote

About The Position

As our Lead or Principal Product Designer focused on Design Systems, you'll own the strategy, execution, and evolution of our design system end to end. We're looking for someone who sees a design system as far more than a UI kit. To us, a true design system is a living product: it encompasses UI components and usage rules, a developer-facing storefront, parity between design and code, governance and operations, and training and adoption programs that help designers and developers actually use it well. That's the bar we're building toward, and we need someone who's built at that level before. This is also a role for someone who has navigated the real complexity of multi-product design systems — bringing together several products, teams, and processes into a unified system while those products are still live, actively used, and being sold. Alongside design systems ownership, you'll contribute hands-on product design work across our portfolio. The balance will lean heavily toward systems, but delivery work is part of the role — you'll be embedded in the product, not siloed from it. Title will be determined by experience.

Requirements

• 7–15 years of product design experience with a significant focus on design systems
• A philosophy that a design system is a product — with users, a roadmap, governance, and adoption programs — not just a component library
• Proven experience building or maturing a design system end to end: UI components, usage documentation, a developer-facing storefront, and design-to-code parity
• Experience establishing design system governance and operations: contribution models, documentation standards, and cross-team workflows
• Experience running training and adoption programs that get designers and developers actually using the system
• Strong command of the Figma-to-code pipeline: tokens, component architecture, Storybook integration, and handoff to production
• Experience unifying design systems across multiple live products — navigating consolidation while products are still actively used and sold
• Strong generalist product design skills: you can own delivery work end to end, not just the system
• Complex B2B product experience with multi-user, multi-role enterprise workflows
• Collaboration skills working effectively with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders across teams
• Mentorship experience helping other designers grow
• Communication skills presenting work confidently and influencing decisions with data and storytelling
• Portfolio showcasing design systems depth, end-to-end process, and high-quality craft
• Expertise in industry-standard tools such as Figma, Confluence, Notion, Google Drive
• Inclusive design expertise with understanding of WCAG standards and designing for diverse abilities, contexts, and user needs
• Agile/Scrum experience working in iterative, cross-functional product teams

Nice To Haves

• Background in B2B SaaS, HR tech, or employee experience products
• Experience contributing to broader design practice-building at a growing organization
• Familiarity with survey platforms, data visualization, or analytics tools
• Advanced inclusive design knowledge beyond WCAG basics
• Experience with design ops tooling and workflows

Responsibilities

• Own the Design System as a Product: Lead design system strategy across the product portfolio — treating it as a product with its own roadmap, users (designers and developers), and success metrics
• Build and evolve all layers of the system: UI components and usage rules, a developer-facing storefront, design-to-code parity, and the processes that keep them in sync
• Establish governance and operations: contribution models, documentation standards, adoption processes, and a sustainable workflow between design and front-end engineering
• Drive training and adoption — get designers and developers across teams using the system well, and build the culture that sustains it
• Lead design system audits and define strategies for unifying or sunsetting redundant patterns across products
• Partner closely with front-end engineering to close and maintain parity between Figma, Storybook, and production
• Unify Across Products & Teams: Drive design system consolidation across multiple live products — navigating the complexity of unifying while products are still in active use and development
• Bring together designers, developers, and product owners across teams around shared standards and ways of working
• Define patterns that scale across diverse user types — employees, managers, HR admins, executives — and across product contexts
• Identify and resolve systemic inconsistencies across the portfolio, advocating compellingly for the investment needed to address them
• Deliver High-Quality Product Design: Own design for assigned product areas from research through execution, contributing hands-on craft alongside systems work
• Design comprehensive user flows, wireframes, mockups, and prototypes with exceptional attention to detail
• Connect design decisions to product and business goals — demonstrating design's strategic value through the quality and clarity of your work
• Handle complex, ambiguous projects with minimal oversight
• Consider all constraints including accessibility, responsive design, edge cases, and localization
• Mentor & Develop the Team: Mentor designers at all levels on design systems thinking, craft, and how to contribute to and get value from the system
• Coach others on navigating ambiguity, managing change, and maintaining momentum during uncertain or difficult periods
• Model growth mindset and resilience — be a stabilizing presence when things are hard and a motivating one when things are going well
• Contribute to establishing team processes and standards that mature our practice
• Collaborate & Communicate: Present work with polish and confidence to stakeholders at all levels
• Build rapport with cross-functional partners in product, engineering, and business
• Advocate for design systems investment using data, clear rationale, and storytelling
• Champion design's strategic value in business and product discussions

Benefits

• This role is also bonus eligible.
• PTO policy includes company holidays, sick time, vacation time, and floating holidays
• Company pays a portion of individual health care premium
• Option to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k)
• Training and education
• Professional development; all employees have access to a third party professional coach
• Tuition reimbursement program
• Opportunity to work for a purpose-driven organization using business as a force for good (https://www.bcorporation.net/)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: No Education Listed