Lead Product Designer

Designer Jobs; Mossville (IL); On-site; USD 128,000 - 209,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision benefits

Paid time off

401(k) savings plan

Health Savings Account (HSA)

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

Career development

Incentive bonus

Parental leave

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Caterpillar is seeking a Lead Product Designer to shape end-to-end experiences across machine, software, and connected ecosystems. You will define the experience vision and guide delivery with cross-functional teams, setting design standards and systems across products.

Applicants should have a strong portfolio demonstrating systems thinking, strategic problem solving, and leadership in complex ecosystems. Onsite work in Mossville, IL is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Significant experience owning and shaping experiences from discovery through delivery.
• Experience influencing product strategy and defining vision across multiple products.
• A strong portfolio showing systems thinking and end-to-end leadership.
• Ability to mentor designers and drive design quality across teams.
• Experience working across complex ecosystems and interconnected product experiences.

Responsibilities

• Define and communicate the experience vision across products and journeys.
• Drive strategic design initiatives influencing product direction.
• Partner with leaders to identify opportunities, define priorities, and align teams around customer outcomes.
• Guide discovery efforts and translate insights into experience strategies and product requirements.
• Shape end-to-end customer experiences across machine, application, and connected ecosystems.
• Provide design leadership and mentor designers across teams.
• Establish and evolve design standards, frameworks, and best practices.
• Lead strategic workshops to navigate ambiguity and align stakeholders.

Skills

Product design leadership

Systems thinking

Hardware and software interfaces

User experience strategy

Executive presentation

Mentoring designers

Cross-functional collaboration

Discovery through delivery

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

At Caterpillar, this Lead Product Designer role supports the design of end-to-end user experiences spanning machine products, digital applications, and connected ecosystems. You will work closely with Product, Engineering, Research, and business leadership to define an experience vision, guide delivery, and evolve design standards and design systems that scale across teams.

What you’ll do

• Define and communicate the experience vision across products, platforms, and customer journeys.
• Drive strategic design initiatives that influence product direction and support long-term business objectives.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Research, and business leaders to identify opportunities, define priorities, and align teams around customer outcomes.
• Guide discovery efforts and help teams translate customer insights, business goals, and technical constraints into experience strategies and product requirements.
• Apply systems-level thinking across machine, software, platforms, and customer journeys to keep experiences cohesive, scalable, and aligned.
• Identify experience dependencies, opportunities, and gaps across multiple products and workflows to create integrated solutions.
• Shape end-to-end customer experiences across machine, application, and connected ecosystems.
• Provide design leadership across multiple products, teams, or domains to support high-quality, consistent customer experiences.
• Facilitate strategic workshops and alignment sessions to help teams navigate ambiguity and make informed decisions.
• Establish and evolve design standards, frameworks, processes, and best practices to improve consistency and quality.
• Use customer research, usability findings, analytics, and business metrics to evaluate and improve experience effectiveness.
• Influence the evolution of design systems, accessibility standards, interaction patterns, and DesignOps practices.
• Mentor and coach Product Designers through critiques, knowledge sharing, and professional development activities.
• Champion Human Centered Design and Product Design excellence throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Collaborate with Engineering and Product teams to support implementation of design intent and achievement of customer outcomes.

What you’ll bring

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Professional experience in Product Design, User Experience Design, Human-Centered Design, or a related field.
• Significant experience owning and shaping experiences from discovery through delivery.
• Experience influencing product strategy and defining experience vision across multiple products, platforms, or domains.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating systems thinking, strategic problem solving, visual design excellence, and end-to-end product design leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and design across complex ecosystems, platforms, customer journeys, or interconnected product experiences.
• Strong systems thinking mindset, including experience identifying dependencies and opportunities across multiple products or domains.
• Proven ability to partner with Product, Engineering, Research, and business leadership.
• Strong facilitation, storytelling, communication, and executive presentation skills.
• Experience mentoring designers and elevating design quality across teams.
• Experience creating alignment across cross-functional stakeholders with competing priorities.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience designing products that combine hardware and software experiences.
• Familiarity with Human Machine Interface (HMI) design principles.
• Experience working with embedded systems or resource-constrained platforms.Experience designing enterprise, industrial, manufacturing, robotics, construction, mining, agriculture, or automotive products.
• Experience with connected products, IoT platforms, and digital ecosystems.
• Experience using customer research, analytics, and data to influence strategic decisions.
• Familiarity with design systems, scalable component libraries, accessibility standards, and design best practices.
• Experience leading design efforts within Agile product development environments.

Compensation and location

• Location: Mossville, IL (onsite)
• Salary range: USD 128,470 - 208,770 per year
• Position requires working onsite five days a week.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits
• Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)
• 401(k) savings plans
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
• Health Lifestyle Programs
• Employee Assistance Program
• Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts
• Career Development
• Incentive bonus
• Disability benefits
• Life Insurance
• Parental leave
• Adoption benefits
• Tuition Reimbursement

Additional details

• Posting dates: October 8, 2026 - October 16, 2026
• Visa sponsorship is not available
• Relocation is not available
• #LI, #BI
• Offer of employment is conditioned upon successful completion of a drug screen

Compensation and benefits offered may vary based on factors including job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance, and experience. Salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.