Head of Design Operations

Superhuman; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 285,000 - 427,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Excellent health care

401(k) matching

Paid parental leave

Professional development budget

Job summary

Superhuman is seeking a Director of Design & Research Operations in San Francisco, California. This role involves enhancing the operational foundation for design and research teams, enabling effective product decisions. Candidates should have over 7 years of experience in design or research operations, demonstrating leadership and a capacity to build systems that scale. The position offers a competitive compensation range of $285K to $427K, along with extensive employee benefits including healthcare, 401(k) matching, and paid time off.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in design operations, research operations, or a related role in a design-driven organization.
• Ability to embed structure and process within creative teams.
• Experience running operations for a large design or research team.

Responsibilities

• Connect Design, Research, Product, and Engineering teams.
• Define vision for craft and research excellence.
• Ensure Design goals are understood and prioritized.

Skills

Design operations

Research operations

Design program management

Data-driven leadership

Team alignment

Job description

About Superhuman

Superhuman, an AI‑driven productivity platform, empowers over 40 million people, 50,000 organizations, and 3,000 educational institutions worldwide to eliminate busywork and focus on what matters. The suite of apps and agents integrates with more than one million applications and websites, including Grammarly’s writing assistance, Coda’s collaborative workspaces, Mail’s inbox management, and Go, a proactive AI assistant.

The Opportunity

Superhuman is redefining how the world works and seeks a Director of Design & Research Operations to help lead that transformation. The Design & Research Operations function sets the operational foundation for our design and research teams, enabling designers to focus on craft and researchers to generate actionable insights that shape product decisions.

Role Overview

As the leader of Design & Research Operations, you will work closely with Design, Research, Product, and Engineering leadership to shape strategy, drive operational excellence, and build the culture and practices that ensure research insights inform design and product decisions across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the connective tissue between Design, Research, Product, and Engineering, ensuring teams stay aligned, unblocked, and set up to deliver high‑quality work.
• Partner with Design & Research leadership to define the vision for craft and research excellence, and build the systems, programs, and culture that elevate both – raising the bar on design quality while making insight‑driven decision‑making the default across the team.
• Act as a strategic liaison across departments, from Finance to Legal to Marketing, ensuring Design goals are understood, resourced, and prioritized.
• Connect strategy, business goals, execution, and customer needs into a coherent operational picture that keeps the design team focused and moving forward.
• Shape the team's culture and practices around how research informs design and product work, ensuring we have the right rituals, norms, and systems that allow insights to inform product decision‑making.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in design operations, research operations, design program management, or a related operational role within a design‑ and/or research‑driven organization.
• Proven ability to embed structure and process within creative teams without stifling creative work – you make rigor feel enabling, not restrictive.
• A track record of building systems that scale – frameworks, processes, and tools that teams actually adopt and that help organizations move faster without losing quality.
• Experience running operations for a mid‑to‑large design and/or research team, ideally in a fast‑moving product or tech environment.
• Data‑driven leadership; you bring evidence to every conversation while tailoring your approach to each stakeholder to move forward.
• Composure in ambiguity and a bias toward action – but you know when to slow down, build alignment, and ensure the team moves in the right direction.

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive base pay that varies by location and job‑related factors.
• Excellent health care, including medical, dental, vision, mental health, and fertility benefits.
• Disability and life insurance options.
• 401(k) and RRSP matching.
• Paid parental leave.
• 20 days of paid time off per year, 12 days of paid holidays per year, two floating holidays per year, and flexible sick time.
• Generous stipends for caregiving, pet care, wellness, home office, and more.
• Annual professional development budget and opportunities.

Compensation Range: $285K – $427K.

Equal Opportunity Statement

At Superhuman we value diversity and encourage all candidates to apply, especially those whose identities are traditionally underrepresented in technology. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, political belief, or any other characteristic protected by law. Superhuman is an equal‑opportunity employer and a participant in the U.S. federal E‑Verify program. We also abide by the Employment Equity Act (Canada).