Director, Product design

Yahoo serves as a trusted guide for hundreds of millions of people globally, helping them achieve their goals online through our portfolio of iconic products. For advertisers, Yahoo Advertising offers omnichannel solutions and powerful data to engage with our brands and deliver results.

About the Role

The Director of Design (M5) is a senior design leader responsible for shaping the vision, strategy, and execution of design across a significant product or business area. As a key member of the design leadership team, this role oversees multiple design teams, driving quality, alignment, and innovation across complex, multi-disciplinary initiatives. The Director ensures design excellence while fostering a healthy, inclusive, and scalable design culture that supports both people and product growth.

Key ResponsibilitiesLeadership and Team Development

• Develop senior design leaders: Mentor and grow senior managers (M4) and principal designers (IC5–IC6), building a strong leadership bench for future organizational needs.
   

• Organizational design: Proactively structure and evolve the design organization to meet long-term strategic goals, ensuring clarity in roles, ownership, and accountability.
   

• Culture and inclusion: Champion psychological safety, collaboration, and inclusion across all levels, fostering a strong, values-driven design culture.
   

• Succession planning: Actively manage and prepare successors for key leadership roles across the design organization.

Execution and Delivery

• Strategic program delivery: Own a portfolio of high-impact, multi-year design initiatives, ensuring delivery aligns with business goals.
   

• Operational excellence: Design and implement scalable operational processes (e.g., planning, design reviews, hiring, onboarding) that enhance quality and predictability.
   

• Resource stewardship: Ensure optimal allocation of senior design talent and resources across teams to tackle complex challenges effectively.
   

• Quality and consistency: Act as the executive escalation point for major design decisions and ensure all design output meets the highest standards of user experience and business impact.

Craft and Quality Leadership

• Vision for design excellence: Define and uphold design quality standards across the organization, serving as the final point of accountability for user experience within the business unit.
   

• System architecture: Oversee and guide design system strategy to ensure coherence, scalability, and long-term sustainability across products.
   

• Strategic simplification: Identify opportunities to align and simplify design systems across teams and organizations, reducing fragmentation and improving efficiency.
   

• Industry influence: Champion alignment with industry best practices and innovations, ensuring the company’s design remains competitive and forward-looking

Strategy and Alignment

• Strategic partnership: Serve as a trusted advisor to VPs, GMs, and executive peers across Product, Engineering, and Research, co-defining business strategy through a design lens.
   

• Design strategy ownership: Translate broad, ambiguous business objectives into a clear, multi-year design strategy that drives measurable impact.
   

• Cross-functional influence: Build deep relationships across business units, ensuring design priorities are represented and integrated into company-wide planning.
   

• External representation: Shape and elevate the company’s external design brand through partnerships, industry engagement, and thought leadership opportunities

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in product design, UX, or related disciplines, with 5+ years managing design teams at scale.
   

• Proven success leading senior managers and cross-functional design organizations.
   

• Deep expertise in systems thinking, user-centered design, and large-scale design operations.
   

• Strong business acumen and experience translating design strategy into measurable outcomes.
   

• Exceptional communication and collaboration skills, with a track record of influencing senior executives.
   

• Experience working in complex, matrixed organizations or across multiple product areas preferred

Impact and Success Indicators

• A high-performing, motivated design organization aligned with company values and goals.
   

• Consistent delivery of design work that drives measurable business outcomes.
   

• A scalable and efficient design organization that anticipates and adapts to change.
   

Recognition of the company’s design excellence both internally and externally.

The material job duties and responsibilities of this role include those listed above as well as adhering to Yahoo policies; exercising sound judgment; working effectively, safely and inclusively with others; exhibiting trustworthiness and meeting expectations; and safeguarding business operations and brand integrity.

At Yahoo, we offer flexible hybrid work options that our employees love! While most roles don’t require regular office attendance, you may occasionally be asked to attend in-person events or team sessions. You’ll always get notice to make arrangements. Your recruiter will let you know if a specific job requires regular attendance at a Yahoo office or facility. If you have any questions about how this applies to the role, just ask the recruiter!

Yahoo is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category. Yahoo will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law. Yahoo is dedicated to providing an accessible environment for all candidates during the application process and for employees during their employment. If you need accessibility assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please submit a request via the Accommodation Request Form (www.yahooinc.com/careers/contact-us.html) or call +1.866.772.3182. Requests and calls received for non-disability related issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.

We believe that a diverse and inclusive workplace strengthens Yahoo and deepens our relationships. When you support everyone to be their best selves, they spark discovery, innovation and creativity. Among other efforts, our 11 employee resource groups (ERGs) enhance a culture of belonging with programs, events and fellowship that help educate, support and create a workplace where all feel welcome.

The compensation for this position ranges from $160,965.00 - $349,885.00/yr and will vary depending on factors such as your location, skills and experience.The compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of discretionary annual bonus or commissions. Our comprehensive benefits include healthcare, a great 401k, backup childcare, education stipends and much (much) more.

Currently work for Yahoo? Please apply on our internal career site.