Senior Product Designer

About the role

You will join a specialized design team dedicated to refining the primary digital touchpoints that millions of sports fans use every day. In this capacity, you will take ownership of the core product experience, ensuring that navigation, content discovery, and story consumption feel intuitive and cohesive. Your work will directly connect a massive global audience to the teams, leagues, and athletes they care about most. You will drive strategic design initiatives that balance editorial integrity with product usability. The role requires you to translate ambiguous problems into structured design opportunities through rigorous research and analysis. You will act as a key voice for the user while aligning closely with business goals and editorial priorities. Success in this position depends on your ability to iterate quickly, communicate clearly, and maintain a long-term perspective on product evolution.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Conduct contextual inquiries and usability sessions to extract insights that shape the product experience.
• Translate research findings into detailed wireframes, user flows, and interactive prototypes that clarify functionality and interaction.
• Define and maintain design systems components to ensure consistency, scalability, and efficiency across web and mobile applications.
• Collaborate with product managers, engineers, SEO strategists, and content editors to align on requirements and resolve implementation challenges.
• Evaluate technical constraints and project trade-offs, proposing solutions that respect both user needs and engineering feasibility.
• Monitor trends and patterns in sports media apps to identify opportunities for differentiation and improvement.
• Partner with the content strategy team to optimize information architecture for editorial clarity and discoverability.
• Support accessibility audits and advocate for inclusive design practices throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Prepare design specifications and handoff documentation to enable efficient implementation by engineering teams.
• Present design rationales and decisions to cross-functional stakeholders, using data and qualitative feedback to support your proposals.
• Explore emerging interaction patterns and prototyping techniques to enhance storytelling formats within sports journalism.
• Mentor junior designers by providing constructive feedback and sharing best practices in design thinking and execution.

Requirements

• Demonstrate a proven track record of shipping design solutions for both web and native mobile platforms.
• Present a portfolio that showcases high-level visual and interaction design capabilities across complex digital products.
• Exhibit deep familiarity with the sports media industry and a clear vision for improving sports-focused digital products.
• Show professional experience working within a collaborative team environment, giving and receiving constructive design feedback.
• Display strong ability to manage multiple workstreams and prioritize tasks effectively under competing deadlines.
• Have professional experience collaborating with cross-functional partners and stakeholders, including product, engineering, and editorial roles.
• Bring experience designing with constraints, balancing user-centered goals with technical and business limitations.
• Commit to following established design processes while remaining open to evolving methodologies and best practices.

Nice to have

• Demonstrate experience with prototyping and animation techniques to communicate complex design ideas effectively.
• Contribute to multidisciplinary design studios or collaborative creative environments outside of traditional employment.

Skills & tools

• Figma
• Adobe Creative Suite
• AI-assisted design workflows

Practical notes

• Annual base

salary: $135,000 to $155,000 USD, with potential for variable pay, bonuses, and restricted stock.

• Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) matching, FSA, paid time off, parental leave, and tuition reimbursement.
• Applications must be original work; do not use generative AI to create your application content.
• All official communication comes from @theathletic.com email addresses; avoid any contact via text or instant messaging platforms.
• This role is based in the United States and requires eligibility to work in the country without sponsorship.
• The position reports to the Core design organization and participates in structured performance reviews twice annually.
• You are expected to work full-time hours during standard business hours, with some flexibility for asynchronous collaboration across time zones.
• Travel is not required for this role, though occasional in-person workshops or team gatherings may be considered on a case-by-case basis.
• This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship at this time.
• The successful candidate will be responsible for managing their workload and meeting deadlines in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• You will be expected to respond promptly to emails and messages from internal teams during core working hours.
• The hiring team reviews applications on a rolling basis, so early submission is encouraged.
• Final interview stages may include practical design exercises that simulate real-world product scenarios.
• You will be asked to discuss specific projects from your portfolio in detail, including your role, decisions, and outcomes.
• This position involves exposure to confidential business and editorial information, requiring discretion and professionalism at all times.
• Continued performance in this role may lead to opportunities for advancement within the design organization.
• The company reserves the right to adjust compensation and benefits structures based on business needs and market conditions.
• This job description is not exhaustive and may be updated as responsibilities evolve.