Sr. Product Designer

About the role

At HopSkipDrive, our mission is to create opportunity for all through mobility. We're the leader in safe, fast, and simple supplemental student transportation. Through our marketplace, we connect kids to highly-vetted caregivers on wheels. Through our software, we solve the biggest transportation challenges facing schools and school districts across the country. Founded by three moms as a solution to their own transportation challenges, we've now facilitated more than five million rides across over 20 states. We continue to grow rapidly — earning a spot on the Inc. 5000 list numerous times and the Deloitte 500 Fast-Growing Technology list.

Responsibilities

• Take the lead on complex, high-visibility design initiatives, raising the bar on design craft, and helping pioneer new levels of design excellence.
• Create end-to-end design solutions, from conceptual exploration to detailed interaction design, while advocating for user needs throughout the development process.
• Provide mentorship to junior designers and leverage user feedback and data to make informed design decisions that align with business goals.
• Lead strategic design initiatives: contribute to product design vision and strategy, apply systems thinking to complex challenges, and lead design initiatives addressing strategic product opportunities across HopSkipDrive's portfolio.
• Define patterns and consistency: define UX patterns and ensure consistency across products, developing and implementing scalable design systems and components with strong proficiency in design tools, prototyping, and accessible design.
• Drive research-informed decisions: conduct strategic design research to identify long-term opportunities, integrate user research and data analysis into strategic product decisions, and synthesize complex findings into clear, actionable insights.
• Lead AI-accelerated discovery: lead discovery phases using AI tools to synthesize research at a speed and depth not possible manually, bringing sharper, data-backed rationale into cross-functional design strategy conversations, and evaluate which design problems are strong candidates for AI-powered solutions.
• Design AI-powered features: design high-quality AI-powered product features with well-defined interaction patterns, error states, and edge cases—bringing a discerning eye to AI tool outputs and iterating with intent.
• Mentor & elevate the team: mentor other designers, facilitate design workshops and critiques, foster a collaborative design culture, and help establish team norms for effective, critical use of AI tools.
• Communicate & influence: communicate and defend design rationale to executive stakeholders and cross-functional teams, facilitate cross-functional workshops to drive alignment, and present design strategy and vision to senior stakeholders.
• Own design outcomes: own design outcomes for significant product areas, define and measure success in terms of business and user metrics, and drive measurable customer impact through well-designed AI experiences—reducing friction, improving personalization, and increasing user confidence.

Requirements

• 5+ years of product design experience, with a track record of leading complex, cross-functional design initiatives end to end.
• Advanced UX/UI design skills with a focus on holistic user experiences, strong visual execution, and proficiency in end-to-end design.
• Experience establishing and maintaining design standards, best practices, and scalable design systems for a team.
• Proven ability to lead complex prototyping and usability testing efforts, ensuring high-quality, accessible results across multiple product areas.
• Demonstrated ability to integrate user research and advanced data analysis into strategic product decisions, and to lead research initiatives that inform roadmap and strategy.
• Experience in designing for mobile and web platforms.
• Experience mentoring designers, facilitating critiques and workshops, and fostering a collaborative, user-centered design culture.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to defend design rationale to executive stakeholders and build strong relationships across the organization.
• Hands-on experience using AI tools to accelerate discovery, research synthesis, and prototyping— with the judgment to know when AI interpretation is reliable and when human judgment must lead.
• A discerning eye for AI-generated design output, consistently iterating with intent and creating new skills or workflows to increase team efficiency and consistency.
• Proficiency with modern design and prototyping tools (e.g., Figma), along with solid understanding of design systems and scalable design practices.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Industrial Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Interaction Design, or related field.
• Strong portfolio showcasing a variety of design projects, including both digital and physical products.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams, including product managers, engineers, and data scientists.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to think creatively and strategically.
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet deadlines.
• Passion for user-centered design and a commitment to creating intuitive, impactful, and accessible experiences.

Skills

• Advanced UX/UI design skills.
• Experience with design systems and scalable design practices.
• Strong proficiency in design tools and prototyping.
• Hands-on experience with AI tools for design.
• Experience with user research and data analysis.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.

Benefits

Our investment in you includes equity stock options, flexible vacation, medical, dental, vision and life insurance, 401(k), FSA, and the opportunity to work for a uniquely positioned, VC-backed company in a hugely attractive space with significant upside potential.

Pay

The salary range for this role is $135,000 - $163,000. This position is remote and, as such, compensation will ultimately be in line with the location in which the position is filled. Final compensation for this role will be determined by several factors such as a candidate’s relevant work experience, skill set, certifications, and specific work location.

Schedule

This role is fully remote and will be based in one of the following states: AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, MI, MN, MO, NC, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI.