Senior Design Operations & AI Programs Lead

Wwshemi; Canada; Hybrid; CAD 185,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

Instacart is seeking a Senior Design Program Manager to drive operational excellence across the Design organization. You will own end-to-end program execution for high-visibility design initiatives and leverage AI to automate workflows and improve efficiency.

You’ll collaborate with Design System teams and cross-functional partners to translate design strategy into actionable programs with measurable progress. This remote role supports Canadian locations with a base pay aligned to market ranges.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in program management and design operations within design or product organizations.
• Strong product sense and design craft sensibility, with well-developed methods and tools for driving fluid programs forward into the market.
• Experience with all stages of the product development lifecycle, launching products end-to-end.
• (component libraries, tokens, documentation, cross-platform patterns)
• Technical fluency to collaborate with design system and engineering teams—understanding system architecture, component APIs, design-to-code workflows, and technical constraints
• Proven track record driving complex, cross-functional programs from 0→1 and scaling operational systems in fast-paced environments
• AI fluency: Experience leveraging AI tools (LLMs, automation platforms) to drive efficiency and scale programs
• Vendor/contract management experience: negotiating software contracts, managing relationships, optimizing spend, ensuring compliance
• Deep knowledge of design and program management tooling ecosystems (Figma, Linear, Jira, Dovetail, asset management, prototyping tools)
• Ability to drive organizational change and influence cross-functional partners-bringing clarity to complexity
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; comfortable presenting to executive leadership
• Preferred Qualifications
• Design systems expertise: building/scaling systems, managing component libraries, defining tokens, driving adoption programs
• Experience building AI-powered workflows for creative operations or design tooling integrations
• Success translating leadership vision into actionable roadmaps and operating models
• Experience in hybrid/embedded team models with deep cross-functional partnership
• Comfort balancing hands-on execution with strategic oversight
• Track record using data and storytelling to influence leadership and secure buy-in for operational investments

Responsibilities

• Programmatic Execution: Drive end-to-end delivery of complex, multi-quarter design initiatives across Design, Product, Engineering, Marketing, Legal, Business Development and other cross-functional teams. Enable seamless cross-functional collaboration and predictable program outcomes.
• AI Enablement: Build and deploy AI-enabled workflows that automate program management tasks-status reporting, resource tracking, documentation synthesis, and stakeholder communication. Champion AI fluency in Design to accelerate design-first thinking and increase operational efficiency.
• Operations & Vendor Management: Own strategic vendor relationships and contract management for design tooling (Figma, prototyping, asset management, collaboration platforms). Negotiate contracts, optimize licensing spend, and ensure infrastructure scales with growth. Manage contractor/agency relationships and partner with Finance, Legal, and IT on compliance and cost efficiency.
• Systems & Tooling: Champion team health through capacity planning, roadmapping, and resource allocation. Build operational metrics and tooling integrations that create seamless workflows across platforms.
• Design Systems & Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner with the Instacart Design System (IDS) team to align programs with system evolution and component adoption. Drive governance programs that scale IDS across product teams.
• Design Craft Integration: Apply design thinking and product sense to program design—understanding user needs, designing operational experiences, and iterating based on feedback.

Skills

Program management

Design operations

Product sense

Communication

Stakeholder management

AI fluency

Vendor management

Cross-functional collaboration

Design systems fluency

Tools

Figma

Linear

Jira

Dovetail

Prototyping tools

Job description

Instacart is seeking a Senior Design Program Manager to drive operational excellence across the Design organization. You will own end-to-end program execution for high-visibility design initiatives and leverage AI to automate workflows and improve efficiency.

You’ll collaborate with Design System teams and cross-functional partners to translate design strategy into actionable programs with measurable progress. This remote role supports Canadian locations with a base pay aligned to market ranges.