Lead Program Manager, Design

Summary

Join Airbnb's Design Operations team as a Lead Design Program Manager (DPM) and partner with Design Managers, Directors, and cross-functional leaders to drive the adoption of the Design System and advance design workflows and tooling. You will be responsible for delivering documentation, education, and onboarding resources for the design system, establishing best practices for operationalizing a design system team at scale, and partnering with design and engineering specialists to identify and pilot new tools and technologies. A key aspect of this role involves strategically communicating learnings and recommendations to leadership while partnering with operations to implement new tools. You will also drive consistency and harmony in design team operating rhythm, initiate and run internal initiatives to improve operations, optimize interaction models between Design Systems and Feature Teams, and drive continuous improvement. This role requires strong problem-solving skills, leadership experience, and the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment. The position is US-Remote Eligible, with occasional work at an Airbnb office or attendance at offsites.

Requirements

• BA/BS with 12+ years Consulting, Program Management, Product Management, Project Management or relevant experience
• Demonstrated ability to work through ambiguity to detailed solutions. You can take a vague problem, crisply frame the challenge, identify a path forward, and drive an initiative over the finish-line
• Track record of managing and shipping impactful design initiatives in a large digital product org
• Long-term strategic thinking balanced with near-term execution skills. Distinctive problem solving skills
• Proven ability to build strong relationships and influence business leaders
• Demonstrable leadership skills and experience in mediation, negotiation, and conflict resolution
• Demonstrated track record successfully managing ambitious and operationally complex projects with cross-functional teams
• Experience in structuring and implementing initiatives at scale with design and product teams
• Background in establishing systems: experience developing process where little exists, and demonstrated flexibility to get things done
• Passionate and enthusiastic about organizational excellence and attention to detail
• Thrives in ambiguity in a fast-paced, hyper-growth organization

Responsibilities

• Drive consistency and harmony in design team operating rhythm, including communication structures, project templates, leadership cadence, and resource utilization
• Initiate and run internal initiatives that significantly improve the Design org’s operations and cross-functional ways of working
• Optimize interaction models between Design Systems and Feature Teams to identify opportunity, unlock productivity, and accelerate execution
• Drive continuous improvement leveraging lessons learned from teams to celebrate successes as well as identify ways to improve
• Identify and predict obstacles, collisions, and risk to programs and seek solutions to eliminate them
• Inspire, develop, and challenge Airbnb's Design Program Management team, modeling excellence
• Build a following: attract and nurture the best talent

Benefits

$154,000 — $191,500 USD