Sr. Director, Product Design

ZipRecruiter•Santa Monica, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

ZipRecruiter is seeking a Senior Director, Product Design to lead its UX practice during a period of growth. The role focuses on increasing conversations between employers and job seekers by driving on-platform engagement and designing intuitive experiences that align with users’ workflows. The successful candidate will help shape the future of the Product Design function as AI changes the technology landscape. This is a player-coach role: the Senior Director will personally engage with high-priority product areas while setting design standards, defining AI strategy, and allocating resources across the design organization. The role partners as an equal with leaders in Product, Engineering, and Decision Science. The Senior Director will build a deep, empathetic understanding of users and their workflows, and use that understanding to advocate for effective user experiences, from iterative experiments to holistic redesigns. They will take ownership of priority areas for increasing employer-job seeker conversations, form and execute a point of view on improving user experiences, and help determine where the team should focus next. The role also establishes expectations and success measures for the Product Design team, develops talent, and fosters a culture in which design has a consistent positive impact on product roadmaps and outcomes. The Senior Director will define and promote expectations for using AI tools and methods to accelerate and improve how the product development organization designs and ships products.

Requirements

10 or more years of experience in Product Design.
5 or more years of people management experience.
Proven ability to work as a player-coach.
Strong customer orientation, including personally staying close to users and building teams and practices that do the same.
Ability to demonstrate product decisions and outcomes that were changed by customer insight.
Proven initiative, influence, and positive impact on outcomes.
Credibility and communication skills to effect organizational change.
Strong analytical abilities to structure and solve complex problems and work backwards from a goal.
Fluency with modern AI and design tools.
Experience integrating AI tools or methodologies into a design team’s workflow.

Nice To Haves

Experience designing for two-sided marketplaces or SMB employers.
Familiarity with design engineering.
A strong point of view on technical questions, such as making design systems usable by AI coding tools so product managers and engineers can ship on-brand UI with less designer review.
Experience at scaled, fast-paced technology companies.

Responsibilities

Develop an empathetic understanding of users and their workflows to guide product solutions and decisions.
Advocate for user experiences that support product success, including iterative experiments and holistic redesigns.
Take personal ownership of priority areas aimed at increasing conversations between job seekers and employers.
Form and execute a point of view on improving user experience in key product areas and help determine future areas of focus.
Define expectations and success measures for the Product Design team.
Develop talent and build a thriving team culture that positively affects the product roadmap and outcomes.
Shape the future of the Product Design function in the age of AI.
Establish and promote expectations for applying AI tools and methodologies to improve and accelerate product design and delivery.
Partner with Product, Engineering, and Decision Science leaders.