Senior Design Platform Lead (Remote) - AI Design Systems

OhioX; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

401(k) with company match

Employee ESPP (US)

Comprehensive health coverage

Paid time off & parental leave

Job summary

Upstart is hiring a Senior Manager for the Design Platform team. You will lead two senior designers, blending hands-on design with people management, and set the direction for our design system across web and native platforms.

You’ll shape component architecture, token strategy, and visual language while enabling AI-enabled workflows that move products from idea to production. You will partner with engineering and design leaders to redefine how products are built, creating a foundation teams

Qualifications

• Requires 8+ years of product design experience with leadership responsibilities.
• Experience building or scaling design systems across multiple product teams.
• Experience defining design patterns or platform strategy for web and native mobile.
• Experience owning design systems work across components, tokens, docs, governance, and visual direction.
• Experience partnering with engineering on design system implementation, including APIs and token architecture.

Responsibilities

• Lead two senior designers with ~60% hands-on design and ~40% people management.
• Set direction for Upstart's design system, component architecture, token strategy, and visual language.
• Decide how products across web and native mobile come together and support AI-enabled workflows.
• Define metrics to measure impact and use data to guide prioritization.
• Establish operating model with clear ownership, governance, and contribution rules.
• Develop two senior designers as leaders and builders, providing context and feedback.
• Collaborate with engineering and product design leaders to make the Design Platform foundational for product teams.

Skills

Design leadership

Design systems

Platform strategy

Web + mobile

Engineering collaboration

Job description

Upstart is hiring a Senior Manager for the Design Platform team. You will lead two senior designers, blending hands-on design with people management, and set the direction for our design system across web and native platforms.

You’ll shape component architecture, token strategy, and visual language while enabling AI-enabled workflows that move products from idea to production. You will partner with engineering and design leaders to redefine how products are built, creating a foundation teams