Principal Product Designer, Core
BetterUp · San Francisco, CA · 2 wk ago
HybridDesign$250k–$320k/yrFull-time
The Opportunity
BetterUp is looking for a Principal Product Designer to join our Design team and shape the future of human transformation at scale. This is a rare opportunity to work at the highest individual contributor level in Design—owning domain-level craft, strategy, and systems thinking across BetterUp’s core product experiences.
What You'll Do
- Arcitect the design vision for BetterUp’s core product experiences—identifying the highest-leverage opportunities, defining the strategic direction, and ensuring continuity across complex, multi-surface journeys
- Drive design quality and craft standards across the product, raising the bar for the entire Design org through rigorous critique, deep collaboration, and principled decision-making
- Partner closely with Product, Engineering, and Research to shape roadmaps from the earliest stages—bringing design perspective to problem framing, not just solutions
- Lead complex, ambiguous design challenges from 0→1 and 1→n, navigating organizational complexity with clear thinking and strong point of view
- Build and maintain scalable design systems and foundational patterns that enable speed and coherence across teams
- Mentor and elevate senior designers, providing thoughtful feedback that develops taste, confidence, and craft
- Influence VP-level and executive stakeholders with clarity and conviction, earning trust as a thought partner on product and design strategy
- Represent the design function in cross-functional planning, helping align design investment with company priorities
What You'll Bring
- 10+ years of product design experience, including time at a consumer or B2B SaaS company where design played a central role in product strategy
- A portfolio that demonstrates exceptional craft, systems thinking, and the ability to operate across the full design spectrum—from early concept to polished execution
- Proven track record of leading complex, multi-year design initiatives with measurable impact on product outcomes and user experience
- Deep experience influencing product and engineering direction at the senior leadership level
- Strong design systems sensibility—you understand how foundational decisions compound across a product at scale
- Experience designing products at the intersection of human behavior and technology; familiarity with AI-native product patterns is a strong plus
- Exceptional communication and storytelling skills—you make complex ideas clear and compelling to any audience
- A growth mindset and genuine curiosity about how AI tools can enhance design craft and process