Senior Design Program Manager

Automattic, the tech powerhouse behind WordPress.com, Jetpack, Tumblr, WooCommerce, Simplenote, and more, is looking for a Senior Design Program Manager to help us keep the web free and open.

About the role:

Design is at the core of what we do: designing experiences for millions of users who actively use WordPress, WooCommerce, Tumblr, and all of the other products within our ecosystem. You can visit our Design Blog to learn more about our team and our work.

We’re on the lookout for a seasoned design program manager who is passionate about working with designers to do their best work. You’ll join our Designer Experience team — Automattic’s version of Design Operations — in our mission to build an outstanding experience for all designers at Automattic, and ultimately increase the design quality and impact of our products.

What you’ll do:

• Lead initiatives that impact the entire Design team — including new designer onboarding, optimizing tools, hosting educational programs, and refining processes to help Design work more efficiently and effectively.
• Partner with Automattic’s design leadership team to make operational and program-oriented improvements that benefit the Design Org and help our design teams achieve their goals and targets.
• Support the Head of Design Operations in driving operational excellence for our design system, with a focus on integration and adoption across the open-source community and our various product teams.
• Assess our current tools, identify gaps, and iterate toward a longer-term vision for more seamless workflows for Designers.
• Collaborate with partner teams, including Talent, Events, HR, and Marketing, to deliver programs that require design input.
• Develop and maintain a system for regularly updating essential design knowledge: crafting playbooks, onboarding materials, and process documentation.
• Adhere to our creed that Communication is Oxygen. Regularly share work and actively seek feedback in project discussions. Communicate clearly and frequently through appropriate channels. Share project iterations and updates regularly.
• Develop and support programs that boost Design team culture and belonging.

What we’re looking for:

• 8+ years in consulting, program management, product management, or product design, with demonstrated expertise in establishing methods, implementing systems, and supporting operations across an organization.
• Extensive understanding and experience of creative design processes and the product development life cycle, with a strong desire to collaborate with cross-functional teams.
• An understanding of how to deeply engage with and improve Designers’ working lives. 
• The ability to develop strategies for the long term while executing near-term goals. Experience analyzing data and leveraging insights to develop strategies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills — you’ll collaborate with others and present your work regularly in a written format.
• The ability to bring order to complex programs by scoping projects, identifying risks and dependencies, defining resources and schedules, and working independently to deliver them.
• Ability to track progress, keep project teams to task, and continuously improve programs.
• Excellent remote facilitation of meetings, workshops, and team rituals. 
• Evidence of driving change management in large, globally distributed organizations. 
• The ability to adapt to change, pivot/course-correct, while maintaining forward momentum.
• Proficiency in managing tools and working with suppliers. 
• Familiarity with, or experience working in, design systems.
• Experience with remote work, or a genuine excitement to embrace it.

Salary range: $95,000-200,000 USD - Please note that salary ranges are global, regardless of location, and we pay in local currency.

This isn’t your typical work-from-home job—we are a fully-remote company with an open vacation policy. Read more about our compensation philosophy. To see a full list of benefits by country, consult our Benefits Page. And check out these links to learn more about How We Hire and What We Expect from Ourselves.