Director, Product Design

The worldwide data management software market is massive (IDC forecasts it to be $138 billion by 2026!). At MongoDB we are transforming industries and empowering developers to build amazing apps that people use every day. We are the leading modern data platform and the first database provider to IPO in over 20 years. Join our team and be at the forefront of innovation and creativity.

About the Team

MongoDB’s Atlas team is looking for a Director of Product Design who is passionate about building design teams, creating simple yet elegant experiences, generating business impact, and helping to define the future of MongoDB’s Product Design Team. The right person for this role is someone who can set strategy, build trust, facilitate a user-centered product development process while bringing out the best in their team members.

This role can be based out of our NYC office or remotely in the Eastern time zone.

What You’ll Do

This leader should care deeply about our customers, getting them to experience the core value of our products faster. They will coach their teams to take complex concepts and distill them into simple, easy to use solutions that improve user workflows.

Responsibilities:

• Hiring, mentoring, coaching, and retaining a talented, diverse, inclusive team of designers, including managers and individual contributors
• Tracking team performance, goals, and growth
• Representing the team to senior stakeholders across the org, including engaging with executives
• Designing and scaling a design organization, partnering closely with Executive Leadership and Talent Acquisition on headcount budgeting and forecasting
• Thinking big, and driving design team goals forward
• Understanding technical concepts and managing the design of large complex initiatives with little oversight
• Evaluating project complexity and working with Design Leadership and Product Management to define roadmaps
• Leading product direction and eliciting ideas from other team members, including those that are junior
• Partnering but also negotiating with cross-functional teams across the organization
• Recognizing good (or not so good) design patterns and providing constructive design critique
• Improving design process and efficiency

About you

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in a Product Design or UX role
• 3+ years of experience leading or managing a design team
• Storytelling and great communicating skills
• Excellent visual design skills (layout, typography, visual hierarchy) and intimate knowledge of common interaction design patterns, components, and UX best practices
• Comfortable with ambiguity and continuous feedback. You are able to tackle complex user problems, research and validate your assumptions and solutions, and showcase the impact of your work
• Bonus if you thrive on large, loosely defined user problems and have experience driving teams towards understanding through discovery and prioritization based on user needs
• Experience in hiring and scaling small to medium sized design organizations
• Comfortable working alongside senior leadership and advocating for design at the executive level
• Experience managing and coaching individual contributors and managers 

The ideal candidate will be:

• Intellectually curious, always asking “how can we improve?”
• Cares deeply about the impact of their work
• Has a positive, resourceful mindset
• Has a desire to always improve self, others, and the experience our customers receive
• Open and honest
• Demonstrates humility, as well as an ego-free, and highly collaborative attitude, as the best ideas for product design may often come from others on the team
• Able to confidently express firmly held beliefs, but willing to change them based on new evidence
• Proactively provides and seeks constructive feedback

What makes our design team great? 

• We value doing what’s best for each other, for the team and for the customer
• We encourage open, honest, authentic communication that’s always respectful
• We use both primary research and user research to make sure our designs are based on facts vs. opinions
• We believe that good ideas come from everywhere and that we are the facilitators of great design vs. the sole creators of design
• We give each designer appropriate autonomy and ownership over their designs and encourage everyone to add their special touch
• “Sign-off” is more about providing guidance and helping to fill in gaps vs. command and control
• We work very closely with engineering and product managers 
• We like to have fun

Did you check most of the boxes, but not all? That’s fine. There is no such thing as a “perfect candidate.” MongoDB is a place where everyone can grow. Our supportive, inclusive environment is a place where you can be your best self and safely ask others to help you get there. We just ask that you be open and honest where you might need a bit of extra support. 

Each person that joins our team adds something unique and special, changing the team for the better. If you’re passionate about technology and this Design team sounds like one you’d like to be a part of, we’d love to hear from you!

To drive the personal growth and business impact of our employees, we’re committed to developing a supportive and enriching culture for everyone. From employee affinity groups, to fertility assistance and a generous parental leave policy, we value our employees’ wellbeing and want to support them along every step of their professional and personal journeys. Learn more about what it’s like to work at MongoDB, and help us make an impact on the world!

MongoDB is committed to providing any necessary accommodations for individuals with disabilities within our application and interview process. To request an accommodation due to a disability, please inform your recruiter.

MongoDB, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and makes all hiring decisions without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.