Director of Product Design

Official role information

Replit is the agentic software creation platform that enables anyone to build applications using natural language. With millions of users worldwide, Replit is democratizing software development by removing traditional barriers to application creation. We're looking for a Director, Product Design to lead the day-to-day operations of Replit's Product Design organization, reporting to the Co-Founder & Head of Design. This is a true player-coach role for someone who loves building products as much as leading people. You'll lead and develop a talented team of product designers while remaining deeply embedded in the work itself. You'll whiteboard with designers, navigate complex product decisions. The Co-Founder & Head of Design remains closely involved in design critique and product quality. Your role is to lead the day-to-day design organization by creating the structure, alignment, and momentum that enable exceptional work. You'll stay two to three layers deeper than the Co-Founder & Head of Design on active initiatives, surfacing the context, tradeoffs, and insights needed to make thoughtful decisions without requiring constant immersion in every project. Success in this role requires exceptional product judgment, strong design taste, technical fluency, and a collaborative approach. You're someone who naturally connects disciplines, elevates the people around you, and makes both the work and the team better every day. IN THIS ROLE, YOU WILL - Lead the day-to-day operations of Replit's Product Design organization, ensuring work is aligned, prioritized, and delivered to an exceptionally high standard. - Manage, mentor, and develop a team of product designers, helping them grow their craft, confidence, and impact. - Shape and elevate the customer journey - Work alongside designers every day by whiteboarding ideas, exploring alternatives, reviewing work in progress, and solving complex product and interaction challenges. - Stay deeply informed across active initiatives, surfacing the context and insights that enable the Co-Founder & Head of Design to engage quickly in meaningful design critique and high-impact product decisions. - Raise the quality of product design through thoughtful feedback, exceptional craft, and strong design taste. - Help evolve Replit's design practices, workflows, and team culture while preserving the speed and flexibility of a high-growth company. - Recruit, hire, and onboard exceptional product design talent as the organization grows. WHO YOU ARE You're a builder first and a manager second. You enjoy being close to the work, helping designers think through difficult problems, and making good teams even better. You're equally comfortable sketching ideas on a whiteboard, giving thoughtful design feedback, coaching a designer through a difficult challenge, or partnering with engineering on implementation details. You combine exceptional product judgment with strong design taste and technical fluency. You're collaborative, humble, curious, and energized by helping great work happen. EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS - Significant experience leading product design teams within high-growth technology companies. - Proven ability to balance people leadership with meaningful hands-on product design contribution. - A portfolio demonstrating exceptional craft, interaction design, product thinking, and systems thinking. - Experience partnering closely with Product and Engineering to deliver technically sophisticated products. - Demonstrated success leading cross-functional product development in fast-moving environments. - Exceptional communication, coaching, and stakeholder management skills. - Strong design taste, sound judgment, and a bias toward action. - Experience simplifying complex technical products into elegant, approachable user experiences. NICE TO HAVE - Experience designing developer tools, technical products, or software creation platforms. - Experience building AI-powered products or AI-native workflows. - Coding experience or strong technical curiosity. - Experience growing design teams in startup or scale-up environments. - Active use of AI throughout your design process. WHY THIS ROLE IS DIFFERENT This isn't a traditional design leadership role. We're looking for someone who thrives in the work, not above it. Someone who enjoys solving problems alongside designers, building strong partnerships across Product and Engineering, and bringing the depth of context that allows the Co-Founder & Head of Design to focus on the moments where their perspective has the greatest impact. This is a role for someone who is excited by complex product challenges, passionate about developing exceptional designers, and motivated by building products that make powerful technology feel intuitive. This is a full-time role that can be held from our Foster City, CA office. The role has an in-office requirement of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.…

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