Design Systems & Operations Lead

Into Design Systems; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

PNC is seeking a hands-on Design Systems & Operations Lead in the Treasury Management Digital org. The role coordinates design delivery, governance, and system adoption across multiple teams in Pittsburgh, PA, Hamilton, NJ, or Houston, TX.

As a senior IC, you will optimize workflows, ensure consistent delivery, and partner with leadership on intake, prioritization, and staffing while advancing front-end architecture awareness and responsive design.

Qualifications

• Hands-on senior IC with delivery experience across design and systems.
• Advanced Figma systems expertise (Components, Variants, Tokens).
• Experience scaling and governing Design Systems at scale.
• Strong UX and product design fundamentals across the lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Own the health and effectiveness of the design delivery ecosystem across Design System teams.
• Act as the operational connector to ensure work reaches the right team with goals and dependencies.
• Design and optimize workflows, rituals, and operating models across Design, Product, and Engineering.
• Drive operational consistency while maintaining agility and velocity.
• Identify friction points and remove barriers to execution.
• Evolve intake and work-shaping processes for initiatives from definition to routing.
• Partner with leadership on intake, prioritization, roadmap alignment, and delivery planning.
• Support capacity planning and resource visibility across teams.

Skills

Design Systems governance

DesignOps

UX fundamentals

Product Design

Front-end architecture understanding

Component-based systems

Responsive design principles

Tools

Figma

Job description

PNC is hiring a Design Systems & Operations Lead within its Treasury Management Digital organization. The role is based in Pittsburgh, PA, Hamilton, NJ, or Houston, TX and sits at the intersection of Design Operations, Product Design, and Design Systems. The lead will partner across Product, Research, Experience Design, UI, and Engineering to scale design quality, consistency, and delivery effectiveness. The position is described as a hands-on senior individual contributor role blending design delivery orchestration, Design System governance and adoption, and product design execution.

What you'll do

• Own the health and effectiveness of the design delivery ecosystem across Research, Experience Design, and Design System teams.
• Act as the operational connector across disciplines to ensure work reaches the right team at the right time with defined goals, dependencies, and success criteria.
• Design and optimize workflows, rituals, and operating models within Design and across Product and Engineering.
• Drive operational consistency while maintaining team agility and delivery velocity.
• Identify organizational friction points and remove barriers to execution.
• Own and evolve intake and work-shaping processes so initiatives are properly defined, assessed, and routed before delivery.
• Partner with leadership on intake management, prioritization, roadmap alignment, and delivery planning.
• Support capacity planning and resource visibility across teams.

What they're looking for

• This is a hands-on senior individual contributor role.
• Advanced Figma systems expertise (Components, Variants, Variables, Tokens, Libraries).
• Deep experience scaling and governing Design Systems.
• Strong UX and Product Design fundamentals across the end-to-end product lifecycle.
• Proven experience establishing or improving DesignOps functions, workflows, or operating models.
• Strong understanding of front-end architecture.
• Strong understanding of component-based systems.
• Strong understanding of responsive design principles.