Executive Director, Product Design - Discovery & Browse

About the role

Design Vision & Strategy: Define and champion a unified but platform-appropriate design vision for Discovery across Disney+ and Hulu one that serves the distinct tonal, audience, and brand requirements of each service while maintaining architectural coherence.
Search & Browse Architecture: Lead design of Search, Browse, and navigation systems at scale including content taxonomy, metadata-driven UX, and information architecture for catalogs of extraordinary breadth and diversity.
AI-Powered Discovery: Drive the design strategy for next-generation discovery including AI discovery assistants, voice interfaces, conversational browsing, and ambient recommendation surfaces. Establish Disney Streaming as a leader in intelligent, low-friction content discovery.
Personalization UX: Partner with Personalization and Data Science teams to translate algorithmic recommendations into intuitive, subscriber-trusting design experiences. Ensure personalization surfaces feel helpful, not intrusive.
Radical Simplicity: Set and hold the bar for design simplicity and clarity ensuring that as the platforms grow in capability and catalog, the subscriber experience grows simpler, not more complex.
Multi-Platform Excellence: Oversee Discovery design consistency and quality across TV, mobile, web, and emerging device surfaces maintaining coherence while adapting to each platform's unique interaction model.
Talent Building & Retention: Recruit, develop, and retain a best-in-class Product Design team with specialized depth in streaming Discovery, Search, AI prototyping, and browse UX. Build the team that defines the standard for Discovery design in entertainment.
Cross-Functional Leadership: Serve as the design executive partner for Product Management, Engineering, Machine Learning, and Content teams ensuring design is embedded in Discovery strategy from the earliest stages.

Responsibilities

• Design Vision & Strategy: Define and champion a unified but platform-appropriate design vision for Discovery across Disney+ and Hulu one that serves the distinct tonal, audience, and brand requirements of each service while maintaining architectural coherence.
  Search & Browse Architecture: Lead design of Search, Browse, and navigation systems at scale including content taxonomy, metadata-driven UX, and information architecture for catalogs of extraordinary breadth and diversity.
  AI-Powered Discovery: Drive the design strategy for next-generation discovery including AI discovery assistants, voice interfaces, conversational browsing, and ambient recommendation surfaces. Establish Disney Streaming as a leader in intelligent, low-friction content discovery.
  Personalization UX: Partner with Personalization and Data Science teams to translate algorithmic recommendations into intuitive, subscriber-trusting design experiences. Ensure personalization surfaces feel helpful, not intrusive.
  Radical Simplicity: Set and hold the bar for design simplicity and clarity ensuring that as the platforms grow in capability and catalog, the subscriber experience grows simpler, not more complex.
  Multi-Platform Excellence: Oversee Discovery design consistency and quality across TV, mobile, web, and emerging device surfaces maintaining coherence while adapting to each platform's unique interaction model.
  Talent Building & Retention: Recruit, develop, and retain a best-in-class Product Design team with specialized depth in streaming Discovery, Search, AI prototyping, and browse UX. Build the team that defines the standard for Discovery design in entertainment.
  Cross-Functional Leadership: Serve as the design executive partner for Product Management, Engineering, Machine Learning, and Content teams ensuring design is embedded in Discovery strategy from the earliest stages.

Qualifications & Skills

• Bachelor’s Degree and/or equivalent work experience
  Minimum 12 years of related work experience
  Disney+ / Hulu / Entertainment Platform Background: Demonstrated experience leading Discovery and Browse design at Disney+, Hulu, or a closely comparable streaming or entertainment platform. Understands the specific UX and product constraints of catalog-driven, subscription entertainment services.
  Discovery & Search Architecture: Expert-level background in designing large-scale content discovery systems including search UX, browse taxonomy, genre and mood-based navigation, and recommendation-driven surface design.
  AI Prototyping & Conversational UI: Direct experience leading design for AI-powered features including voice discovery, natural language search, conversational recommendation interfaces, and AI-assisted browsing.
  Dual-Service Complexity: Ideally, experience navigating multi-brand or multi-audience design systems with the ability to maintain platform identity and audience appropriateness across a diverse content portfolio.
  Executive Design Leadership: Proven track record setting design direction, influencing at the VP level, building high-performing design teams, and driving design outcomes on complex, cross-functional products.
  Taste & Simplicity: An exceptional design sensibility with a demonstrated ability to bring clarity and elegance to complex discovery problems. A portfolio that shows restraint as a design principle, not an afterthought.
  Talent Magnet: A reputation for attracting senior design talent and building Discovery-specialized teams with a network in entertainment technology and streaming design.

Pay & Benefits

The hiring range for this position in San Francisco is $227,200 to $304,700 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate’s geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.