Principal Designer Jobs
Principal Designer jobs are open across tech, fintech, healthcare, consumer goods, and agencies, from senior individual contributor to staff and distinguished levels, with specializations in product design, design systems, and UX strategy. Find a role that fits from the openings below and apply directly.
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Showing 5 of 162+ Principal Designer jobs
REI is a different kind of company. As a co-op, we put purpose before profits and act in the long-term interests of our members. We believe time outside is fundamental to a life well lived, and as a member of the User Experience team, you’ll contribute to REI’s mission to connect every person to the power of the outdoors and engage them in the fight to protect it.
The User Experience (product/platform) team is looking for a Principal Digital Product Designer. In this role, you play a critical role in shaping high‑impact digital experiences across REI’s desktop, mobile, web, and native experiences. You help define product direction, contribute deep craft, and partner closely with product, engineering, research, and brand to deliver work that’s thoughtful, human, inclusive, and aligned with REI’s mission.
In this role, you play a critical role in shaping high‑impact digital experiences across REI’s platforms. You help define product direction, contribute deep craft, and partner closely with product, engineering, research, and brand to deliver work that’s thoughtful, human, inclusive, and aligned with REI’s mission.
You’ll operate as both a lead designer and a cross‑functional partner—comfortable zooming out to long‑term vision and zooming in to hands‑on execution. You’ll guide teams through ambiguity, elevate design quality, influence strategy, and connect work across journeys and systems. You also help support and mentor designers without having full organizational leadership responsibilities.
Candidates must be proactive, responsive, flexible, and able to succeed in a fast-paced, transforming, collaborative environment without supervision.
Responsibilities:
Your Planning & Navigating Requirements (the plans the job is responsible for creating and executing, and how the job ensures they are implemented)
Discovers and frames ambiguous problems and drives solutions for one or more critical products or strategic projects on digital platforms- Craft artifacts that communicate solutions. Including implementation of prototypes, mockups, task analysis, usability studies, personas, user flows, wireframes, style guides, navigational structures, and affinity diagrams
- Identifies and leads building out design standards and patterns, style guides, and frameworks for our design systems
- Leads new design standards and practices, in collaboration with product, marketing, and engineering teams
- Facilitate collaboration with various product managers, engineers, analytics, research, and ensures that the customer’s desires are being fulfilled
- Contribute to task & dependency analysis, scheduling, and risk mitigation plans
- Champions user research, leads both generative & evaluative User Experience research
- Provide mentorship and coaching to grow team
- Evangelizes design best practices while uncovering novel and unexpected solutions
Required Skills & Experience
- 10+ years’ experience in User Experience, interaction design, information architect, Service design or similar plus.
- 3+ years leading projects/mentoring teams.
- Native mobile design expertise (iOS & Android) with a proven focus on adaptive experiences, responsive layouts, and comprehensive mobile design systems.
- Experience in leadership, collaboration, communicating and influencing design strategy.
- Excellent problem-solving skills and familiarity with technical constraints and limitations when designing for platforms.
- Proficient at building and shipping features/products at a department level, leading the end-to-end experience across a variety of platforms.
- Demonstrable track record in leading strategic thinking across a large product space, developing product goals, identifying opportunities and outcomes while continuously developing relationships with cross-functional peers.
- Experience at developing design standards, patterns, style guides, best practices, and frameworks which are accessible and utilize human-centered methodologies.
- Experience presenting work to executives, clearly and succinctly articulating the goals and concepts.
- A portfolio demonstrating excellent User Experience design skills for solving complex problems with clear results.
- Bachelor’s degree in Design, HCI, Interaction or similar area, or equivalent practical experience.
- Actively participates and collaborates with others on one's own team and across REI for the achievement of business goals.
- Flexible in one's viewpoints and positions in order to support the direction taken by others at REI.
- Uses business knowledge, innovative thinking, and sound judgment in the solution of problems or the pursuit of business opportunities.
- Consolidates information from various sources including feedback from others to reach sound decisions.
- Considers the ultimate impact of decisions and actions on internal and external customers.
- Works smart by setting effective work goals, establishing priorities, and planning well in order to produce quality work.
- Executes effectively by using resources efficiently, meeting deadlines, and keeping others informed of work plans and progress toward goals.
- Clearly conveys and accurately receives information by a variety of methods and in various situations.
- Builds rapport with all kinds of people inside and outside the organization.
- Acts upon opportunities and involves and influences others in the accomplishment of worthwhile organizational goals.
- Challenges the status quo, champions change and influences others to change.
- Builds capacity of individuals and teams through effective employee development, involvement, communication, and supervision efforts.
- Creates a strong, mutually supportive work spirit and culture where people can do their best.
