Lead Product Designer, BuzzFeed Island

BuzzFeed; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 185,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

BuzzFeed is seeking a talented Lead Product Designer to lead the vision for BuzzFeed Island, a new social networking app. This full-time, hybrid role focuses on creating innovative user experiences, collaborating closely with leadership. The position offers a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits, and a supportive, inclusive team environment.

Benefits

Paid time off

Unlimited sick time

Comprehensive medical benefits

Retirement plans

Qualifications

• 7+ years of product design experience.
• Experience leading design teams for consumer or social applications.
• Strong portfolio showcasing interactive and AI-powered tools.

Responsibilities

• Define the user experience for BuzzFeed Island app.
• Collaborate with the product team to balance user needs and technical feasibility.
• Ensure engaging and intuitive UI for dynamic media interactions.

Skills

UI/UX design

Collaboration

Problem solving

User engagement

Figma proficiency

Tools

Figma

Adobe Creative Suite

Framer

Job description

About BuzzFeed, Inc.

BuzzFeed, Inc. (Nasdaq: BZFD) is home to the best of the internet with a mission to spread joy and truth. Across entertainment, news, food, pop culture, and commerce, our brands drive conversation and inspire what audiences watch, read, and buy now — and into the future. Born on the internet in 2006, BuzzFeed, Inc. is committed to improving it: providing trusted, quality, brand-safe entertainment to hundreds of millions of people; making content on the internet more inclusive, empathetic, and creative; and inspiring our audience to live better lives.

Business Area: Technology

Job Category: Design

Salary: $185,000.00- $200,000.00 USD

Union Status: Non-Union

BuzzFeed Inc. is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We reserve the ability to adjust the final compensation for this role based on the final candidate's experience, skillset, certifications, and geography.

The Role

At BuzzFeed we are looking for a talented Lead Product Designer to help shape the vision of BuzzFeed Island, an upcoming social networking app designed to transform social media from a passive experience into an interactive and creative one. Leveraging AI, we’re pioneering a new way for users to explore, create, and engage with dynamic, interest-driven spaces that foster connection and creativity. This is a full-time, hybrid position based in our New York City office, with flexibility for the candidate to be near our Los Angeles, office as well.

You Will

You’ll play a key role in defining the app’s overall user experience, making this new platform feel intuitive, engaging, and magical. Working closely with our founder and CEO, Jonah Peretti, your work will influence product strategy at the leadership level and shape the way for making AI creation effortless, engaging, and inherently social.

Drive End-to-End User Experience

• Setting the tone for the user experience – Ensure the UI and interactive elements feel intuitive, inspiring, and dynamic, guiding users seamlessly from exploration to creation.
• Develop fluid user flows for discovering, engaging with, and personalizing dynamic media objects and creative tools.
• Design for both individual creativity and shared social engagement, ensuring that users feel inspired to remix and interact with user generated content.
• Collaborate with AI engineers to ensure that generative tools feel accessible and playful rather than technical or overwhelming.
• Build a platform that balances exploration, interaction, and collaboration with seamless AI-powered creativity.

Strategic and cross-functional leadership

• Work closely with the existing team of designers to ensure consistency and user delight across all touchpoints.
• Partner with product and engineering teams to balance user needs with technical feasibility while maintaining high design quality.
• Advocate for design best practices while encouraging experimentation in interactive and AI-driven experiences.

Must-Have Experience & Skills

• 7+ years of product design experience and 3+ years leading teams (experience designing for consumer, social, gaming, or creative tools preferred).
• Deep expertise in designing social and interactive experiences, where users engage with, create, or remix content (e.g., TikTok, Snap, Roblox, Canva, or similar).
• Strong UI/UX skills with a portfolio showcasing interactive experiences, game-like interfaces, or AI-powered tools.
• A strong systems thinker who can architect modular and scalable UX frameworks for creative tools.
• Passion for playful, expressive design – You love designing for self-expression, creativity, and fun.
• Proficiency in Figma and prototyping tools (Adobe Creative Suite, Framer, etc.).
• Mobile-first mindset – Strong knowledge of iOS app design principles, responsive web design, and native interactions.
• Excellent collaboration skills—thrives in cross-disciplinary teams with engineers, AI researchers, and product leaders.
• Adaptable—proactive at problem solving and driving alignment through design.

Nice-to-Have Experience

• Experience with game design, interactive media, or digital world-building.
• Experience working with generative AI tools, real-time content creation, or interactive media.
• Passion for AI-assisted creativity and pushing the boundaries of self expression on the internet.

Life at BuzzFeed, Inc.

We celebrate inclusion and are committed to equal-opportunity employment. We are proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, or any other protected category.

You can expect:

• A supportive, inclusive atmosphere on a team that values your contributions.
• Opportunities for personal and professional growth through work experience, offerings from our in-house Learning Team, our Employee Resource Groups, and more.
• An attractive and equitable compensation package, including salary.
• A well-rounded benefits program featuring paid time off, unlimited sick time, comprehensive medical benefits, a family leave policy, access to mental health platforms, retirement plans, health and wellness discounts, and much more.