Sr. Director, Design Foundations and Systems

Gap Inc.; New York (NY); On-site; USD 214,900 - 290,100; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

50% off regular-priced merchandise

Competitive Paid Time Off

Volunteer hours

401(k) with company matching

Employee stock purchase plan

Medical, dental, vision and life insurance

Job summary

A leading multi-brand retailer is seeking a Sr. Director, Design Foundations and Systems, to shape customer and product experiences. This senior leadership role requires expertise in UX design and design operations. Responsibilities include developing a scalable design system and leading cross-functional teams. The ideal candidate has extensive experience in design architecture and a track record of delivering consumer-led outcomes. The role offers a competitive salary range of $214,900 - $290,100 USD and is based in New York.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in UX design and design operations.
• Deep technical fluency in systems architecture.
• Proven leadership in multidisciplinary design teams.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead a modern, machine-readable design system.
• Empower internal users with a unified, efficient design system.
• Define governance and standards for design tokens.

Skills

UX design

Systems architecture

Design operations

Design tokens

Component lifecycle management

Job description

Overview

About Gap Inc. Our brands bridge the gaps we see in the world. Old Navy democratizes style to ensure everyone has access to quality fashion at every price point. Athleta unleashes the potential of every woman, regardless of body size, age or ethnicity. Banana Republic believes in sustainable luxury for all. And Gap inspires the world to bring individuality to modern, responsibly made essentials.

This simple idea—that we all deserve to belong, and on our own terms—is core to who we are as a company and how we make decisions. Our team is made up of thousands of people across the globe who take risks, think big, and do good for our customers, communities, and the planet. Ready to learn fast, create with audacity and lead boldly? Join our team.

Role

About The Role

As a senior leader within our Experience Design organization, you will shape the future of Gap Inc.’s customer and product experiences through scale, impact, and innovation. As one of the world’s leading multi-brand retailers, we have the reach and responsibility to set the standard for modern, connected, and intelligent digital experiences.

The Sr. Director, Design Foundations and Systems will be directly responsible for Gap Inc.’s design system — the shared foundation that powers how our brands and technology partners design, build, and deliver experiences. You will lead the vision, strategy, and execution of the design system and foundational design practice, ensuring it is scalable, flexible, and central to how we operate across Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Athleta.

In this role, you will define, evolve, and maintain a living, code-connected design and content management system. You will establish a machine-readable framework, powered by APIs and design tokens that unify brand expression, accessibility, and performance across every platform and channel.

You will ensure the system is composable and extensible, supporting multiple brands and experiences while maintaining consistency and quality. You’ll embed AI-driven and data-informed workflows that enhance how teams design, create, and adapt components, content, and patterns.

The design system will be cross-functional by design — co-owned and co-created across design, product, and engineering. You will lead shared governance, contribution models, and measurement standards to ensure the system is adopted, operationally measured, and continuously improved.

This role is central to the Experience Design organization’s mission to deliver unified, adaptive, and personalized brand experiences, powered by systemic thinking, modern tools, and cross-functional collaboration. The Sr. Director, Design Foundations and Systems ensures that every digital interaction across Gap Inc. is built on a consistent, intelligent, and reusable design foundation — one that elevates our customer experience and empowers our teams to work smarter, faster, and more creatively at scale.

What You'll Do

• Architect and lead a modern, machine-readable design system that supports multi-brand experiences and fuels our customer experience platform.
• Empower internal users — designers, product managers, and engineers — with a unified, efficient, and scalable system that accelerates collaboration and delivery.
• Partner across product, engineering, and data to enable adaptive, AI-driven design operations and seamless integration of our design foundation into our digital ecosystem.
• Define governance, standards, and contribution models for design tokens, components, and scalable brand differentiation.
• Champion accessibility, inclusivity, and performance as core principles of every design system deliverable.
• Inspire, mentor, and grow a high-performing design systems, CMS, and foundational design team that drives excellence across all brands.
• Set the bar for design excellence — defining what great looks like, demonstrating it through your own craft, and coaching others to achieve it.
• Lead system adoption and governance, balancing central standards with brand flexibility, and ensuring consistent quality across all experiences.
• Measure and improve design system maturity — connecting its evolution to business and operational impact, including velocity, quality, and accessibility.
• Shape the future of design at Gap Inc. — embedding AI-assisted creation, intelligent adaptation, and intent-based design into our systems and processes.

Who You Are

• Extensive experience in UX design, systems architecture, and design operations, with a focus on enterprise-scale design systems and foundational design.
• Deep technical fluency — bridging design, engineering, and technical platforms through systems architecture, design tokens, and component lifecycle management.
• Proven record of delivering consumer-led business outcomes through leadership of multidisciplinary design teams — structuring work, aligning interdependencies, and influencing outcomes through insights and storytelling.
• Skilled at filtering, prioritizing, and validating complex information, demonstrating mastery of experience architecture, governance, and scalability across key functions and business units.
• Passionate about lean design, design thinking, and experimentation — creating the conditions for innovation by empowering teams to test, learn, and evolve.
• Able to balance vision and precision — seeing the system holistically while knowing when to dive deep into detail.
• A natural talent builder — developing people, growing cross-functional capability, and nurturing a high-performing design systems culture.
• Forward-looking, shaping how the design system evolves toward AI-assisted creation, intelligent adaptation, and intent-based design.
• You know what great looks like, and you elevate the craft, culture, and capability of everyone around you to achieve it.

Benefits

• Merchandise discount for our brands: 50% off regular-priced merchandise at Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta, and 30% off at Outlet for all employees.
• One of the most competitive Paid Time Off plans in the industry.
• Employees can take up to five “on the clock” hours each month to volunteer at a charity of their choice.
• Extensive 401(k) plan with company matching for contributions up to four percent of an employee’s base pay.
• Employee stock purchase plan.
• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance.
• See more of the benefits we offer.
• For eligible employees

Gap Inc. is an equal-opportunity employer and is committed to providing a workplace free from harassment and discrimination. We are committed to recruiting, hiring, training and promoting qualified people of all backgrounds, and make all employment decisions without regard to any protected status. We have received numerous awards for our long-held commitment to equality and will continue to foster a diverse and inclusive environment of belonging. In 2022, we were recognized by Forbes as one of the World\'s Best Employers and one of the Best Employers for Diversity.

Salary Range: $214,900 - $290,100 USD

Employee pay will vary based on factors such as qualifications, experience, skill level, competencies and work location. We will meet minimum wage or minimum of the pay range (whichever is higher) based on city, county and state requirements.