Lead Design Program Manager

Blink UX is the product design firm crafting your next breakthrough. We partner with ambitious companies like Amazon Google and NASA to create transformative products and experiences through strategy research and design. With headquarters and labs in Seattle and studios in Boston San Diego San Francisco New York City and Bengaluru we partner with clients around the world.

This opportunity is a part of Blinks Embedded practice which supports long-term opportunities with some of Blinks largest client partners.

Location: Remote- must be located in Denver CO or Seattle WA area

Duration: ongoing

What youll be doing

We are seeking a Principal Design Program Manager (DPM) to be the operating backbone for eComm Design. This person owns how design work gets requested planned tracked reviewed and delivered across web and app. They are equal parts program leader and systems builder: running high-visibility programs and our Experimentation & Growth sprints while also building the Jira reporting and review structures that keep 20 designers visible protected and shipping. This role will partner daily with Design Product Engineering Research and Marketing stakeholders - raising their hand when something needs to be called out not smoothed over. We are also looking for someone who uses AI in their own workflow and helps the team do the same.

Key Responsibilities

• Design Operations & Systems
  • Own the Jira operating model for eComm Design: ticket intake kanban board sprint planning status definitions sub-task rules and how blocked or stalled work gets flagged
  • Help maintain the team dashboard and reporting so leadership can see work in progress without needing a meeting
  • Drive story pointing and due dates on every ticket and coach designers and Product partners until it sticks
  • Track designer capacity spot overload and underuse early and help the manager make resourcing calls with real data
  • Run the ops cadence: check-ins ticket clean-up and audits
  • Document ways of working so process survives turnover and new teammates can get up to speed fast
• Program Ownership & Delivery
  • Lead design program management for major initiatives from kickoff through post-delivery dev support
  • Run the working rhythm: daily design syncs UX x PM working sessions and weekly status updates
  • Translate cross-domain timelines (Product Dev Offers Biller QE) into design milestones handoff dates and clear risks
  • Keep design aligned with finalized requirements and call out early when design is running ahead of them
  • Manage scope by documenting the original ask and making mid-project changes visible and debatable
• Experimentation & Growth
  • Facilitate the Experimentation & Growth sprint cycle: check-ins grooming sprint review and planning and candidate prioritization
  • Keep experiment tickets tied to KPIs owners dependencies and outcomes so results can be found and reused
  • Help evolve a more outcome-driven experimentation process and how results are shared with leadership
• Stakeholder Management & Leadership Communication
  • Schedule and manage team Studio Reviews Director office hour reviews and Hot Sheet updates
  • Give senior leaders a clear read on status tradeoffs and asks and get decisions unstuck when they are waiting on one person
  • Run kickoffs that bring in Design early so designers are co-creators and not order-takers
  • Manage inbound requests: push back on side-channel asks set expectations on priority and hold the line on intake
  • Navigate disagreements between teammates and partners and surface tension instead of absorbing it
• AI Enablement & Workflow Innovation
  • Use AI (Claude Jira and Confluence connectors Figma) to speed up reporting status updates and admin work and own the accuracy of everything you send
  • Help design teams find real use cases for AI with a focus on building confidence and saving time
• Team Contribution & Influence
  • Act as a thought partner to the design manager on team health capacity and priorities
  • Partner with peer DPMs on shared practices and coach new DPMs and project coordinators
  • Champion the value of design visibility tracking and shared definitions of done across the team and partner orgs

What we are looking for

Required Skills & Experience

• 7 years of program or project management in a design product or technology environment with a record of delivering complex cross-functional work
• Deep Jira fluency: workflows dashboards JQL custom fields and reporting. Automation experience is a plus
• Proven experience designing and rolling out process or operating models not just following them
• Experience with Agile practices (sprints grooming story pointing retros) in a mixed team where not every pod runs the same way
• Strong working knowledge of design processes Figma design systems and UX terminology
• Confluence and documentation habits that keep knowledge shared and current
• Comfort presenting status risks and tradeoffs to Directors and VPs in writing and live
• Ability to work with ambiguity and juggle several large programs each with its own stakeholders and pace
• Working knowledge of AI tools such as Claude plus curiosity and a track record of helping others adopt them
• Strong facilitation and conflict skills: direct friendly and willing to name the issue
• Bachelors degree or equivalent experience. PMP SAFe or similar certification is a plus

$132000 - $145000 a year

Blink is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race color national origin religion gender age veteran status political affiliation sexual orientation marital status or disability.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process such as reviewing applications analyzing resumes or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed please contact us.

Required Experience:

IC