Director of Design

today Verified open today

In short

Lead the design vision and standards for Full Swing's products, build and scale a design team, establish a design system, and act as the strategic design partner across engineering, product, and executive leadership in a hybrid role based in Carlsbad, CA.

Where
Hybrid · United States
Level
Senior-level · Full-time
Skills & tools
Jira, Confluence, Stakeholder Management, Design Systems
Versant Media
Versant Media
  • Media & Entertainment

Operates a global portfolio of television, streaming, sports, and entertainment media brands.

1 open role

Job Description

Summary/Objective

Full Swing’s product design process runs through a defined set of stage gates, from initial concept and architecture alignment through multiple rounds of design review to final UI/UX sign-off, spanning our simulator software, companion apps, and web platforms. That process currently has no single design leader accountable for it end to end. This is an opportunity to build and lead a new Design Center of Excellence: establish design as a strategic, well-run function with its own standards, systems, and career path, rather than a set of individual contributors assembled reactively around whatever ships next.

You will own the design vision and standards for the company, build and lead the team that executes on them, and be the design voice in cross-functional planning alongside engineering, product, and program leadership. You are measured on whether design work reaches a consistent, high bar across every product line, and on whether design is a strategic partner in planning.

Primary Functions

  • Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
  • The design vision and standards for Full Swing’s products, ensuring consistency in brand, UX, and interaction design across every active product line.
  • A formal design review process, from concept and architecture alignment through final UI/UX sign-off, so design decisions are made deliberately and on a predictable cadence rather than ad hoc.
  • Hiring, mentorship, and career growth for the design organization, including leveling, growth paths, and performance standards for an already existing and high performing small team.
  • A shared design system, pattern library, and style guide used consistently across the company’s software and web products.
  • Design capacity planning across concurrent product lines, including making the case for additional headcount grounded in real workload data and product roadmaps.
  • Direct partnership with engineering, product, QA, platform, and program management leadership to ensure design is engaged at the requirements and architecture stage.
  • Design representation in executive and cross-functional planning, presenting strategy, trade-offs, and resourcing needs directly to senior leadership.
  • Partnership with QA and Release Management so design sign-off functions as a genuine readiness gate.
  • The craft bar for the organization: running critique, giving direct feedback, and holding the team to a consistent standard of execution.

Qualifications

Required Education, Experience & Skills

  • 10+ years of UX/UI or product design experience, including substantial experience leading and
  • managing a design team.
  • A track record of building or significantly scaling a design organization or practice, including establishing standards, systems, and review processes where they didn’t previously exist.
  • Experience partnering directly with engineering, product, and program leadership on cross-functional roadmaps and delivery, including presenting design strategy and trade-offs to senior or executive stakeholders.
  • Demonstrated ability to allocate a design team’s capacity across multiple concurrent product lines and defend resourcing decisions with evidence.
  • Experience establishing or maintaining a design system, pattern library, or style guide at an organizational level.
  • A strong portfolio demonstrating both individual design craft and the outcomes of teams you’ve led.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication, comfortable setting a bar and holding the team and stakeholders to it.
  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field, or equivalent hands-on experience.

Preferred Education, Experience & Skills

  • Experience leading design for a games, simulation, consumer hardware, or interactive entertainment product.
  • Experience designing across both consumer-facing apps and internal/admin tooling (e.g., admin consoles, back-office utilities) at the same time.
  • Experience running design across multiple distinct product lines or brands at once, each with its own visual identity, under a single shared design system.
  • Experience designing data-dense, real-time or performance-data interfaces (e.g., sports statistics, shot or session data, analytics dashboards) for a non-technical consumer audience.
  • Familiarity with Jira and Confluence-based design review and PRD workflows.
  • Interest or hands-on experience in applying AI tools to the design practice itself (prototyping, critique, design ops), reflecting the company’s broader push toward AI-forward ways of working.

Work Environment

  • This role operates in a hybrid or office-based environment, depending on company needs.
  • Work is primarily performed in an office setting with standard working hours; however, occasional after-hours support may be required.
  • The position requires frequent interaction with employees across different departments, requiring strong collaboration and communication skills.
  • The role may involve sitting for extended periods, working on a computer.
  • Able to lift 25 lbs
Mention Woody when you apply — your support keeps us going 💜

Something wrong? Suggest an edit

JobCopilot

Tired of manually applying to jobs?

Let JobCopilot apply for you while you sleep.

  • Auto-applies to 1,500 relevant jobs/month
  • Tailors your resume to each job
  • Matches your exact search criteria
  • Runs 24/7, fully hands-free
Activate your JobCopilot

More Product Design jobs in United States