Principal Product Designer, Core

BetterUp•Austin, TX

About The Position

A company whose mission is human transformation, BetterUp offers a unique employer/employee relationship, starting from the candidate experience. Employees receive a personal BetterUp Coach, a development plan, a trained and coached manager, and work that matters, leading to a focused and fulfilling work experience. BetterUp is seeking a Principal Product Designer to join its Design team and shape the future of human transformation at scale. This is a high-level individual contributor role within Design, focusing on domain-level craft, strategy, and systems thinking across BetterUp’s core product experiences. The Principal Product Designer will report to the VP of Product Design, setting the standard for design excellence, influencing cross-functional direction, and contributing to the definition of a world-class human-AI product.

Requirements

10+ years of product design experience, including time at a consumer or B2B SaaS company where design played a central role in product strategy
A portfolio that demonstrates exceptional craft, systems thinking, and the ability to operate across the full design spectrum—from early concept to polished execution
Proven track record of leading complex, multi-year design initiatives with measurable impact on product outcomes and user experience
Deep experience influencing product and engineering direction at the senior leadership level
Strong design systems sensibility—you understand how foundational decisions compound across a product at scale
Exceptional communication and storytelling skills—you make complex ideas clear and compelling to any audience
A growth mindset and genuine curiosity about how AI tools can enhance design craft and process

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with AI-native product patterns is a strong plus

Responsibilities

Architect the design vision for BetterUp’s core product experiences—identifying the highest-leverage opportunities, defining the strategic direction, and ensuring continuity across complex, multi-surface journeys
Drive design quality and craft standards across the product, raising the bar for the entire Design org through rigorous critique, deep collaboration, and principled decision-making
Partner closely with Product, Engineering, and Research to shape roadmaps from the earliest stages—bringing design perspective to problem framing, not just solutions
Lead complex, ambiguous design challenges from 0→1 and 1→n, navigating organizational complexity with clear thinking and strong point of view
Build and maintain scalable design systems and foundational patterns that enable speed and coherence across teams
Mentor and elevate senior designers, providing thoughtful feedback that develops taste, confidence, and craft
Influence VP-level and executive stakeholders with clarity and conviction, earning trust as a thought partner on product and design strategy
Represent the design function in cross-functional planning, helping align design investment with company priorities
Shape company-wide AI strategy in partnership with executive leadership, ensuring design’s voice is central to how BetterUp’s AI capabilities are built and experienced
Remove institutional barriers to AI adoption and drive cultural change that embraces continuous reinvention across the Design org
Serve as BetterUp’s foremost design expert in AI-powered product experiences, with recognized internal and external influence
Directly contribute to competitive differentiation through breakthrough design applications that define market leadership