Design director [h1.location_city]

Senior Director, Design & Research

Babylist is the leading registry, e-commerce, and content platform for growing families. More than 9 million people shop with Babylist every year, making it the go-to destination for seamless purchasing, trusted guidance, and expert product recommendations for new parents and the people who love them. What began as a universal registry has grown into a full ecosystem for new parents, including the Babylist Shop, Babylist Health, and a flagship showroom in Los Angeles. Hundreds of brands in baby and beyond partner with Babylist to engage meaningfully with families during one of life's most important transitions. With over $1 billion in annual GMV, and more than $500 million in 2024 revenue, Babylist is reshaping the $320 billion baby product industry. We're helping parents feel confident, connected, and cared for at every step. As we build the generational brand in baby, our mission remains simple : to connect growing families with everything they need to thrive.

Babylist is hiring a Senior Director of Product Design and Research to shape the long-term experience strategy across Product Design, User Research, UX Content Design, and Design System. These functions are central to how Babylist supports parents and gift givers as they discover products, build a registry, manage health needs, and shop with confidence.

This role reports to the Chief Product Officer to ensure that user insight, research, and product judgment meaningfully influence how Babylist sets priorities, builds products, and plans for the future. The Senior Director guides the vision for usability, accessibility, clarity, and experience quality across platforms and surfaces. The role sets direction for how Babylist integrates AI into user workflows in ways that are intuitive, helpful, and trustworthy.

This is a strategic leadership role that shapes how the organization understands users, identifies the problems that matter most, and brings clarity to product decisions. It also develops the systems, rituals, and team structures that help designers, researchers, and content designers work at a high level and deliver consistent experiences as Babylist scales.

Experienced design leader with 12+ years in product design and 5+ years managing and developing design teams in a user-centered, product-driven environment.

Strong product and user experience thinker applying clear judgment grounded in usability, accessibility, research, and real user insight.

Broad design generalist with exposure to research, content design, or design systems as an added strength.

Strategic problem solver comfortable shaping direction across complex product areas and multiple platforms.

Clear communicator who collaborates effectively with Product, Engineering, and Marketing.

Practical AI partner with a working understanding of how AI can support workflows and user-facing experiences.

User-centered leader motivated by supporting parents, gift givers, and growing families.

Systems-minded operator focused on clarity, outcomes, and building structures that help teams work effectively.

Executive-ready partner able to influence decisions with evidence, research, and product insight.

Set and champion a multi-year user experience direction for Babylist, create a clear, inspiring vision for how registry, health, shopping, and content should evolve, grounded in user insight, research, and design judgment.

Shape company-level planning with user insight and evidence bringing research, data, and clear user needs into executive decisions to prioritize the problems that matter most.

Lead Babylist's approach to AI-supported experiences setting the direction for how AI supports user workflows and decision-making through simple and intuitive interfaces.

Set clear standards for usability, accessibility, and quality establishing expectations that improve clarity, consistency, and experience quality across platforms.

Develop the strategic plan for Product Design and Research defining team structure, capacity, and long-term goals that align with company priorities.

Build systems that support effective planning and decision making evolving current processes to support clear priorities, consistent alignment, and strong execution across teams.

Establish mechanisms that measure experience quality tracking usability, user satisfaction, research insights, and design system adoption to create clear visibility for leaders and teams.

Guide execution across multiple platforms and surfaces providing direction that helps teams navigate complexity and deliver cohesive, high-quality experiences.

Identify and prioritize high-impact user problems partnering with Product and Engineering to focus on the issues that most affect parents and gift givers.

Scale the Heartbeat Design System across the organization expanding adoption to improve consistency and long-term sustainability.

Develop and grow multidisciplinary design teams supporting designers, researchers, and content designers with clear expectations, feedback, and development paths.

Increase visibility into user experience work across Babylist improving how user needs, research findings, and experience updates are communicated across Product, Engineering, and partner teams.

Represent Product Design and Research at the executive level influencing company strategy and ensuring user needs stay central to decisions and long-term planning.

Our Culture

We work with focus and intention, then step away to recharge

We believe in exceptional management and invest in tools and opportunities to connect with colleagues

We build products that positively impact millions of people's lives

AI is intentionally embedded in how we work, create, and scalesupporting innovation and impact

Growth & Development

Competitive pay and meaningful opportunities for career advancement

We believe technology and data can solve hard problems

We're committed to career progression and performance-based advancement

Compensation & Benefits

Competitive salary with equity and bonus opportunities

Company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance

Retirement savings plan with company matching and flexible spending accounts

Generous paid parental leave and PTO

Remote work stipend to set up your office

Perks for physical, mental, and emotional health, parenting, childcare, and financial planning

About Compensation

We use a market-based approach to compensation. The starting salary range for this role is :

US : $261,450 to $313,740 USD

Canada : $260,500 to $325,750 CAD

Your starting salary will be based on your location, experience, and qualifications, with increases over time tied to performance, role growth, and internal pay equity.