- Establishes trust and inspires others.
- Makes effective organization and people decisions in a manner consistent with REI's values and ethics.
- Delivers on commitments and holds others to same.
- Champions the organization and advocates solutions in the overall Company's best interest.
- Fosters change in company direction.
- Effectively plans and executes changes.
Preferred Skills & Experience
- Previous experience supporting retail industry or e-commerce apps and sites.
- Experience in a highly agile/scrum environment.
- Excellent communication and presentation skill
Pay Transparency
REI is a different kind of company. As a co-op, we put purpose before profits and act in the long-term interests of our members. We believe time outside is fundamental to a life well lived, and as a member of the User Experience team, you’ll contribute to REI’s mission to connect every person to the power of the outdoors and engage them in the fight to protect it.
The User Experience (product/platform) team is looking for a Principal Digital Product Designer. In this role, you play a critical role in shaping high‑impact digital experiences across REI’s desktop, mobile, web, and native experiences. You help define product direction, contribute deep craft, and partner closely with product, engineering, research, and brand to deliver work that’s thoughtful, human, inclusive, and aligned with REI’s mission.
In this role, you play a critical role in shaping high‑impact digital experiences across REI’s platforms. You help define product direction, contribute deep craft, and partner closely with product, engineering, research, and brand to deliver work that’s thoughtful, human, inclusive, and aligned with REI’s mission.
You’ll operate as both a lead designer and a cross‑functional partner—comfortable zooming out to long‑term vision and zooming in to hands‑on execution. You’ll guide teams through ambiguity, elevate design quality, influence strategy, and connect work across journeys and systems. You also help support and mentor designers without having full organizational leadership responsibilities.
Candidates must be proactive, responsive, flexible, and able to succeed in a fast-paced, transforming, collaborative environment without supervision.
Responsibilities:
Your Planning & Navigating Requirements (the plans the job is responsible for creating and executing, and how the job ensures they are implemented)
Discovers and frames ambiguous problems and drives solutions for one or more critical products or strategic projects on digital platforms- Craft artifacts that communicate solutions. Including implementation of prototypes, mockups, task analysis, usability studies, personas, user flows, wireframes, style guides, navigational structures, and affinity diagrams
- Identifies and leads building out design standards and patterns, style guides, and frameworks for our design systems
- Leads new design standards and practices, in collaboration with product, marketing, and engineering teams
- Facilitate collaboration with various product managers, engineers, analytics, research, and ensures that the customer’s desires are being fulfilled
- Contribute to task & dependency analysis, scheduling, and risk mitigation plans
- Champions user research, leads both generative & evaluative User Experience research
- Provide mentorship and coaching to grow team
- Evangelizes design best practices while uncovering novel and unexpected solutions
Required Skills & Experience
- 10+ years’ experience in User Experience, interaction design, information architect, Service design or similar plus.
- 3+ years leading projects/mentoring teams.
- Native mobile design expertise (iOS & Android) with a proven focus on adaptive experiences, responsive layouts, and comprehensive mobile design systems.
- Experience in leadership, collaboration, communicating and influencing design strategy.
- Excellent problem-solving skills and familiarity with technical constraints and limitations when designing for platforms.
- Proficient at building and shipping features/products at a department level, leading the end-to-end experience across a variety of platforms.
- Demonstrable track record in leading strategic thinking across a large product space, developing product goals, identifying opportunities and outcomes while continuously developing relationships with cross-functional peers.
- Experience at developing design standards, patterns, style guides, best practices, and frameworks which are accessible and utilize human-centered methodologies.
- Experience presenting work to executives, clearly and succinctly articulating the goals and concepts.
- A portfolio demonstrating excellent User Experience design skills for solving complex problems with clear results.
- Bachelor’s degree in Design, HCI, Interaction or similar area, or equivalent practical experience.
- Actively participates and collaborates with others on one's own team and across REI for the achievement of business goals.
- Flexible in one's viewpoints and positions in order to support the direction taken by others at REI.
- Uses business knowledge, innovative thinking, and sound judgment in the solution of problems or the pursuit of business opportunities.
- Consolidates information from various sources including feedback from others to reach sound decisions.
- Considers the ultimate impact of decisions and actions on internal and external customers.
- Works smart by setting effective work goals, establishing priorities, and planning well in order to produce quality work.
- Executes effectively by using resources efficiently, meeting deadlines, and keeping others informed of work plans and progress toward goals.
- Clearly conveys and accurately receives information by a variety of methods and in various situations.
- Builds rapport with all kinds of people inside and outside the organization.
- Acts upon opportunities and involves and influences others in the accomplishment of worthwhile organizational goals.
