Director, Product Design

The Product & Engineering team is responsible for designing and developing products that are easy-to-use that enable finance teams around the country to effectively manage all of their debt and lease obligations. You’ll partner closely with other engineers, designers, and product managers on the team to help solve problems, deliver new features, and build impactful products. We believe the most effective product teams are ones that work extremely collaboratively across the various roles, so you will participate as the UI/UX design subject matter expert during various technical and product planning activities.

​​​​We’re a growing team that is always evolving and you get to shape our views on how we use design to serve our users. There is an enormous opportunity to make an impact, do things at scale, and build products that modernize the way public finance works.

As Director of Product Design, you will be a foundational piece of the Product & Engineering team. You will work closely with product managers, engineers, and subject matter experts to design and shape user experiences that set the standard for the category of public finance. You will help build out our design team, mature our design process and upskill how we approach UX/UI design across the organization.

You will provide support and perspective throughout all phases of the product development lifecycle – from strategy to design to implementation to launch. You will create simple and effective solutions to complex problems through build-ready designs, style guides, and prototypes.

We deeply value our team culture. We strongly emphasize trust, mentorship, and collaboration. We care about building the right thing, the right way, and having fun while we do it. Every member of our team has the freedom and responsibility to make DebtBook a great place to work.

Key Responsibilities Include But Aren’t Limited To:

• Organize and contribute to DebtBook’s pattern libraries. Strong understanding of aesthetics and usability.
• Build out product design team to support a growing suite of products and “define” what design means at DebtBook
• Lead design research, product usability studies, brainstorming, and prototyping.
• Demonstrate fluency with design and interaction principles.
• Work closely with developers, stakeholders, QA, analytics, and other product team members to realize and explore the product vision.
• Actively seek feedback from team members, stakeholders, and end-users, sharing work early and often to seek out constructive feedback from stakeholders, then filter and prioritize said feedback.
• Demonstrate, articulate, and teach others an understanding of information architecture, multi-step and cross-platform flows.
• Consistently consider the holistic user experience, potential states (errors, successes, dead-ends), as well as how new features interact with the existing system.
• Balance existing visual and UX patterns with platform-specific patterns to ensure a consistent, intuitive experience.
• Identify and flag instances where existing patterns break down in any of DebtBook’s products. When diverging from established patterns, identify, document, and socialize new patterns amongst the product and engineering team.
• Build a deep understanding of customers. Identify opportunities for research, selecting appropriate research methods. Lead synthesis of results. Communicate results to the organization.
• Communicate with the product, engineers, and other stakeholders in their language, designing with consideration for their concerns. Foster a highly-collaborative design process and, as a result, build trust from their team to talk through both scope and technical challenges and negotiate thoughtful outcomes.
• Take a leadership role in cross-discipline initiatives, bringing a design voice to the conversation and building trust between the product team and other disciplines.
• Require little/no supervision outside of direction for changes in the overall strategy. Identify opportunities beyond the product roadmap and across teams.
• Prioritize universal and accessible design practices, building exceptional users of all abilities and devices.

Qualifications, Experience, and Skills We’re Looking For:

We are looking for someone who is passionate about putting their energy and expertise into work that matters. You’re creative. You’re organized. You’re experienced. You’ve done this before and you want to do it with us. Your experience should include the following:

• 7-10+ years of experience building and shipping technology products at scale: web apps and/or mobile apps, at least 5 of which need to be in Product Design
• Experience working as a player/coach with other designers
• Experience hiring and developing entry-level design talent
• Deep understanding of user-centered design methods related to digital products
• Experience working within an agile methodology
• Expert with using Figma for designing and prototyping software
• Experience working with user testing software and services
• Experience developing and evolving design systems
• Systems thinking, problem-solving abilities, and critical thinking skills required
• Possesses strong verbal and written communication skills, whether in one-on-one or group situations. Communicates complex ideas, goals, and problems in a way that is accessible even to those unfamiliar with the project.
• Strong sense of ownership and a “whatever it takes” attitude toward getting stuff done
• Comfort with ambiguity and an instinct for moving quickly
• A strong growth mindset, unwavering grit, and an appetite for being constantly pushed beyond your comfort zone
• An ability to make difficult choices and to say “no” when necessary
• Proactive, entrepreneurial style; eager to take initiative in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
• Knowledge of finance, accounting, government, or other similar industry areas is a plus

Who We Are

DebtBook is an industry-leading fintech software platform that revolutionizes the way governments, higher education, and healthcare organizations and their finance teams manage debt and leases, empowering them to provide more and better services to their communities.

Why DebtBook

At DebtBook, we dream big, move fast, make an impact, and bring joy to everything we do. Our core values drive our success as an organization, and we are looking for talented teammates who share our passion for challenging the status quo, innovating in all we do, and wanting to make a difference. We are growing fast, but our people aren’t just a number — everybody has the opportunity to shape our culture and the future of the company.

Empowered to Thrive

We want our employees to do meaningful and engaging work, and we offer benefits and perks that support their well-being and make their lives better, both in and out of the office.

• Be an Owner: On top of your salary and bonuses, every employee receives equity in the form of options at the time of hire with an opportunity to earn more throughout their tenure according to a structured plan.
• Take Time to Recharge: We do our best work when we have work-life balance, and that includes self-managed PTO, flexible work hours, and generous leave policies.
• Live Well: Keep your family covered with health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Excel at Work: We provide top-of-the-line equipment and even stipends for remote workers to set up their ideal work space.
• Grow Your Career: You aren’t just here to do a job — with Lunch & Learns, professional development, formalized career paths, and opportunities to engage with industry leaders, you are empowered to take your career to the next level.
• Build a Community: Our work environment is results-focused, and we celebrate our successes as a team, whether it’s in-office coffee and donut breaks, happy hours at the local brewery, or taking on the leadership team in a friendly game of bowling.

DebtBook is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on basis of disability.