Senior Design Program Manager

Instacart

. Drive end-to-end delivery of complex, multi-quarter design initiatives across Design, Product, Engineering, Marketing, Legal, Business Development, and other cross-functional teams .

Posted 10/2/2026full-timeRemote • United StatesSenior💰 $178,000 - $226,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

Use this summary to align your resume positioning with the role.

Demonstrates expertise in program management and design operations, with a strong focus on AI-enabled workflows, vendor management, and cross-functional collaboration. Proven ability to translate design strategy into actionable programs while driving organizational change and optimizing operational efficiency.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Program ManagementDesign OperationsAI-Enabled WorkflowsVendor ManagementCross-Functional Collaboration

ATS Keywords

Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills

Product Development LifecycleDesign System ArchitectureComponent APIsDesign-To-Code WorkflowsOperational MetricsCapacity PlanningResource AllocationContract NegotiationAutomation PlatformsDesign Thinking

Soft Skills

Excellent CommunicationStakeholder ManagementInfluencing SkillsOrganizational Change Management

Tools & Technologies

FigmaLinearJiraDovetailPrototyping ToolsAsset Management Tools

Industry Keywords

Design OperationsCross-Functional TeamsAI FluencyOperational EfficiencyCreative Operations

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Drive end-to-end delivery of complex, multi-quarter design initiatives across Design, Product, Engineering, Marketing, Legal, Business Development, and other cross-functional teams
Build and deploy AI-enabled workflows to automate status reporting, resource tracking, documentation synthesis, and stakeholder communication
Champion AI fluency in Design to improve operational efficiency
Own strategic vendor relationships and contract management for design tooling, including Figma, prototyping, asset management, and collaboration platforms
Negotiate contracts, optimize licensing spend, and ensure infrastructure scales with growth
Manage contractor and agency relationships and partner with Finance, Legal, and IT on compliance and cost efficiency
Lead capacity planning, roadmapping, and resource allocation
Build operational metrics and tooling integrations for seamless workflows
Partner with the Instacart Design System team on system evolution, component adoption, governance, and scaling across product teams
Translate design strategy into executable programs with visibility into progress and outcomes
Facilitate planning cycles and milestone reviews where design intersects with product roadmaps
Apply design thinking and product sense to operational program design

Requirements

What you’ll need

6+ years in program management and design operations within design or product organizations
Strong product sense and design craft sensibility
Experience with all stages of the product development lifecycle and launching products end-to-end
Technical fluency with design system and engineering concepts, including system architecture, component APIs, design-to-code workflows, and technical constraints
Proven track record driving complex, cross-functional programs from 0→1 and scaling operational systems
Experience leveraging AI tools, LLMs, and automation platforms
Vendor and contract management experience, including negotiating software contracts, managing relationships, optimizing spend, and ensuring compliance
Knowledge of design and program management tooling ecosystems, including Figma, Linear, Jira, Dovetail, asset management, and prototyping tools
Ability to drive organizational change and influence cross-functional partners
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; comfortable presenting to executive leadership
Preferred: design systems expertise; AI-powered workflows for creative operations or design tooling integrations; translating leadership vision into roadmaps and operating models; hybrid/embedded team models; balancing hands-on execution with strategic oversight; using data and storytelling to influence leadership and secure buy-in

Benefits

Comp & perks

Highly market-competitive compensation and benefits
New hire equity grant
Annual refresh grants
Flexible work location through Instacart's Flex First policy