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Senior Design Program Manager II

Instacart· Research & Design
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Hybrid (United States)$139k - $176kfull-timePosted 2w ago

About the role

Senior Design Program Manager responsible for driving operational excellence and programmatic execution across the Design organization, building AI-enabled systems, scaling critical processes, and managing tools and vendor relationships to power design work. Works at the intersection of design craft, technical operations, and strategic execution, partnering with IDS and cross-functional teams to deliver scalable programs and shipped experiences.

Responsibilities

  • Programmatic Execution: Drive end-to-end delivery of complex, multi-quarter design initiatives across Design, Product, Engineering, Marketing, Legal, Business Development and other cross-functional teams. Enable seamless cross-functional collaboration and predictable program outcomes.
  • AI Enablement: Build and deploy AI-enabled workflows that automate program management tasks—status reporting, resource tracking, documentation synthesis, and stakeholder communication. Champion AI fluency in Design to accelerate design-first thinking and increase operational efficiency.
  • Operations & Vendor Management: Own strategic vendor relationships and contract management for design tooling (Figma, prototyping, asset management, collaboration platforms). Negotiate contracts, optimize licensing spend, and ensure infrastructure scales with growth. Manage contractor/agency relationships and partner with Finance, Legal, and IT on compliance and cost efficiency.
  • Systems & Tooling: Champion team health through capacity planning, roadmapping, and resource allocation. Build operational metrics and tooling integrations that create seamless workflows across platforms.
  • Design Systems & Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner with the IDS team to align programs with system evolution and component adoption. Drive governance programs that scale IDS across product teams. Act as strategic partner to Product, Engineering, Marketing, Legal, and Operations. Translate design strategy into executable programs with clear visibility into progress and outcomes. Facilitate planning cycles and milestone reviews where design intersects with product roadmaps.
  • Design Craft Integration: Apply design thinking and product sense to program design—understanding user needs, designing operational experiences, and iterating based on feedback. Build systems that empower designers and product managers to do their best work while balancing flexibility with consistency, creative exploration with scalable patterns, and craft excellence with business impact.

Qualifications

  • 6+ years in program management and design operations within design or product organizations, with deep experience driving operational excellence and culture for design and product teams.
  • Strong product sense and design craft sensibility, with well-developed methods and tools for driving fluid programs forward into the market.
  • Experience with all stages of the product development lifecycle, launching products end-to-end.
  • (component libraries, tokens, documentation, cross-platform patterns)
  • Technical fluency to collaborate with design system and engineering teams—understanding 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 in fast-paced environments
  • AI fluency: Experience leveraging AI tools (LLMs, automation platforms) to drive efficiency and scale programs
  • Vendor/contract management experience: negotiating software contracts, managing relationships, optimizing spend, ensuring compliance
  • Deep knowledge of design and program management tooling ecosystems (Figma, Linear, Jira, Dovetail, asset management, prototyping tools)
  • Ability to drive organizational change and influence cross-functional partners—bringing clarity to complexity
  • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; comfortable presenting to executive leadership

Skills

Required:Program managementDesign operationsAI-enabled workflow designVendor/contract management
Last updated Oct 22, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
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About Instacart

Marketplace for grocery delivery and pickup

Instacart is the North American leader in online grocery and one of the fastest-growing companies in e-commerce. Instacart’s same-day delivery and pickup services bring fresh groceries and everyday essentials to busy people and families across the U.S. and Canada in as fast as an hour. Since its founding in 2012, Instacart has become an essential service for millions of families, while also serving as an immediate, flexible earnings opportunity for hundreds of thousands of shoppers across North America. The company partners with more than 350 retailers and delivers from more than 25,000 stores across more than 5,500 cities in North America. Today, Instacart is accessible to more than 85% of households in the U.S. and more than 70% of households in Canada.

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