Design Lead

Job Summary

ownpath Studios is growing its team and is looking for a Design Lead with strong project ownership skills - someone who can define problems, guide teams through execution, and deliver well-crafted design solutions across diverse product initiatives. You ll work closely with clients, strategists, designers, and engineers to bring clarity to complex challenges and take projects from early thinking through to execution. You ll be responsible for driving design direction, making thoughtful design decisions, and ensuring a high bar for craft across the work. This role is ideal for someone who combines strong product thinking with excellent design judgment, is comfortable navigating ambiguity and stakeholders, and enjoys leading both the work and the people behind it.

Responsibilities

• Define problems, guide teams through execution, and deliver well-crafted design solutions across diverse product initiatives.
• You ll work closely with clients, strategists, designers, and engineers to bring clarity to complex challenges and take projects from early thinking through to execution.
• You ll be responsible for driving design direction, making thoughtful design decisions, and ensuring a high bar for craft across the work.
• This role is ideal for someone who combines strong product thinking with excellent design judgment, is comfortable navigating ambiguity and stakeholders, and enjoys leading both the work and the people behind it.

Requirements

• 6-8 years of experience in product design, UX/UI design, or interaction design roles.
• Proven experience leading design projects end-to-end and managing stakeholder communication.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating systems thinking, high-craft visual design, and complex problem-solving.
• Deep experience with design systems, component libraries, and scalable product design patterns.
• Ability to balance hands-on execution with oversight, mentorship, and critique.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to identify what stakeholders need and align teams around clear outcomes.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity as well as structured delivery environments.

Nice to Have

• Experience mentoring designers or leading small design teams.
• Experience working in early-stage startups or as a founding/early designer, with exposure to multiple functions.
• Exposure to design ops, tooling improvements, or workflow optimization.
• Experience working with multiple clients or cross-functional teams simultaneously.
• Identify new problems and opportunities across client and internal projects, especially in early-stage or evolving contexts.
• Lead qualitative and quantitative research to inform strategic product decisions.
• Solve complex design challenges and address system-level design debt.
• Drive improvements to design systems, tooling, and scalable design foundations.
• Own design projects end-to-end - from discovery and definition to execution and delivery.

Disclaimer: This job posting has been aggregated from external source. Role details, content, and availability are subject to change. Applicants are advised to confirm the latest information directly on the company website before applying.