- Challenges the status quo, champions change and influences others to change.
- Builds capacity of individuals and teams through effective employee development, involvement, communication, and supervision efforts.
- Creates a strong, mutually supportive work spirit and culture where people can do their best.
- Establishes trust and inspires others.
- Makes effective organization and people decisions in a manner consistent with REI's values and ethics.
- Delivers on commitments and holds others to same.
- Champions the organization and advocates solutions in the overall Company's best interest.
- Fosters change in company direction.
- Effectively plans and executes changes.
Preferred Skills & Experience
- Previous experience supporting retail industry or e-commerce apps and sites.
- Experience in a highly agile/scrum environment.
- Excellent communication and presentation skill
Pay Transparency
Principal Designer Jobs by Experience Level
See All 162+ Principal Designer Jobs
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Find Principal Designer JobsPrincipal Designer Job Market
Who's Hiring
- Worley12
- Amazon9
- Fluor8
- CHA Consulting8
- Amazon Web Services6
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software29
- Consulting & Professional Services26
- Retail6
- Electronics & Hardware5
- Education4
What Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in principal designer jobs.
- 8 or more years of product or UX design experience with increasing responsibility
- Expert proficiency in Figma including component libraries and design system maintenance
- Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional design projects from discovery to launch
- Strong portfolio showing systems-level thinking and measurable product outcomes
- Experience mentoring or coaching mid-level and senior designers
- Bachelor's degree in design, HCI, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
Tips for Your Principal Designer Job Search
Prove your design leadership on paper
Your resume needs to show decisions made, not just deliverables shipped. Call out moments you defined the design direction, mentored junior designers, or influenced product strategy, those distinctions separate principal-level candidates from senior ones.
Build a portfolio around systems thinking
Hiring teams for principal roles want to see how you think at scale. Include at least one case study where you created or evolved a design system, set team-wide standards, or resolved cross-functional design conflicts that had real product impact.
Apply early to roles that fit
Migrate Mate lists principal designer openings from across the United States in one place, so you can find roles that match and apply directly to each listing.
Filter by org structure before you apply
Principal designer roles vary wildly: some are pure craft leads with no reports, others own a design vertical with three or four direct reports. Read the job description for headcount ownership and reporting lines so you're not surprised in the first interview.
Prepare a point of view for the portfolio review
Most principal designer interviews include a work critique or portfolio walkthrough where you're expected to defend tradeoffs. Practice articulating why you made specific system or interaction decisions, not just what you made, interviewers probe for design rationale, not aesthetics.
Negotiate title and scope together
At the principal level, title inflation is common across companies. When an offer arrives, ask directly how many product teams the role supports and whether the principal has final design approval or an advisory role, scope often matters more than the title itself.
Principal Designer Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
Which companies are hiring the most principal designers?
The companies hiring the most principal designers right now include Worley, Amazon, and Fluor, with the largest share of openings in California, Texas, and New York, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of August 2026. Demand is concentrated at mid-to-large tech companies, healthcare platforms, and enterprise software firms.
How many principal designer jobs are remote?
About 48% of principal designer openings are fully remote or hybrid as of August 2026, making it one of the more flexible roles at senior levels. Design systems and UX strategy work tend to attract the highest share of fully remote postings, while roles requiring close collaboration with hardware or physical product teams lean toward on-site or hybrid.
How do you become a principal designer?
You typically move into a principal designer role by first building deep craft expertise as a senior designer, then taking on scope that goes beyond your immediate product team. That means leading cross-functional initiatives, establishing design standards others follow, and consistently influencing product decisions at the strategic level. Most companies also expect you to mentor junior and mid-level designers before making the case for a principal title.
Can you get hired as a principal designer without prior principal experience?
Yes, but you need to demonstrate principal-level impact in your current or most recent role even if the title didn't match. Hiring managers look for evidence you've driven design direction across multiple teams, created systems or standards with lasting organizational impact, and operated without close supervision. A portfolio that documents cross-functional leadership and measurable product outcomes compensates for a missing title on your resume.
What does the principal designer interview process look like?
Most principal designer interview processes run four to six rounds and include a recruiter screen, a hiring manager conversation focused on scope and leadership style, a portfolio or case study presentation to a cross-functional panel, and one or more design critique or whiteboard sessions. Later rounds often involve conversations with product directors or VPs to assess strategic alignment. References and a take-home design challenge appear at some companies but are less common at this level.
Where can I find and apply to principal designer jobs?
You can find and apply to principal designer jobs on Migrate Mate, which lists current openings from across the United States. Find roles that match your experience and specialization, then apply directly to each listing from the page.
See All 162+ Principal Designer Jobs
Find roles that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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