Lead Product Designer, Search

Thenewyorktimes; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

401(k) plan with company match

Employee stock purchase plan

Paid vacation

Paid sick days

Parental leave

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

The New York Times is seeking a Lead Product Designer to shape AI-powered experiences that help readers search for information and understand the world across NYT products. You will lead in designing coded prototypes, collaborate with product managers, engineers, researchers, and editors to ship high-quality experiences, and grow junior designers in a hybrid NYC-based environment.

The role emphasizes creating AI-enabled features, refining AI tone to match brand, and contributing to design

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience as a product designer, with recent experience creating coded prototypes using AI-enabled tools and workflows.
• 7+ years of experience with interaction design and prototyping, including a portfolio showing a deep care for micro-interactions, motion, and accessibility best practices.
• 7+ years of experience collaborating, building alignment and communicating clearly.
• 7+ years of experience working with user research and data analysis teams to inform product and UX decisions.
• 3+ years of creating functional prototypes.
• Experience designing features that use generative AI to deliver end-user experiences.
• Experience refining AI's tone, format, and behavior to align with brand guidelines, product goals, and quality standards.
• A portfolio of shipped work demonstrating experience working in 0-to-1 environments.

Responsibilities

• Create sketches, mockups, user journeys and other UX artifacts to rapidly explore a range of editorial and consumer scenarios and identify promising concepts.
• Frame different approaches and describe tradeoffs.
• Create functional coded prototypes of AI-powered experiences.
• Give input to product strategy and concept development.
• Lead conversations and help make decisions with the cross-functional team.
• Contribute to the development of design standards and systems around AI.
• Represent your work to leadership within the company.
• Improve the people and process around you by shaping and participating in team and Product Design rituals.
• Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world.
• You will report to the Deputy Head of Product Design.

Skills

AI prototyping

Interaction design

Prototyping

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Tools

AI tools

Job description

The mission of The New York Times is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. That means independent journalism is at the heart of all we do as a company. It’s why we have a world-renowned newsroom that sends journalists to report on the ground from nearly 160 countries. It’s why we focus deeply on how our readers will experience our journalism, from print to audio to a world-class digital and app destination. And it’s why our business strategy centers on making journalism so good that it’s worth paying for.

Mission Overview & Responsibilities

The New York Times is looking for a Lead Product Designer to help us design and prototype compelling A.I. experiences that help curious people understand and engage with the world.

We are looking for a Lead Product Designer to shape how readers search for information and understand the world through New York Times products — someone with a passion for design, journalism, and technology, as well as experience delivering A.I.-enabled consumer experiences at scale.

The New A.I. Products and Platforms mission is a critical, company-wide initiative tasked with building the next generation of A.I.-powered products to accelerate The New York Times's essential subscription strategy.

The Times operates in a hybrid model, with those based in NYC working in-office two days per week. We plan to speak with all candidates about where they're based and how they work in a hybrid environment.

As a Lead Product Designer, you'll identify opportunities to use A.I. to address news and information needs through our products' search feature. You'll use your interaction design and coded prototyping skills to build functional prototypes that gain alignment and drive work forward. You'll validate that these prototypes meet users' informational needs and align with our brand and journalistic standards. You'll collaborate with product managers, engineers, user researchers, and editorial partners to ship excellent and performant experiences to the world.

We value an environment of learning and collaboration. You'll play a leadership role to grow and support more junior design team members. You'll help promote a “make to think” design culture. You'll participate in regular design rituals to give and receive critique.

Responsibilities

• Create sketches, mockups, user journeys and other UX artifacts to rapidly explore a range of editorial and consumer scenarios and identify promising concepts.

• Frame different approaches and describe tradeoffs.

• Create functional coded prototypes of A.I.-powered experiences.

• Give input to product strategy and concept development.

• Lead conversations and help make decisions with the cross-functional team.

• Contribute to the development of design standards and systems around A.I.

• Represent your work to leadership within the company.

• Improve the people and process around you by shaping and participating in team and Product Design rituals.

• Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world.

• You will report to the Deputy Head of Product Design.

Basic Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience as a product designer, with recent experience creating coded prototypes using AI-enabled tools and workflows.

• 7+ years of experience with interaction design and prototyping, including a portfolio showing a deep care for micro-interactions, motion, and accessibility best practices.

• 7+ years of experience collaborating, building alignment and communicating clearly.

• 7+ years of experience working with user research and data analysis teams to inform product and UX decisions.

• 3+ years of creating functional prototypes.

• Experience designing features that use generative A.I. to deliver end-user experiences.

• Experience refining A.I.'s tone, format, and behavior to align with brand guidelines, product goals, and quality standards.

• A portfolio of shipped work demonstrating experience working in 0-to-1 environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with media production workflows.

• Experience designing or conceptualize large solutions while also aligning user and and business goals.

• Experience balancing multiple goals to achieve an excellent outcome.

• Strong ability to show design decisions and impact.

• Experience working with senior stakeholders.

Compensation and Benefits For This Role

In addition to base salary, this role is also eligible for variable pay, such as an annual bonus and restricted stock. Benefits include medical, dental and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a company-matching 401(k) plan, employee stock purchase plan, paid vacation, paid sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs.

The annual base pay range for this role is between: $140,000 — $170,000 USD.

Candidate Use of GenAI Tools

We’re excited to learn more about you and your experience. To keep our hiring process as fair and authentic as possible, we ask that you submit your own work and not use GenAI tools to generate substantive content during the application and interview process.

If you’re an engineering candidate, we’ll let you know what specific GenAI tools you are permitted to use for your technical assessment.

The New York Times Company is committed to being the world’s best source of independent, reliable and quality journalism. To do so, we embrace a diverse workforce that has a broad range of backgrounds and experiences across our ranks, at all levels of the organization. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate on the basis of an individual's sex, age, race, color, creed, national origin, alienage, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation or affectional preference, gender identity and expression, disability, genetic trait or predisposition, carrier status, citizenship, veteran or military status and other personal characteristics protected by law. All applications will receive consideration for employment without regard to legally protected characteristics. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s Know Your Rights Poster is available here.

The New York Times Company will provide reasonable accommodations as required by applicable federal, state, and/or local laws. Individuals seeking an accommodation for the application or interview process should email [e-mail]. Emails sent for unrelated issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.

For information about The New York Times' privacy practices for job applicants, click here.