Product Design Director jobs in Santa Barbara, CA

Director, Product Design

Remote • Full-Time

Who We Are

ParentSquare is a Santa Barbara-based growing company that’s changing the way schools and parents communicate every day. Sounds simple? We strive to keep it that way! Over 20,000 schools and 10 million parents across the U.S. utilize our platform to stay informed and involved from the way they prefer to be notified – email, text, voice, web, app, social – to the ways they can interact with schools – forms, sign-ups, payments, RSVPs, language translations, chat and more. We just celebrated our 13th anniversary and are excited to continue advancing K-12 communications equity with our intuitive and easy-to-use platform so districts and schools can connect with all parents and guardians.

Who We’re Looking For

We are seeking a dynamic Director of Product Design with a proven track record of leading and inspiring cross-functional design teams to create innovative and user-centric products. The ideal candidate possesses exceptional strategic vision, a deep understanding of design principles, and a passion for driving product excellence through collaboration and mentorship. They should demonstrate strong leadership skills, with the ability to articulate a compelling design strategy, prioritize initiatives effectively, and foster a culture of creativity and excellence within the organization.

Reports to: VP, Product Management

This Role Will Include:

• Empowering and Leading a Team
  • Lead, mentor, and support a cross-functional team of 5 designers.
  • Be a hands-on leader, providing guidance and expertise on complex design challenges.
  • Foster a collaborative and creative work environment where team members can thrive.
• Leading the Design Vision
  • In collaboration with Product and Engineering, lead the creation and evolution of the company's product design vision, core metrics, and roadmap, ensuring they align with the ongoing success of our established product while enabling innovative and iterative improvements to enhance user experience and future potential.
  • Champion design principles across the organization and serve as the steward for the visual brand, both internally and externally.
• Building User-Centered Experiences
  • Oversee all user experiences across the company’s product portfolio.
  • Lead a team of designers to deeply understand user needs and build experiences that empower and delight them.
  • Define human-centered design processes and ensure teams deliver high-quality work efficiently and effectively.
• Driving Design Impact
  • Collaborate with product and engineering teams to integrate design throughout the product development lifecycle, from problem definition to solution implementation.
  • Evolve the company's design processes to elevate the design from a service function to a driving force within the organization.

The Ideal Candidate:

• 8 years of design, 4 years of design management
• Proven track record of leading and inspiring design teams to create successful products.
• Exceptional strategic vision and deep understanding of design principles.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to articulate a compelling design strategy, prioritize effectively, and motivate others.
• Passion for building a strong design culture and fostering creativity within the team.
• Commitment to user-centered design and understanding user needs.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams, including product, QA and engineering.
• Bonus:
  • Have experience in the education technology industry.
  • Share our passion for improving the lives of students through communication.

The perks of working for us are great! 

• You’ll get your foot in the door as our company continues to grow. We’re big believers in work-life balance and provide:
• Employer-paid health insurance (including dependent coverage)
• An employer-matched 401K retirement savings program from day 1 
• Paid Parental Leave
• Stock options
• Health wellness reimbursements
• Generous PTO 
• 15 paid holidays, including your birthday! 

As a fully remote team, we’ll make sure you have all the tools and equipment you need to make your home office a place where you can thrive. 

We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

The salary range for this role will be $175,000 -  $200,000 DOE.