Senior Manager, Product Design – Design Platform

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States, +1 more country.

📋 Description

• Oversee two senior designers while dedicating the majority of your time to collaborative building, maintaining a 60/40 focus.

• Develop Upstart’s design system, encompassing component architecture, token strategy, and visual language.

• Outline platform strategy for web and mobile application experiences.

• Investigate AI-driven design systems, workflows, machine-readable standards, and tools.

• Establish impact metrics and utilize data to inform priorities and secure leadership backing.

• Create ownership, governance, and contribution frameworks across platform and product teams.

• Mentor two senior designers to become leaders and creators through context, constructive feedback, and encouragement of ambitious projects.

• Collaborate with engineering and product design leaders to transform the Design Platform into the cornerstone for transitioning products from concept to production.

⛳️ Requirements

• A minimum of 8 years of experience in product design.

• At least 2 years of direct experience in people management.

• Proven experience in building or significantly expanding a design system utilized by multiple product teams.

• Background in defining design patterns or platform strategy across web and native mobile experiences.

• Experience managing design systems across components, tokens, documentation, governance, and visual design direction.

• Proven ability to collaborate directly with engineering on the implementation of design systems, including component APIs and token architecture.

• Capability to prototype or contribute to component implementation.

• Experience with AI-enhanced design, prototyping, build tools, or design-to-code workflows.

• Familiarity with multi-platform theming and native mobile design systems for iOS and Android.

• Strong analytical skills to leverage data for measuring impact, identifying insights, and guiding decisions.

• Business acumen to prioritize tasks, navigate trade-offs, and gain leadership endorsement.

• Experience in developing senior individual contributors and facilitating design critiques.

🏝️ Benefits

• Competitive salary structure, including base pay, bonus incentives, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly.

• 401(k) or Group Retirement Savings Plan featuring a company match of $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 annually.

• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) offering discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees (US only).

• Extensive medical, dental, vision, and wellness coverage/resources.

• Additional health coverage options for Canada.

• Contributions to Health Savings Accounts for eligible plans (US only).

• Life insurance and disability protection.

• Paid time off, sick leave, and recognized company holidays.

• Paid family and parental leave.

• Family-oriented benefits for fertility, parenthood, and caregiving.

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) providing mental health support and life-centered resources.

• Financial planning tools and concierge services (US only).

• Annual wellness stipend.

• Annual productivity allowance for necessary tools and resources.

• Team-building events, company-wide updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs).

• Catered lunches and well-stocked micro-kitchens available in office locations.