Design Manager

Design Citizen; Bellevue (WA); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Design Citizen in Bellevue, WA is seeking a Design Manager to lead engagements across digital products for a major transformation program. You will partner with PMs, developers, and leadership to define work, set direction, and ensure high-quality design outcomes in a fast-paced studio.

The role balances design craft, people management, and process improvement, mentoring designers, and shaping how the studio collaborates to deliver ambitious, sustainable solutions.

Qualifications

• 8+ years designing digital products, software, or services.
• Experience leading designers within a consulting, agency, or product environment.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating systems thinking, UX, interaction design, and product strategy.
• Experience leading complex, cross‑functional projects with multiple stakeholders.
• Excellent facilitation, communication, and presentation skills.
• Comfort balancing strategic thinking with practical execution.
• The ability to mentor designers while building trust across disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Lead Design Across Projects: Guide multiple concurrent client engagements from discovery through delivery.
• Ensure work is grounded in user needs, technical realities, and business objectives.
• Maintain a high bar for UX quality, interaction design, visual execution, and overall experience.
• Partner with Project Management to balance scope, schedules, budgets, and quality.
• Grow Designers: Provide day‑to‑day leadership, coaching, and constructive critique on projects.
• Manage individual designers, conduct performance reviews, and support career development.
• Help onboard new designers and create an environment where people can grow.
• Foster curiosity, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
• Improve How We Work: Balance workload across projects and identify resource needs early.
• Lead design critiques, workshops, and alignment sessions.
• Improve studio processes, documentation, and delivery practices.
• Help remove bottlenecks before they impact projects.
• Work with Product Management, Development, Industrial Design, Motion Design, Business Development, and Program Management to navigate ambiguity.

Skills

8+ years UX design

Team leadership

Portfolio

Consulting experience

Facilitation

Job description

Location: Bellevue, WA (Hybrid, 3 days/week in office, 2 days remote)

Reports To: Design Director

Salary Range: $130K-$150K

Position Type: Full Time

Who We Are

We are Design Citizen, a human-centered talent agency working with organizations to create innovative, inclusive, and sustainable business solutions through design.

Our client, an established design and innovation firm, has secured a major multi-year transformation program with a national institution — spanning digital, experience, and physical design. We’re hiring a Design Manager to join the effort as a dedicated lead to this high-impact initiative - focused on modernizing digital platforms that reach and support millions of members.

This is a rare opportunity to shape how people interact with a legacy organization as it rethinks its digital future. Our client is growing their multidisciplinary studio and looking for a Manager to help shape not only the work they deliver, but how their team works together.

This role is hybrid, located in the Greater Seattle Area, and interested applicants must be open to going into the office 3 days per week.

About the Role

You’ll lead multiple client engagements across a portfolio of digital products and services — while helping designers do their best work. You’ll partner closely with project managers, developers, industrial designers, and studio leadership to ensure projects are well-defined, thoughtfully executed, and delivered at a consistently high standard.

This role balances design craft, operations, people management, and mentoring. You’ll manage designers directly, oversee work across project teams, and help build the collaborative, multidisciplinary studio environment our client is growing.

What You’ll Do

Lead Design Across Projects

• Guide multiple concurrent client engagements from discovery through delivery
• Ensure work is grounded in user needs, technical realities, and business objectives
• Maintain a high bar for UX quality, interaction design, visual execution, and overall experience
• Partner with Project Management to balance scope, schedules, budgets, and quality

Grow Designers

• Provide day‑to‑day leadership, coaching, and constructive critique on projects
• Manage individual designers, conduct performance reviews, and support career development
• Help onboard new designers and create an environment where people can grow
• Foster curiosity, experimentation, and continuous improvement

Improve How We Work

• Balance workload across projects and identify resource needs early
• Lead design critiques, workshops, and alignment sessions
• Improve studio processes, documentation, and delivery practices
• Help remove bottlenecks before they impact projects

You’ll work closely with Product Management, Development, Industrial Design, Motion Design, Business Development, and Program Management — helping teams navigate ambiguity, align around shared goals, and make informed design decisions.

As a consulting practice, every engagement is an opportunity to build long‑term relationships. You’ll contribute to project planning, staffing, estimates, proposals, and client presentations, helping ensure exceptional work while continuing to grow the practice.

What You’ll Bring

• 8+ years designing digital products, software, or services
• Experience leading designers within a consulting, agency, or product environment
• A strong portfolio demonstrating systems thinking, UX, interaction design, and product strategy
• Experience leading complex, cross‑functional projects with multiple stakeholders
• Excellent facilitation, communication, and presentation skills
• Comfort balancing strategic thinking with practical execution
• The ability to mentor designers while building trust across disciplines
• A mindset that's strategic, tactical, and open.

Success in This Role Looks Like

Designers become stronger through your guidance. Projects stay aligned, focused, and moving forward. Clients trust your judgment. Cross‑functional collaboration improves. Teams deliver ambitious work without sacrificing quality or sustainability.

Join Us

At Design Citizen, we believe that great design starts with diverse perspectives. We are proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer, providing equal opportunities regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, veteran status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, or disability.