Senior Product Designer, Ads

kayak; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 83,000 - 94,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work days up to 20 per year

Mental health support

Company week off

No-meeting Fridays

Parental leave

Generous vacation

Volunteer time

Development dollars

Leadership development

On-demand learning

Travel discounts

ERGs

Retirement plans

Free lunch

Team events

Job summary

KAYAK is seeking a Senior Product Designer to lead ads design across web and mobile in a fast-paced Metasearch environment. You will collaborate with product managers and engineers to translate user needs into compelling design decisions.

Expect to shape experiences for travelers and advertising partners, while supporting accessibility and design systems across platforms. The role requires commuting to our Cambridge, MA office at least three days a week and offers a range of perks and learning

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience designing digital products, including consumer-facing or platform work.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end design for web and mobile across Ads, from concepts and prototypes to delivery in an agile team.

Skills

UX design

Interaction design

Figma

Design systems

A/B testing & analytics

Accessibility

Communication

Independent work

AI-assisted design

Education

Education in Design or HCI

Tools

Figma

AI design tools

Job description

KAYAK, part of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), is a leading travel search engine. With billions of queries across our platforms, we help people find their perfect flight, stay, rental car and vacation package. We're also transforming business travel with a new corporate travel solution, KAYAK for Business.

As an employee of KAYAK, you will be part of a travel company that operates a portfolio of global metasearch brands including momondo, Cheapflights and HotelsCombined, among others. From start-up to industry leader, innovation is in our DNA and every employee has an opportunity to make their mark. Our focus is on building the best travel search engine to make it easier for everyone to experience the world.

We’re looking for a Senior Product Designer to join our Metasearch design team. You’ll focus primarily on Ads and help design experiences for travelers, advertisers, and partner teams. Your work may also span related products such as SEO, Affiliates, and B2B dashboards. We welcome candidates who have developed their skills through different paths and can demonstrate strong product judgment through their work.

This position requires you to commute to our Cambridge, MA office at least 3 times per week.

In this role, you will:

• Lead end-to-end design for web and mobile across the Ads team and platforms, from early concepts and rapid prototypes through to delivery within an agile team.

• Work closely with Product Managers and Engineers to translate user needs and business goals into design decisions that improve outcomes for both travelers and advertising partners.

• Communicate design rationale and success criteria clearly to cross-functional partners to build shared understanding and alignment across product and engineering.

• Plan and conduct qualitative user research; use analytics and experiment results alongside research findings to iterate on your product area.

• Raise the quality bar for the team through high-quality, well-reasoned design work, and offer constructive feedback that helps other designers grow.

• +4 Years of Experience designing digital products from early exploration through delivery and iteration, with a portfolio that includes both consumer-facing and platform or admin product work.

• Strong UX and interaction design skills — including typography, visual hierarchy, and interaction patterns — applied to solve complex product challenges.

• Proficiency with modern design, prototyping, and AI-assisted tools such as Figma, with experience contributing to shared design systems.

• Familiarity with the full product development process and the ability to ship features in an environment that moves quickly and experiments often.

• Comfort working with data: using analytics, experiment results, and qualitative research together to inform decisions and evaluate impact after launch.

• Clear communication skills and the ability to break down complex problems and present your thinking to a range of audiences.

• The ability to drive your own work forward independently while staying connected to the team and asking for input when it matters.

• A curiosity to learn and a willingness to adapt as new challenges emerge.

• A working understanding of accessibility standards and inclusive design practices.

• Experience designing advertising, partner-facing, platform, administrative, or B2B products.

• Experience contributing to or working with shared design systems.

• Familiarity with AI-assisted design or research tools.

• Education in Design, HCI, or a related field—or equivalent practical experience.

Benefits and Perks

• Work from (almost) anywhere for up to 20 days per year

• Focus on mental health and well-being:

  • Company-paid therapy sessions through SpringHealth

  • Company-paid subscription to HeadSpace

• Company-wide week off each year

• No-meeting Fridays

• Paid parental leave

• Generous paid vacation plus time off for your birthday

• Paid volunteer time

• Focus on your career growth:

  • Development Dollars

  • Leadership development

  • Access to thousands of on-demand e-learnings

• Travel discounts

• Employee Resource Groups

• Competitive retirement and health plans

• Free lunch two days per week

• Fun quarterly events such as boat trips, arcades, ski trips, Thursday happy hours, and more

There are a variety of factors that go into determining a salary range, including but not limited to external market benchmark data, geographic location, and years of experience sought or required. The approved range for this Massachusetts-based role is $110,000-125,000, not inclusive of annual bonus and recurring RSU grants.

We offer a competitive base salary and benefits including health benefits; flexible spending account; retirement benefits; life insurance; paid time off, including PTO, paid sick leave, medical leave, bereavement leave, floating holidays, and paid holidays; and parental leave benefits.

Inclusion

At KAYAK, we want people with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to have the opportunity to do meaningful work and grow. We value clear thinking, collaboration, and curiosity—not a particular career path, school, company, or personal style.

If you need an adjustment during the application, interview, or employment process, please let us know. We’ll work with you to provide appropriate support.

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