Director, Product Design

About the role

Givebutter is a joyful brand with a serious mission, helping changemakers raise over US$ 10 billion so far. This role owns the strategy and execution of world-class product design across the Givebutter platform, shaping how design creates business value in an AI-native era. You will manage a growing team of product designers across product pods, directly responsible for hiring, performance, and career growth. You will partner closely with the VP of Design to define what great product design looks like, set the craft bar, and remove roadblocks for the entire design organization. You will thrive in a high-growth environment where autonomy is the norm and you are not afraid to get hands-on with AI tools and coding agents to improve your craft. If you are energized by building teams, shaping design culture, and figuring out what design becomes in this next era, we want to hear from you.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Lead and develop a team of product designers across multiple product pods, including direct ownership of hiring, performance, and career growth.
• Partner with the VP of Design on design strategy, org design, and how the design function scales over time.
• Create the conditions for designers to do their best work by aligning stakeholders, managing cross-functional dependencies, and driving clarity into ambiguous projects.
• Set and hold the craft bar across the platform, covering interaction patterns, visual execution, design system standards, and long-term product quality as the team and surface areas grow.
• Help define how product design operates at Givebutter, establishing how the team designs with AI tools and for AI-driven product experiences.
• Act as a strategic design partner to senior Product and Engineering leaders, shaping cross-functional decisions and aligning teams around shared outcomes.
• Influence product strategy through deep insight into our users, who are fundraisers and donors, turning ambiguous cross-product problems into clear direction for the team.
• Make high-stakes design decisions that balance craft, speed, and business impact, with a company-level ownership mindset.
• Help evolve Givebutter's design culture as the team grows, establishing practices, norms, and rituals that scale effectively.
• Explore and integrate AI tools and coding agents into the design workflow to improve efficiency and craftsmanship without compromising quality.
• Define and maintain interaction patterns and visual standards that ensure consistency across new and existing features.
• Translate complex product requirements into clear design systems components and design specs that engineers can reliably implement.
• Facilitate cross-functional workshops and critique sessions to align on problem framing and solution hypotheses.
• Measure the impact of design changes on user behavior and business metrics, using data to inform future design iterations.
• Mentor designers on the team by providing actionable feedback and growth plans that advance their careers.

Requirements

• 8+ years of product design experience, with 3-5 years managing other designers.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating design leadership across complex, multi-surface product environments with clear impact on users and business outcomes.
• Proven ability to develop designers at different career stages and build team culture intentionally.
• Deep craft sensibility. You can define what "great" looks like across interaction design, visual design, and design systems, and hold that bar across a team.
• Experience working closely with Product and Engineering leadership as a strategic partner, influencing roadmap and product direction through design.
• Strong judgment on prioritization. You know when to go deep, when to delegate, and how to focus a team on the highest impact problems.
• Comfort making decisions with incomplete information and navigating ambiguity in a rapidly scaling organization.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to articulate design rationale to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• A collaborative mindset that thrives in cross-functional environments with Product, Engineering, Brand, and executive leadership.

Nice to have

• Experience defining design processes and workflows for AI-native products and teams.
• Background working in nonprofit, fundraising, or mission-driven software environments.
• Familiarity with Givebutter's product and the nonprofit fundraising workflow.

Practical notes

This role is full-time and remote. Givebutter is committed to equal opportunity and welcomes diverse candidates.