Director, Product Design

Motive; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 225,000 - 295,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Pharmacy benefits

Optical and dental care

Paid time off

Sick time off

Short term disability

Long term disability

Life insurance

401k contribution

Job summary

Motive is hiring a Director of Product Design to lead and elevate the design vision for Spend Management and Workforce Management offerings. You will shape strategy for fleet cards, bill pay, spend controls, and driver onboarding, while mentoring designers and advancing AI-driven product development across the ecosystem.

You will report to the VP of Design and partner with cross-functional leaders to deliver user-centric experiences for fleet managers, drivers, and back-office teams.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of user experience, interaction, and interface design experience with SaaS products.
• Proven ability to lead and manage product design teams.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating strategic design and leadership.

Responsibilities

• Drive strategic design initiatives contributing to business objectives and roadmap.
• Lead the design vision for Fleet Management and Spend/Workforce products.
• Mentor and grow a team of designers, fostering a high-performance culture.
• Shape AI-centric product development and scalable design systems.
• Collaborate with product, engineering, and operations leadership to define strategy.
• Build compelling design narratives for audiences including executives.
• Deliver end-to-end design projects from framing to iteration.
• Evolve design system and component library for consistency.
• Ensure user-centric, high-quality experiences across product touchpoints.
• Communicate design rationale effectively to diverse stakeholders.

Skills

UX design leadership

SaaS product design

Design systems

AI-driven design

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive storytelling

Job description

Who We Are

Motive empowers the people who run physical operations with tools to make their work safer, more productive, and more profitable. For the first time ever, safety, operations and finance teams can manage their drivers, vehicles, equipment, and fleet related spend in a single system. Combined with industry leading AI, the Motive platform gives you complete visibility and control, and significantly reduces manual workloads by automating and simplifying tasks.

Who We Are

Motive empowers the people who run physical operations with tools to make their work safer, more productive, and more profitable. For the first time ever, safety, operations and finance teams can manage their drivers, vehicles, equipment, and fleet related spend in a single system. Combined with industry leading AI, the Motive platform gives you complete visibility and control, and significantly reduces manual workloads by automating and simplifying tasks. Motive serves nearly 100,000 customers – from Fortune 500 enterprises to small businesses – across a wide range of industries, including transportation and logistics, construction, energy, field service, manufacturing, agriculture, food and beverage, retail, and the public sector. Visit gomotive.com to learn more.

About The Role

We are seeking a highly strategic and impactful Director, Product Design to lead and elevate the design vision for our Spend Management and Workforce Management product teams. This role offers the exciting opportunity to shape the future of our robust offerings in fleet cards, bill pay, spend controls, and X on the spend-side, and driver onboarding, qualifications, rewards, training and performance management on the workforce side. You will be pivotal in defining and executing the product strategy, working in close partnership with cross-functional leaders to deliver exceptional and user-centric experiences for fleet managers, drivers, and back‑office personnel. As a design leader who remains highly connected to the craft, you will champion the growth and development of a talented team of designers through effective mentorship and coaching, fostering a high‑performance design culture. You will also be a key driver in the evolution and adoption of AI‑centric product development, ensuring a scalable, unified, and high‑quality user experience across our entire product ecosystem. Reporting to our VP of Design, you will have the opportunity to work with a talented and passionate team to make a significant impact on our customers' lives and contribute directly to key business objectives. If you have a proven track record of successfully leading strategic design initiatives while remaining connected to the design process and tackling complex challenges, we encourage you to apply.

What You’ll Do

• Drive strategic design initiatives that directly contribute to key business objectives and the product roadmap.
• Identify and champion opportunities for innovation and differentiation through user‑centered design across the Fleet Management platform.
• Lead the development and communication of a cohesive design vision for the Fleet Management product area, aligning with the broader company strategy.
• Empower and guide a team of product designers, fostering their professional growth and ensuring high‑quality design execution.
• Champion a user‑centric design culture across the organization, advocating for user needs and design excellence.
• Establish and evangelize high design standards and best practices throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Lead design projects end to end, from initial strategic framing through detailed execution and iteration.
• Contribute to and evolve our design system and component library to ensure consistency and efficiency across all product touchpoints.
• Collaborate closely with product management, engineering, and operations leadership to define product strategy, prioritize initiatives, and ensure seamless execution.
• Build alignment and articulate a compelling design vision through strong storytelling and presentation skills to various audiences, including executive leadership.

What We’re Looking For

• 10+ years of progressive experience in user experience, interaction, and interface design, with significant experience leading and managing product design teams within a SaaS environment.
• Demonstrated success leading the design of complex web and mobile products in collaboration with cross‑functional teams.
• A compelling online portfolio demonstrating a strong understanding of user‑centered design principles, strategic thinking, leadership in driving design vision, problem‑solving abilities, and the successful delivery of impactful user experiences and business outcomes.
• Deep understanding of and proven experience in developing, implementing, and scaling design systems across multiple product lines.
• Proven experience leveraging modern AI‑driven practices and tools in the creation of strategy documents, prototypes, pull‑requests, and development.
• Strong business acumen and the ability to understand how design decisions impact business outcomes.
• Excellent written, verbal, and visual communication skills, with the ability to articulate design rationale and build consensus across diverse stakeholders.
• Experience collaborating effectively with distributed or global teams and navigating different cultural and communication styles.
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic and evolving industry undergoing disruption.
• Unbounded curiosity and a passion for solving complex challenges.
• Familiarity with or a strong interest in the fleet management, logistics, product‑lead growth, or related industries is a plus.

Pay Transparency

Your compensation may be based on several factors, including education, work experience, and certifications. For certain roles, total compensation may include restricted stock units.

• health
• pharmacy
• optical and dental care benefits
• paid time off
• sick time off
• short term disability coverage
• long term disability coverage
• life insurance
• 401k contribution

Learn more about our benefits by visiting Motive Perks & Benefits.

The Base Compensation Range For This Role Is

$225,000—$295,000 USD

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