Sr. Manager, Product Design - Caper

Instacart; Canada; Remote; CAD 194,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading grocery technology company is seeking a Senior Design Manager to lead the design of innovative AI-powered smart carts. This remote role requires significant product design experience and a successful track record in managing teams and delivering results. The ideal candidate will possess exceptional skills in design strategy, collaboration, and team development while driving visionary experiences and crafting user-centered solutions.

Benefits

Highly competitive compensation

Remote work flexibility

Equity grants

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in product design, with 5+ years managing designers.
• Proven track record of delivering innovative consumer hardware products.
• Strong attention to interaction design and user experience.

Responsibilities

• Define Caper cart experiences and push boundaries of digital experience.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to enhance user insights.
• Coach and develop product designers' careers.

Skills

Product design

Team management

Strategic design

Collaboration

Job description

Overview

We\'re transforming the grocery industry

Instacart invites the world to share love through food and believes everyone should have access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together. Instacart delivers groceries and household goods while offering flexible earnings opportunities to Instacart Personal Shoppers. We are building a team to push our shopping cart forward and invite you to join us.

Instacart is a Flex First team

Our employees have the flexibility to choose where they work—whether from home, an office, or a favorite coffee shop—while staying connected and building community through regular in-person events. Learn more about our flexible approach to where we work.

About the Role

Senior Design Manager to lead the digital experience for Caper Cart, Instacart’s award-winning AI-powered smart cart. Caper aims to transform the in-store shopping experience by helping customers save time and money while helping grocery retailers grow their business. As the Senior Design Manager, you will work at the forefront of product innovation, tackling complex design challenges while driving user-centered solutions by combining customer insights, technology capabilities, and market trends. You will be responsible for driving visionary experiences while balancing hands-on execution that sets the standard for outstanding experiences and craft; helping to evolve Caper into a best-in-class product.

About the Team

Caper’s Design team is responsible for the hardware, software, and sensory experiences that customers and retailers use while shopping in grocery stores. This role is responsible for the product designers who design our digital Android tablet experience. Our team of product designers are distributed across New York, Atlanta, and the Bay Area.

About the Job

• We’re seeking a hands-on creative problem solver to define our Caper cart experiences by pushing the boundaries of our digital experience. This includes improving/refining our current generation of carts and defining future generations.
• You’ll use your full range of skills including strategic design, ideation, prototyping iteration and research.
• You’ll partner closely with Product, Engineering, User Research, and Business Development to bring our carts to life.
• You’ll drive getting customer insights throughout the development process and be responsible for translating them into actionable improvements in partnership with Research.
• You’ll be responsible for coaching and developing the careers of our product designers.
• You will drive work in a hands-on manner, jumping in when needed, to ensure craft excellence that also balances business needs.

About You

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum 10+ years of experience in product design, with 5+ years managing designers.
• Proven track record of delivering innovative consumer hardware products that demonstrate measurable impact on both customers and the business.
• A portfolio showcasing end-to-end design experience on hardware products—from generative concepts and prototyping to final production and launch.
• A craft leader with strong attention to interaction design, visual aesthetics, motion, content, and the overall cohesiveness of the user experience.
• Demonstrated ability to transform user experiences by consistently balancing visionary thinking with near-term, actionable execution.
• Strong awareness of industry and market trends, as well as emerging technologies and tools that can shape future solutions.
• Proven collaboration skills, effectively working across disciplines, including product management, software engineering, marketing, and business development.
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, start-up environments, with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Prior experience managing and mentoring product designers, with a track record of fostering growth and development across different career stages.
• Availability and willingness to travel as needed for in-store research, team collaboration, or key moments in the product development lifecycle.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working on consumer hardware products with computer vision or weight sensors is a plus, but not required.
• Experience working on B2B products is a plus, but not required.
• Experience managing a remote team across different time zones.

Instacart provides highly market-competitive compensation and benefits in each location where our employees work. This role is remote and the base pay range for a successful candidate is dependent on their permanent work location. Please review our Flex First remote work policy here.

Offers may vary based on many factors, such as candidate experience and skills required for the role. Additionally, this role is eligible for a new hire equity grant as well as annual refresh grants. Please read more about our benefits offerings here.

For US-based candidates, the base pay ranges for a successful candidate are listed below.

CA, NY, CT, NJ: $221,000 — $245,000 USD

WA: $212,000 — $235,000 USD

OR, DE, ME, MA, MD, NH, RI, VT, DC, PA, VA, CO, TX, IL, HI: $203,000 — $225,000 USD

All other states: $183,000 — $203,000 USD

Instacart provides highly market-competitive compensation and benefits in each location where our employees work. This role is remote and the base pay range for a successful candidate is dependent on their permanent work location. Please review our Flex First remote work policy here. Currently, we are only hiring in the following provinces: Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia.

CAN: $194,000 — $215,000 CAD