Principal Product Designer, Core

About the role

BetterUp is seeking a Principal Product Designer to define the strategic and tactical design of its core products that drive human transformation at scale. This role owns the end-to-end design of flagship experiences, ensuring that the product vision aligns with deep human needs and business objectives. The hire will operate at the highest individual contributor level, setting standards for design quality and influencing the broader design culture across the organization. They will be responsible for crafting cohesive, scalable design systems that power multiple product surfaces and complex user journeys. Collaboration with cross-functional partners will be central, translating ambiguous challenges into clear design direction and compelling narratives. This role requires a rare blend of strategic thinking, hands-on craft, and leadership without direct management responsibility. Ultimately, the Principal Product Designer will shape what world-class human-AI product experiences look like for BetterUp's global audience.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Architect the design vision for BetterUp's core product experiences, identifying high-leverage opportunities and ensuring continuity across interconnected user journeys.
• Define and enforce design quality and craft standards, elevating the entire Design organization through rigorous critique and principled decision-making.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Research from the earliest stages to shape roadmaps and bring a strong design perspective to problem framing.
• Lead complex, ambiguous design challenges from exploration to mature execution, navigating organizational complexity with clarity and strong point of view.
• Build and maintain scalable design systems and foundational patterns that enable speed, consistency, and coherence across teams.
• Mentor senior designers, providing thoughtful feedback that develops craft, confidence, and strategic thinking within the Design organization.
• Influence VP-level and executive stakeholders with clear communication, earning trust as a thought partner on product and design strategy.
• Represent design in cross-functional planning, aligning design investment with company priorities and demonstrating the impact of design decisions.
• Champion AI-native design patterns and help define best practices for integrating AI capabilities into BetterUp's core experiences.
• Showcase examples of how AI tools were used to learn, iterate, and amplify impact throughout the design process during interviews and projects.
• Set the bar for design excellence by contributing to the broader industry conversation on human-centered AI product design.
• Enable other teams through mentorship and by creating resources that help them succeed in a rapidly evolving AI-first product landscape.

Requirements

• 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, understanding 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, making complex ideas clear and compelling to any audience.
• A growth mindset and genuine curiosity about how AI tools can enhance design craft and process.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment that values continuous learning and reinvention.
• Willingness to showcase how you harness AI to iterate, learn, and amplify your impact during the interview process.
• Comfort with providing and receiving critical feedback in a collaborative, growth-oriented setting.

Nice to have

• Experience contributing to or building design systems at scale in complex product environments.
• Background in AI product design or exposure to generative AI tools in professional workflows.
• Evidence of mentorship or leadership through design critique and knowledge sharing.
• Portfolio examples that show measurable impact on user behavior or business outcomes.

Practical notes

This role is full-time based in Austin, TX.

During our interview process, you'll have opportunities to showcase how you harness AI to learn, iterate, and amplify your impact. We encourage all candidates to share examples of how they've used AI tools in their work - whether Figma plugins, generative design tools, or AI-powered user research analysis.