Lead Product Designer

Rakuten•San Francisco, NY

2d•$132,083 - $226,820•Hybrid

About The Position

Rakuten International is seeking a Lead Product Designer to join the Vertical Squad. This team focuses on product experiences that expand how and where members earn Cash Back, beyond the core online shopping flow. The role involves setting the design direction for surfaces such as gift card redemption, dining, and in-store shopping. These experiences aim to bring Rakuten's value proposition into new contexts, integrate with third-party systems, and translate operational complexity into simple and rewarding member experiences. The ideal candidate is a designer who explores new problem spaces broadly, draws from analogous experiences across industries, synthesizes information quickly, and brings a considered point of view. They can pick up new domains rapidly and context-switch fluidly between different surfaces without losing craft or care. The design team operates at the intersection of high craft and high impact, utilizing research, experimentation, and AI to enhance creativity and amplify impact. Designers are encouraged to use AI freely in their process and help shape new ways of working with this technology. This role reports to the Director of Product Design and collaborates with a product manager, researcher, UX writer, and engineers embedded in the squad.

Requirements

6+ years of professional design experience with significant experience working with complex systems.
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree (or equivalent) in design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Industrial Design, Computer Science, or related field.
Portfolio demonstrating end-to-end product design with clear evidence of process, decision-making, and measurable outcomes.
Proficiency with design and prototyping tools, e.g., Figma, Claude Code.
A strong sense of visual and interaction design, with a track record of raising the bar.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in e-commerce, marketplaces, or consumer-scale products.
Active use of AI tools as part of a design workflow, ideally including AI coding tools for rapid prototyping.
Track record of influencing design quality and culture beyond your immediate squad through critiques, mentorship, or team-level initiatives.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end design for product areas, from problem framing through shipped product, setting the design direction and influencing squad priorities.
Develop and communicate a design vision for the squad's product areas to cross-functional partners.
Frame and scope work before applying UI, asking the right questions upfront to identify what needs to be solved.
Design with awareness of how vertical surfaces connect to Rakuten's core shopping experience, building on established design patterns for cohesion.
Partner with researchers or drive research to validate direction, identify friction, and de-risk before development.
Collaborate closely with PM and engineering partners to define what is built, why, and how, navigating stakeholder dynamics and communicating design decisions confidently.
Contribute to the broader design team's culture through critiques, sharing learnings, and raising the quality of work across squads.
Leverage AI tools as part of the design process for research synthesis, rapid prototyping, ideation, or other areas to increase speed and clarity.