Product Design Manager (Design Systems)

Lyft; New York (NY); On-site; USD 176,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Mental health benefits

401(k) plan with company match

Monthly Lyft credits

18 weeks of paid parental leave

Job summary

Lyft is seeking a Design Systems Manager to lead the design organization's infrastructure layer. You will define the strategy and roadmap for the Lyft Product Language (LPL) while managing a team of designers across various platforms.

This position emphasizes collaboration and requires substantial design experience and leadership skills. Benefits include medical insurance, 401(k) with company match, and generous parental leave.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in product or brand design, including 2+ years managing designers.
• Direct experience leading a design system at scale.
• Strong record of partnership with engineering on architecture.

Responsibilities

• Set strategy and roadmap for Lyft Product Language (LPL).
• Manage and develop a team of design systems designers.
• Partner closely with Design Systems DPM and engineering managers.

Skills

Product or brand design

Managing designers

Leading a design system

Fluency across mobile and web platforms

Managing a design systems team

Strong communication skills

Tools

Figma MCP

AI-assisted design tooling

Job description

At Lyft, our purpose is to serve and connect. We aim to achieve this by cultivating a work environment where all team members belong and have the opportunity to thrive.

Lyft is looking for a Design Systems Manager to join Design Foundations, the infrastructure layer of Lyft's design organization. Design Systems at Lyft is an integral part of the overall user experience. Our design system spans product surfaces, marketing, and brand, officially known as the Lyft Product Language (LPL) and shipped directly to code. You'll own the craft and execution of that system, partner closely with design, engineering, and marketing, and lead Design systems work through a period of active global growth and capability expansion.

This role reports to the Director of Design Foundations and works alongside a dedicated DPM and Engineering managers, and a tight-knit team of design systems practitioners.

Responsibilities

Strategy & Vision

• Set the strategy and roadmap for Lyft Product Language (LPL) across product, marketing, and brand surfaces, in partnership with the Director of Design Foundations and engineering leadership and the Design Systems team
• Lead the AI transformation of the system: integrate AI into LPL tooling, adoption workflows, and the day-to-day designer experience at Lyft
• Represent Design Systems in reviews and other senior leadership forums

People & Craft

• Manage and develop a team of design systems designers and illustrators working across iOS, Android, web, and brand
• Hold the quality bar for system-wide design: cross-platform coherence, accessibility (WCAG), road safety, localization, and brand consistency.
• Coach the team on making educated tradeoffs between flexibility, coherency, usability, and efficiency

Execution & Partnership

• Partner closely with the Design Systems DPM and engineering managers to maintain system health, sequence work, and unblock teams
• Own the LPL component contribution and review process end-to-end, from intake through release
• Communicate system decisions, adoption expectations, and quality standards upward and across product, engineering, and marketing

Experience

• 7+ years in product or brand design, including 2+ years managing designers
• Direct experience leading a design system at scale: components, patterns, guidelines, and shipped-to-code workflows
• Fluency across mobile and web platforms, with a working understanding of how systems are consumed by engineers
• Experience managing a design systems team
• Strong track record of partnership with engineering on architecture, releases, and quality
• Experience setting and defending craft standards across cross-functional stakeholders
• Familiarity with AI-assisted design tooling (Figma MCP, generative workflows, agentic prototyping) is a strong plus
• Excellent written communication; comfortable operating in an async-heavy environment with documented decisions
• Comfortable driving disagree-and-commit decisions and making tradeoffs in ambiguity

Benefits

• Great medical, dental, and vision insurance options with additional programs available when enrolled
• Mental health benefits
• Family building benefits
• Child care and pet benefits
• 401(k) plan with company match to help save for your future
• In addition to 12 observed holidays, salaried team members have discretionary paid time off, hourly team members have 15 days paid time off
• 18 weeks of paid parental leave. Biological, adoptive, and foster parents are all eligible
• Subsidized commuter benefits
• Monthly Lyft credits and complimentary Lyft Pink membership

Lyft is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive workplace that fosters belonging. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, age, genetic information, or any other basis prohibited by law. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.

Lyft highly values having employees working in-office to foster a collaborative work environment and company culture. This role will be in-office on a hybrid schedule — Team Members will be expected to work in the office 3 days per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Lyft considers working in the office at least 3 days per week to be an essential function of this hybrid role. Additionally, hybrid roles have the flexibility to work from anywhere for up to 4 weeks per year. #Hybrid

The expected base pay range for this position in the San Francisco area is $176,000 - $220,000, not inclusive of potential equity offering, bonus or benefits. Salary ranges are dependent on a variety of factors, including qualifications, experience and geographic location.