Director, Product Design

Summary

Join Instacart's Design Team as a Director of Product Design and play a pivotal role in reshaping how people connect with food. You will champion design excellence, drive innovation, and lead a team of approximately 20 designers and managers. This role requires extensive experience in product design and leadership, with a focus on creating human-centered solutions. The position offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including equity grants, and is remote-friendly. You will partner with product and engineering leaders, foster a culture of innovation, and ensure alignment across team deliverables. Your work will directly impact millions of users.

Requirements

• 15+ years of design experience with deep expertise in product design and a proven track record of excellence
• 6+ years of leadership experience managing managers and overseeing teams of 12+ members
• Demonstrated ability to attract and cultivate world-class design leaders
• Comprehensive understanding of product development, including collaboration with engineering, analytics, content strategy, and research teams
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to thrive in fast-paced, dynamic environments
• Commitment to executing a human-centered design approach focused on curiosity, empathy, and innovation
• Proven ability to connect team contributors’ efforts with high-level strategies that deliver company objectives
• Strong track record of driving user-centric solutions in cross-functional environments that blend creativity with technical feasibility

Responsibilities

• Partner closely with Product and Engineering leaders to establish a vision for the customer experience and define a multi-pronged product strategy
• Foster a culture of innovation by encouraging fresh approaches to our customer challenges, building empathy-driven frameworks, and delivering solutions that elevate the quality of life for users
• Lead and inspire a team of ~20 designers and managers by developing future design leaders, broadening their skill sets, and nurturing their growth and confidence
• Bring a human-centered approach to our design practice by balancing curiosity, strategy, and creativity
• Seamlessly shift between high-level visionary strategy, as well as detailed execution, ensuring alignment across all team deliverables
• Drive inclusivity and represent diverse perspectives to ensure the users’ voice remains core to your decisions
• Champion and improve design processes by identifying root causes, resolving team health issues, maintaining engagement levels, and optimizing workflows
• Advocate for user-centered outcomes that resonate with product and engineering teams while advancing creativity and collaboration

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with consumer-facing and marketplace-focused products
• A passion for integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices into team building and leadership methods

Benefits

• Highly market-competitive compensation and benefits
• Remote work
• New hire equity grant
• Annual refresh grants