Director, Product Design

About Us:

Rent the Runway (RTR)  is transforming the way we get dressed by pioneering the world’s first Closet in the Cloud. Founded in 2009, RTR has disrupted the $2.4 trillion fashion industry by inspiring women with a more joyful, sustainable and financially-savvy way to feel their best every day. As the ultimate destination for circular fashion, the brand now offers infinite points of access to its shared closet via a fully customizable subscription to fashion, one-time rental or ownership. RTR offers designer apparel, accessories and home decor from 700+ brand partners and has built in-house proprietary technology and a one-of-a-kind reverse logistics operation. Under CEO and Co-Founder Jennifer Hyman’s leadership, RTR has been named to CNBC’s “Disruptor 50” five times in ten years, and has been placed on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list multiple times, while Hyman herself has been named to the “TIME 100” most influential people in the world and as one of People magazine’s “Women Changing the World.”

About the Team:

The product design team at RTR is user-centric, collaborative, visionary, and results-driven. We're energized by defining new behavior in the circular fashion economy and are constantly looking for new ways to delight our customers. We design for users that span long-time loyal subscribers, new prospective users who have never considered renting, and internal users from site merchandising to warehouse associates. We ensure that RTR products are usable, accessible and delightful.

About the Role: 

As RTR’s Director of Product Design, you will lead a team of designers across our Consumer, Operations and Merchandising domains. You will oversee and inspire the work of the designers on your team. Your influence will operate at different levels - from supporting the team with hands-on design to creating the long-term visioning for our products. You will work with cross-functional leads to set the vision and scope of projects, outlining the design activities required to deliver the best results. You will influence the product strategy and direction in major functional areas. Your team is responsible for delivering a Cinderella experience for every user. As the team lead, you will set the vision for the team and institute the mechanisms, processes and tools that will set them up for success. You will influence your partners across many teams including Product, Marketing, Creative, Revenue, Merchandising and Operations, as well as setting the product design direction for RTR as a whole.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead and develop a team of product designers
• Cultivate a deep knowledge of the RTR customer, their pain points, and what makes them love their experience with RTR.
• Ensure our designer team is balanced effectively across our domains to have the maximum impact
• Build the systems, tools and processes that will enable your team to succeed in the short- and long-terms
• Partner with Product and Engineering to deliver designs that raise the bar for our customers
• Improve on internal processes and documentation, creating team best practices that drive efficiency and maximize design impact.
• Establishes processes and reusable practices for team that help improve quality and efficiency of work. Grows and scales team. Identifies opportunities for new initiatives that fit into the bigger picture for the customer, product, platform, and/or company.
• Drive execution and ensure the team delivers on their commitments.
• Build the cross-functional relationships with other orgs within RTR that will ensure your team is building alongside our other subject matter experts
• Create the internal sharing and feedback mechanisms to bring the company along with the team.
• Leader our testing strategy to bring the voice of the customer into our design processes.
• Maintain a solid pulse on market trends and conduct ongoing evaluations of relevant 3rd party offerings and new design standards, to ensure our systems and processes are best-in-class.
• Contribute to creating a learning culture and a fun, rewarding workplace where people can realize their full potential.

About You:

We are looking for a Product Design leader with experience in balancing long-term visions with near-term results, creating strong partnerships and continuously delivering value to our customer. The right candidate will have an understanding of what is technically feasible, adheres to UX best practices, and supports our business goals. 

• 8+ years of product design experience, including people management
• You are a confident and influential communicator. From engineers to executives, you know how to talk and listen in remote & in-person environments. You’re skilled at bringing stakeholders along in your decision-making process and are adept at telling a story that supports your recommendations and inspires teams. 
• You’re a relationship builder who engages well with stakeholders, understands their objectives and constraints and earns their trust.
• You create vision and clarity from complexity and ambiguity.  You are comfortable and energized by uncharted problems.
• You’re constantly learning and seeking out feedback. You test with customers, seek out their feedback from anecdotes to large-scale surveys, and validate your assumptions.  You are flexible and able to change direction as you learn.
• You're a builder. You are excited about pushing the design of our products forward that deliver significant business impact. 
• You thrive in change. You are entrepreneurial in spirit with a passion for disruption. 
• You’re both a high level strategic thinker and a roll-up-your-sleeves operator who does what it takes to get things done and deliver results.
• You're analytical. You turn data into actionable insights. 
• You enjoy shipping products as much as creating a design culture.

Benefits:

At Rent the Runway, we’re committed to the wellbeing of our employees, and aim to create a workplace that fosters both personal and professional growth. Our inclusive benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Paid Time Off including vacation, paid bereavement, and family sick leave - every employee needs time to take care of themselves and their family.
• Universal Paid Parental Leave for both parents + flexible return to work program  - because we know your newest family member(s) deserve your undivided attention.
• Paid Sabbatical after 5 years of continuous service - Unplug, recharge, and have some fun!
• Exclusive employee subscription and rental discounts -  to ensure you experience the magic of renting the runway (and give us valued feedback!).
• Comprehensive health, vision, dental, FSA and dependent care from day 1 of employment - Your health comes first and we’ve got you covered.
• 401k match - an investment in your future.
• Company wide events and outings - our team spirit is no joke - we know how to have fun!
• Hybrid Work - our corporate employees have the option to work remotely 2 days a week, in accordance with Company policies.

COVID-19 VACCINE REQUIREMENT:

RTR is requiring all US corporate employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 in order to work in person, unless an employee requires a reasonable accommodation for medical or religious reasons.  If you believe that you may require an accommodation, please apply for any roles that interest you and if hired, you will receive information on how to request a reasonable accommodation after your start date. RTR will evaluate all such requests in accordance with Company policy and applicable law.   

Rent the Runway is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with applicable law, we prohibit discrimination against any applicant or employee based on any legally-recognized basis, including, but not limited to: race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, childbirth or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, age (40 and over), national origin or ancestry, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), veteran status, uniformed service member status or any other status protected by federal, state or local law.

The anticipated base salary for this position is $168,000 - $210,000. The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held. This position is also eligible for equity compensation.