Director, Product Design User Interface

500 WP Company LLC; Washington, Washington Township (District of Columbia, IN); On-site; USD 159,000 - 265,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive medical, dental and vision

Company-paid pension and 401(k) match

Vacation and sick leave

Paid holidays and personal days

Parental leave

Mental health resources

Pet insurance

Free Post digital subscription

Job summary

The Washington Post is seeking a Director, Product Design User Interface to lead the visual and interaction design of our digital products across web, mobile apps, and emerging platforms. This senior craft leader sets high standards for interface quality and builds scalable systems to enable teams to deliver distinctive, accessible experiences.

Based in Washington, DC, you will partner with Product, Engineering, Content Design, and newsroom partners to translate strategy into execution, mentor

Qualifications

• Significant experience in product design, UI design, or related discipline with high-quality digital experiences.
• Experience defining or evolving design languages, patterns, components, or design systems.
• Strong craft in typography, layout, hierarchy, motion, and responsive interfaces.
• Experience across web and mobile surfaces and with scalable design systems.
• Ability to lead design direction and critique complex product experiences.
• Experience partnering with product management and engineering on scalable products.
• Strong accessibility knowledge and decision impact on design systems.
• Experience mentoring designers and elevating design craft across teams.
• Ability to influence across cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders.
• Familiarity with modern prototyping tools and AI-enabled design workflows.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve The Post’s UI design language across web, mobile apps, and emerging surfaces.
• Establish high-quality visual design, interaction design, motion, and craft standards.
• Lead design system development, adoption, and governance with Engineering.
• Create reusable components and patterns to enable cohesive product experiences.
• Review major product experiences from concept to launch with clear craft direction.
• Collaborate with Product Management to translate strategy into distinct interfaces.
• Ensure design system practicality, accessibility, and scalability with Engineering.
• Mentor designers and strengthen interface-design craft across the organization.
• Identify and simplify inconsistencies to improve cohesion across product ecosystem.
• Stay current on design practices and AI-enabled workflows to improve quality and speed.

Skills

Product design

UI design

Interaction design

Design systems

Leadership

Mentoring

Accessibility

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

AI-enabled design

Tools

Prototyping tools

Job description

Join the future of news We’re on a mission to deliver riveting storytelling for all of America. At The Washington Post, you’ll help reinvent news. Our work is driven by a deep investigative spirit and enhanced by innovation to bring audiences closer to the stories that matter most.

The Washington Post is powered by the passion and talent of our people. It takes all of us to reinvent news. Beyond our award-winning News and Opinions teams, we work across many departments, including Brand & Events, Communications, Customer Care, Engineering & Product, Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Marketing & Advertising, Print Operations, and Sales.

Why This Role Matters

The Washington Post is seeking a Director, Product Design User Interface to lead the visual and interaction design of our digital products across web, mobile apps, and emerging platforms. This is a senior craft leadership role for a designer who can set a high bar for interface quality, establish the systems that allow teams to meet it consistently, and help create a more modern, distinctive, and coherent reader experience.

The Director, Product Design User Interface will own the design language, component systems, interaction patterns, and quality standards that shape how readers experience The Post.

Working closely with Product, Engineering, Content Design, newsroom partners, and the broader Product Design organization, this leader will translate product and design strategy into consistently excellent execution while building scalable systems that help teams design and develop experiences more efficiently.

This role is distinct from the broader Product Design leader, who will own the Product Design organization and lead cross-company design alignment and the organization’s operational responsibilities. The Director, Product Design User Interface will serve as the organization’s senior leader for interface craft and execution. This position is based in Washington, D.C.

What Motivates You

You care deeply about visual and interaction design and believe exceptional interface craft is fundamental to a great product experience.

You are energized by creating coherent design systems that give teams both clear standards and reusable tools to build better products.

You enjoy setting a high bar for design quality while helping designers and cross-functional partners consistently meet it.

You are excited by the challenge of bringing greater consistency and distinctiveness to experiences spanning web, mobile apps, and emerging platforms.

You enjoy working closely with Product and Engineering to turn ambitious ideas into intuitive, accessible, and scalable interfaces.

