Principal Designer - Design Systems

eBay; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 225,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

eBay, a global ecommerce leader, seeks a Principal Designer to define long-term experience vision and lead enterprise-wide design initiatives. You will shape strategy with executives, drive alignment, and oversee multi-year programs that scale innovation and impact.

You will own the design system, champion cross-functional collaboration with Product and Engineering, foster measurable improvements in quality and speed, and explore AI-enabled design practices to future-proof experiences.

Qualifications

• 15+ years experience leading design systems or platform design at scale.
• Exceptional product design craft with deep expertise in interaction design, visual design, and systems thinking.
• Ability to think in systems while designing in the details and connect components to broader experiences.
• Deep understanding of design system architecture, tokens, accessibility, governance, and adoption.
• Strong partnership with Engineering on scalable implementation and cross-functional leadership.
• Excellent communication and storytelling to align executives and teams around system strategy, standards, and ROI.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the vision for eBay’s design system and roadmap grounded in measurable outcomes.
• Lead Design Systems practice by uniting Design, Product, and Engineering to improve quality and velocity.
• Set craft standards for components, patterns, and interaction models across products and platforms.
• Evolve the system for accessibility, scalability, and future technologies including AI-enabled design.
• Drive go-to-market, enablement, onboarding, and sustained adoption across the organization.
• Influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners to invest in system-wide standards and practices.

Skills

Design systems leadership

Systems thinking

Interaction design

Visual design

Frontend collaboration

Executive communication

Job description

At eBay, we're more than a global ecommerce leader — we’re changing the way the world shops and sells. Our platform empowers millions of buyers and sellers in more than 190 markets around the world. We’re committed to pushing boundaries and leaving our mark as we reinvent the future of ecommerce for enthusiasts.

Our customers are our compass, authenticity thrives, bold ideas are welcome, and everyone can bring their unique selves to work — every day. We're in this together, sustaining the future of our customers, our company, and our planet.

Join a team of passionate thinkers, innovators, and dreamers — and help us connect people and build communities to create economic opportunity for all.

About The Team And The Role

eBay’s Design organization creates seamless, end-to-end experiences that connect millions of buyers and sellers globally. The team is customer-focused, collaborative, and driven by curiosity—working across product, engineering, and business to solve complex problems and deliver meaningful impact.

As a Principal Designer (director-level), you will define eBay’s long-term experience vision, working closely with executive leadership to shape strategy, drive alignment, and lead multi-year, enterprise-wide initiatives that scale innovation and impact.

What You Will Accomplish

• Define and lead the vision for eBay’s design system, establishing the principles, strategy, and roadmap that shape how experiences are designed and built across eBay, and ensuring system decisions are grounded in measurable business and customer outcomes
• Lead the Design Systems practice, bringing together Design, Product, and Engineering to evolve a shared system that enables teams to build high-quality experiences faster and more consistently, while tracking impact through adoption, efficiency, and product quality metrics
• Set the bar for craft and quality, remaining hands‑on in the design of foundational patterns, components, interaction models, and frameworks that solve complex needs across eBay, and ensuring design decisions improve usability, conversion, and overall experience quality
• Evolve the system for the future, finding opportunities to make it more flexible, scalable, accessible, and expressive across products, platforms, and emerging experiences, while aligning evolution to business priorities and performance signals
• Define and drive the go‑to‑market and adoption strategy for the design system, ensuring clear positioning, enablement, and rollout plans for designers and cross‑functional partners, and partnering closely with teams to drive awareness, education, onboarding, and sustained usage across the organization
• Drive adoption and impact at scale, partnering with teams to understand their needs, remove friction, and ensure the system delivers measurable improvements in quality, consistency, velocity, and key product and business metrics such as development efficiency, design consistency, and user experience outcomes
• Shape how AI changes design systems and design practice, experimenting with new tools and approaches that improve how the system is created, maintained, and used by designers and engineers, with a focus on measurable gains in speed, quality and scalability
• Influence senior leaders and cross‑functional partners, building alignment around system‑level investments, standards, and decisions that require coordination across organizational boundaries, and clearly connecting design system strategy to business impact, return on investment, and operational efficiency

What You Will Bring

• 15+ years experience leading design systems or platform design at scale, with a track record of shaping systems used across multiple products, teams, and platforms
• Exceptional product design craft, with deep expertise in interaction design, visual design, systems thinking, and the details required to create coherent, high‑quality experiences
• The ability to think in systems while designing in the details, connecting individual components and patterns to broader product experiences and organizational needs
• Deep understanding of design system architecture and practice, including components, patterns, tokens, accessibility, governance, contribution models, documentation and adoption
• Strong understanding of the relationship between design and front‑end technology, with the ability to partner deeply with Engineering on scalable implementation
• Proven track record to lead, building alignment and raising the quality of work across a large, matrixed organization
• Exceptional communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to make complex system decisions clear and build conviction with designers, engineers, product leaders, and executives
• A forward‑looking perspective on AI, emerging technology, and the future of design systems, paired with a willingness to experiment and turn new ideas into practical solutions

Additional Details

The base pay range for this position is expected in the range below:

$224,800 - $300,100

Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including location, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a target bonus and restricted stock units (as applicable) in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as PTO and parental leave). Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.

If hired, employees will be in an “at‑will position” and the Company reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

Remote roles are not eligible for U.S. visa sponsorship.

eBay is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, and disability, or other legally protected status. If you have a need that requires accommodation, please contact us at [e-mail]. We will make every effort to respond to your request for accommodation as soon as possible. View our accessibility statement to learn more about eBay's commitment to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

We use cookies to enhance your experience and may use AI tools for administrative tasks in the hiring process. To learn how we handle your personal data and use AI responsibly, please visit our Talent Privacy Notice, Privacy Center and AI Hiring Guideline.