Design Manager / UI-UX Manager

Design Manager / UI-UX Manager Direct-Hire Foster City, CA 94404 (Onsite)

We are seeking an experienced Design System Manager/Lead to drive the strategy, governance, and continuous evolution of the Digital Design System. This role requires strong collaboration skills, product mindset, and deep understanding of scalable design and component frameworks.

Skills / Experience

• 10+ years of experience in UI Design, Visual Design, Interactive Design Strategy and Systems, Brand Strategy or related experience
• 6+ years of experience in Design tools like Figma, Sketch, InVision / Studio, Adobe Suite, Principle, Framer X, Zepplin, Abstract
• 5+ years leading or significantly contributing to an enterprise Design System initiative
• Strong understanding of UI/UX frameworks, component-based design, and accessibility principles
• Experience working with tools such as Figma, Storybook, Zeroheight, or equivalent
• Knowledge of Front-end development technologies (React, Angular, Web Components, etc.)
• Experience managing design-to-development workflows at scale; Familiarity with brand governance and digital product lifecycle management
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; Proven ability to collaborate in a global, matrixed organization

Key Responsibilities

• Cross-Functional Collaboration Work closely with Product, Design, Engineering, and Brand teams to build, govern, and scale the Digital Design System
• System Ownership & Evolution Maintain and evolve design components, patterns, and visual assets to support multiple platforms and product teams
• Product Strategy & Roadmap Translate the design system vision into a clear product strategy, prioritized roadmap, and execution plan
• Success Metrics & OKRs Define and track key performance indicators (e.g., adoption rate, usage quality, efficiency impact) to measure platform success
• UI Kits & Documentation Develop UI kits, reusable components, guidelines, usage standards, and documentation to support designers and engineers
• Advocacy & Governance Champion the adoption of the Design System to ensure consistency, scalability, and efficiency across digital touchpoints
• Platform Requirement Management Gather, prioritize, and document requirements; manage interdependencies and drive decision-making through trade-offs
• Delivery & Risk Management Track progress, mitigate risks, resolve conflicts, maintain quality, and deliver clear status reporting to stakeholders
• Partnership & Alignment Collaborate with agencies, engineering leaders, and business teams to ensure design system standards support enterprise-wide use cases
• Market Research & Innovation Conduct ongoing research to assess new tools, technologies, and workflows to continuously modernize the design system
• Communicate effectively with internal and customer stakeholders; Communication approach: verbal, emails and instant messages
• Provide constructive feedback during code reviews and be open to receiving feedback on your own code
• Prior experience in working on Agile/Scrum projects with exposure to tools like Jira/Azure DevOps
• Problem-Solving and Analytical Thinking; Capability to troubleshoot and resolve issues efficiently
• Strong interpersonal skills to build and maintain productive relationships with team members
• Provides regular updates, proactive and due diligent to carry out responsibilities

Expected Outcome

• Increase Design System Adoption across product teams, leading to improved consistency and user experience enterprise-wide
• Enhance delivery efficiency by reducing design and development effort through reusable components, standardized patterns, and automation
• Establish clear governance and contribution models to improve quality, accountability, and scalability of the Design System
• Drive alignment across cross-functional stakeholders (Design, Engineering, Brand, Product, Agency partners) to build a unified digital experience
• Enable faster onboarding of new team members through comprehensive documentation, guidelines, and onboarding kits
• Improve platform maturity and evolution by introducing new technologies, workflows, and iterative system enhancements
• Produce measurable business value through defined OKRs (e.g., adoption rate, reduced defects, faster release cycles, usability improvements)
• +C8 Support enterprise digital modernization initiatives by ensuring the Design System scales for future products and platforms