Senior Manager, Product Design

Openkrill; United States; Remote; USD 164,000 - 214,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Medical coverage

Lifestyle stipend

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Quo, a remote-first company, is seeking a Design Manager to build and lead the product design team, owning performance, growth, and the design culture.

You'll coach designers, shape team processes, and partner with Product and Engineering while staying hands-on to maintain high craft and credibility, including equity and extensive medical coverage. This role is the first management hire in design and offers a path to define what great design looks like at Quo.

Responsibilities

• Own performance and career development for the product design team
• Run and improve team processes like crits, reviews, and the rituals that keep collaboration high and quality consistent
• Coach designers toward stronger craft and sharper judgment through specific, actionable feedback, guidance, and vision
• Represent design cross-functionally and partner with Product and Engineering leaders
• Stay hands-on in the work, reviewing designs, contributing to projects and systems, and staying credible with a strong team that has a high bar
• Use AI tools as part of your own practice, staying close to how the team is working and innovating
• Partner with the Head of Design to determine where the quality bar sits, while owning how it gets held day to day

Job description

Small businesses represent 99.9% of all companies, yet they're still forced to choose between clunky, outdated enterprise phone systems or their personal phones. This multi-billion dollar market has been overlooked for decades, left to cobble together solutions that slow them down instead of helping them grow.

Quo is changing that. We bring calls, texts, and customer information together into one easy-to-use, AI-powered platform. We’re not just building a phone system. We’re setting a new standard for how businesses connect with their customers.

Driven by our values, we move fast, build with determination, and obsess over delivering value to the businesses that have been underserved for far too long.

Today, Quo is trusted by more than 120,000 companies and rated #1 in customer satisfaction on G2. We’re backed by Y Combinator, Tiger Global, Craft Ventures, Slow Ventures, and other top-tier investors. It’s safe to say we’re onto something big.

About the role

At Quo, design is how a business phone system stops feeling like clunky enterprise software and starts feeling like something a small business actually enjoys using. Strong craft, product taste, and good judgment are what make that possible, and as our product design team grows, we need someone who can hold that high bar as closely as we do today, while giving designers the coaching and growth path they need to keep raising it.

As Design's first management hire, we’re looking for someone excited to build a management practice from scratch and define what good looks like. You'll lead and grow the product design team, own its performance end to end, and stay in the work to give actionable feedback and guidance that keeps pushing our design team forward.

Some of the things you’ll do

• Own performance and career development for the product design team
• Run and improve team processes like crits, reviews, and the rituals that keep collaboration high and quality consistent
• Coach designers toward stronger craft and sharper judgment through specific, actionable feedback, guidance, and vision
• Represent design cross-functionally and partner with Product and Engineering leaders
• Stay hands-on in the work, reviewing designs, contributing to projects and systems, and staying credible with a strong team that has a high bar
• Use AI tools as part of your own practice, staying close to how the team is working and innovating
• Partner with the Head of Design to determine where the quality bar sits, while owning how it gets held day to day

About you

• 5+ years of design management experience, with a track record of running full performance cycles, building and improving team operating rhythms, fostering a strong and collaborative design culture, hiring exceptional talent, and developing senior and staff-level designers
• A proven track record of giving specific, high-quality feedback and guidance that raises a team's output and craft
• Experience representing design in cross-functional conversations with Product, Engineering, and leadership using engaging storytelling and clear communication
• Comfortable operating across a broad and evolving product surface, without a narrow or fixed area of ownership
• Experience using AI tools in your own design practice, such as design thinking, prototyping, and shipping code
• A background as an individual contributor designer, bringing the craft judgment and taste that comes from having done the work yourself

Nice to have

• Experience being an early or first management hire in a design org, building the practice rather than inheriting one
• Design systems experience, including curiosity about design systems as AI-readable infrastructure

Compensation

• SF Bay Area, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Boston, New York, and Washington, DC Metro: $182,000 - $214,000 USD
• All other US Locations: $164,000 - $193,000 USD
• Canada: $171,000 - $200,000 CAD

The ranges displayed reflect the target for new hire salaries, and within each range, individual pay is determined by your skills and experience, as well as relevant education. Your recruiter can share more and answer questions about the specific salary range during the hiring process.

Salary is just one component of Quo’s total compensation package. Your total rewards package will include equity, extensive medical coverage, a monthly lifestyle stipend, and a flexible PTO policy.

Who we are

We're a remote-first company with a culture of trust, autonomy, and action. As we rapidly grow, we're intentionally building communities in a handful of hub cities while continuing to hire great talent wherever they happen to live. If you're looking for a place to do your best work, we'd love to hear from you.

And remember, there's no such thing as a 'perfect' candidate. We're looking for optimists with grit and determination, who are excited to face the challenges of a growing startup. Quo is the type of company where you can grow, and we encourage you to apply for this role even if you don't think you meet all the requirements.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse work environment. It is important that you are able to bring your authentic self to work every day. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

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