Staff Experience Designer

The community you will join:

As a Staff Experience Designer, you will partner with supporting disciplines such as writers, researchers, product specialists and engineers to build beautiful, usable, forward-looking products that empower people. Our design charter is to help foster an emotional connection with our community, keeping usability and accessibility as our prime virtues. We do our best to practice inclusive design at every turn, spanning both the online and offline experiences we create for our community.

The difference you will make: 

This Staff Experience Designer will be focused on innovation, both near-term and long-term.  The focus of this team will be on new product areas, launches, strategic initiatives and partnerships and creative vision. You will oversee multiple initiatives from insight to strategy, to launch across all platforms and devices that advances our mission of connection and belonging. As a design thought leader across multiple product areas, you hold high design standards and accountability for the work. The Staff Experience Designer is an individual contributor (IC) role that will report to a Manager or Director of Experience Design. 

A typical day: 

• Support and shape the evolution of the Airbnb platform from a design perspective; ensure consistency with, and contribute to, our brand architecture and product architecture. 
• Partner with Product Managers, Engineers, Data Scientist, Researchers and Writers to define problems & goals, map user flows, prototype interactions, and launch new products and services.
• Influence leadership decision making through a clear point of view and define and solve highly complex problems autonomously. 
• Provide indirect leadership and mentorship for a team of designers through the end-to-end interaction and visual design of products and services for a global audience.
• Anticipate business challenges and independently create product solutions. Indirectly lead the work of a team of talented designers, writers, program managers, researchers, product managers and engineers as the defacto creative director of innovative projects
• Build strong relationships with leaders inside and outside of core product teams; strong communication and executive stakeholder management skills.
• Have a keen understanding of the technological, business and user opportunities and constraints. 
• Scopes project work (in partnership with PMs and engineers) and helps define the design process and timeline.

Your expertise: 

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and progressive experience
• Designer/Design Leader with 10+ years of experience. 
• Excellent visual and interaction skills and craft.
• Defines the design direction and process and can lead others through it.
• Can accurately scope their work as well as their teammate's.
• Can effortlessly motivate and drive small to medium teams to transform a product.
• Demonstrated ability to help a team navigate ambiguity, set vision, and set strategy for global products.
• Systems-thinker with the ability to think beyond the pixels and design for offline experiences.
• Experience with making complex information, tools, and services easily digestible for your audience.
• Strong storytelling, presentation, communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience designing platforms and systems.
• Experience managing and collaborating with research and writing  disciplines.
• 0 to 1 experience or experience redesigning major elements of product, experience or service design.