You value the details of typography, layout, interaction, motion, components, and patterns while understanding how those decisions contribute to a broader product experience.

You enjoy mentoring designers and strengthening interface-design craft across an organization.

You are curious about emerging design practices and AI-enabled tools and thoughtful about where they can improve quality and speed without replacing strong craft and judgment.

How You'll Support the Mission

Define and evolve The Post’s UI design language across web, mobile apps, and emerging product surfaces.

Establish a clear, high-quality bar for visual design, interaction design, motion, and interface craft.

Lead the development, adoption, and governance of a scalable design system in close partnership with Engineering.

Establish reusable components, interaction patterns, and standards that enable teams to build cohesive product experiences more consistently and efficiently.

Review and improve the quality of major product experiences from early concepts through launch, providing clear craft direction and feedback.

Partner with Product Management to translate product strategy and customer needs into intuitive, distinctive interfaces.

Partner with Engineering to ensure the design system is practical to implement, accessible, scalable, and able to evolve with the product.

Work closely with Content Design and newsroom partners to ensure interfaces reflect the quality, authority, and distinctiveness of The Post’s journalism.

Mentor and develop designers, strengthening visual and interaction-design craft across the organization.

Identify opportunities to simplify inconsistent experiences, reduce duplicate design and development work, and improve cohesion across The Post’s product ecosystem.

Stay current on interface-design practices, platforms, and tools—including AI-enabled design and development workflows—and determine where they can improve the quality and speed of our work.

The Skills and Experience You Bring

Qualifications

• Significant experience in product design, UI design, interaction design, or a related discipline, with deep expertise designing high-quality digital product experiences.
• Demonstrated experience defining or evolving visual design languages, interaction patterns, component systems, or large-scale design systems.
• Strong visual and interaction-design craft, including expertise in areas such as typography, layout, hierarchy, interaction, motion, responsive design, and component-based interfaces.
• Experience designing across multiple digital surfaces, including web and mobile applications.
• Experience leading the development, adoption, or governance of reusable design systems in partnership with Engineering.
• Demonstrated ability to provide design direction, critique complex product experiences, and raise the quality of work from concept through launch.
• Experience partnering closely with Product Management and Engineering to translate product strategy and user needs into scalable, technically feasible product experiences.
• Strong understanding of accessibility and its application to interface and design-system decisions.
• Experience mentoring and developing designers and strengthening design craft across teams.
• Ability to influence quality and execution across multidisciplinary teams while operating as a senior craft leader.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions and standard to design, product, engineering, editorial, and senior stakeholders.
• Ability to identify inconsistencies and systemic design problems and translate them into reusable patterns, standards, and scalable solutions.
• Familiarity with modern product-design and prototyping tools and modern AI-enabled design or development workflows, with strong judgment about where and how to apply them.

Collaboration makes us stronger. That’s why our offices are designed with open layouts, modern technology, and easy access to transportation. With certain exceptions for newsgathering and business travel, we work on‑site five days a week.

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation and Benefits Wherever you are in your life or career, The Washington Post offers comprehensive and inclusive benefits for every step of your journey:

• Competitive medical, dental and vision coverage
• Company-paid pension and 401(k) match
• Three weeks of vacation and up to three weeks of paid sick leave
• Nine paid holidays and two personal days
• 20 weeks paid parental leave for any new parent
• Robust mental health resources
• Backup care and caregiver concierge services
• Gender affirming services
• Pet insurance
• Free Post digital subscription
• Leadership and career development programs

Benefits may vary based on the job, full-time or part-time schedule, location, and collectively bargained status.

The salary range for this position is: $159,100 - $265,100 Annual

The actual salary within this range will depend on individual skills, experience, and qualifications as they relate to specific job requirements.

This position may be eligible for a bonus or incentive program, and a member of the Talent Acquisition team will discuss bonus payment terms and conditions during the interview process.

We’re on a mission to deliver riveting storytelling for all of America. At The Washington Post, you’ll help reinvent news. Our work is driven by a deep investigative spirit and enhanced by innovation to bring audiences closer to the stories that matter most. We are powered by the passion and talent of our people. It takes all of us. Join the future of news.