Lead Product Designer

About the Company

Ancestry® is the global leader in family history, helping people discover, preserve, and share their unique family stories. With over 65 billion records, 3.5 million subscribers, and a growing DNA network of 27 million, Ancestry connects millions with their past. The company fosters a human-centered, location-flexible work environment that values diversity, inclusion, and employee perspectives. Ancestry encourages applications from minorities, women, disabled individuals, protected veterans, and all qualified applicants.

About the Role

As a Lead Product Designer, you will join a centralized talent pool and be placed into one of our high-impact core teams: Vision/Systems, Engage, or Preserve & Share. Your work will unify a complex ecosystem into a seamless, trustworthy, and emotionally resonant experience, whether by defining foundational design systems, merging genetic genealogy with storytelling workflows, or shaping multi-generational sharing strategies. This is a remote-friendly role reporting to a Design Director or the Head of Design, with a focus on work/life balance and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Drive Experience Strategy: Partner with product management, engineering, data science, and research to shape early thinking, establish long-term visions, and influence product direction through systems thinking.
• Design Across the Ecosystem: Translate complex data, scientific insights, and fragmented features into simple, approachable, and emotionally resonant user experiences.
• Evolve Design Foundations: Define core interaction patterns, frameworks, and reusable design components to ensure consistency across all product surfaces.
• Connect with Customers: Collaborate with user research teams and engage directly with members to ground design decisions in real user behaviors and data insights.
• Deliver High-Craft Outputs: Create foundational flows, architecture frameworks, interactive prototypes, and polished visual designs to bring ideas to life and inspire cross-functional teams.
• Enable and Mentor: Raise the organizational quality bar through thoughtful critique, collaborative workshops, and mentorship of other product designers.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in product, systems, or platform design within complex, direct-to-consumer digital products.
• Comfortable setting strategic direction and aligning stakeholders while remaining hands-on in execution and design craft.
• Proven ability to connect customer needs with business goals, map features into a unified experience, and build scalable frameworks.
• A portfolio demonstrating top-tier interaction design, visual polish, attention to detail, and the ability to simplify complexity.
• Strong communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to align diverse teams around shared principles and user advocacy.
• Adaptable and pragmatic, comfortable operating within ambiguity and balancing ideal design states with iterative, speed-to-market solutions.

Bonus Skills

• Experience with consumer subscription models, social platforms, creator tools, or data-rich, AI-powered environments.
• Background or familiarity with evidence-based domains like genealogy, DNA, health, science, search algorithms, or digital memory preservation.

Why Join Ancestry?

Join a dedicated team working to connect millions with their past and enrich their futures. At Ancestry, you’ll contribute to pioneering solutions in the consumer genomics industry while supporting a globally trusted brand. We offer a collaborative workplace, competitive compensation, and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact.

Pay

The base salary range for this position is $130,000 - $150,000, with eligibility for bonus, equity, and comprehensive benefits including health, dental, and vision. Actual salary will depend on location and experience.