Design Program Manager at HashiCorp

Design Program Manager

  • UNITED STATES (REMOTE)

About HashiCorp

HashiCorp is the multi-cloud infrastructure automation company. Our open-source software is used by millions of users to provision, secure, connect, and run any infrastructure for any application. The Global 2000 uses our enterprise software to accelerate application delivery and drive innovation through software. We’re looking for a Design Program Manager who is enthusiastic about supporting operational strategy and evolving a holistic design process within a growing organization.

About the role

HashiCorp Design is made up of product design, creative design, user experience research, and design system specialists. Design operations is the glue that holds this diverse team together and the bridge that enables them to work seamlessly with their cross functional partners. We are looking for a natural leader to join our small and effective team. As Design Program Manager, you will provide broad support across the org from shepherding highly complex programs to developing working models for equally complicated team structures. The ideal candidate has a systems-driven mind, who is comfortable with experimentation, autonomy and ambiguity. You will be responsible for driving consensus across teams from multiple disciplines, and most importantly recognizing the integral role design plays in delivering on business goals and how design ops supports that mission.

In your cover letter, please include 1-2 paragraphs about your favorite project from any of your work or personal experiences, plus a few words to describe why HashiCorp is interesting to you.

We’re looking for someone with:

  • Experience executing design operations programs from scratch with a proven, measurable impact
  • Demonstrated command of the design practice and an understanding of when to adapt processes to meet the needs of the team
  • Experience balancing proactive planning with accommodating fast-moving new requests to meet business needs
  • Strong communication and diplomacy skills, possessing the ability to quickly develop rapport and establish productive working relationships across the company
  • Proven experience identifying the interdependencies of a project or program and managing the expectations of multiple levels of stakeholder groups
  • The ability to adapt and thrive in a rapidly evolving organization, showing eagerness to tackle new challenges as they arise
  • Experience working on a distributed team with designers from various backgrounds, disciplines and time zones

In this role, you can expect to…

  • Manage horizontal programs in support of the design org such as, but not limited to cross-team workflows, knowledge management, tooling, onboarding, employee experience, and UX research operations
  • Identify opportunities to build on and improve our existing operational models with an eye toward alignment with: product, engineering, technical program management, and marketing
  • Report on the status and health of programs with a keen understanding of priorities and when to escalate risks
  • Write, socialize and maintain documentation for programs and operational models
  • Work with Product Design Leadership to standardize methodologies for UX workshops
  • Utilize design thinking and principles to craft scalable solutions to common operational problems for designers – such as time management, inefficient meetings, decentralized communication, or lack of clarity around goals and requirements
  • Experiment with our ways of working, iterate small, measure the impact and share learnings with the design ops team to continue systemizing our processes

You may be a good addition to the team if you have…

  • Understanding of remote working best practices and methods
  • Knowledge of design systems
  • Past experience supporting user research operations
  • Understanding of goal-setting frameworks

Attributes we look for:

  • Ability to perform well given a high level of independence and autonomy
  • Self-motivated problem solver
  • Decisive management style
  • Highly developed soft skills in negotiation and empathy
  • Systems-thinking; seeing how work flows through an organization, and how to develop new processes to support cross-org efficiencies
  • Excellent written, verbal and visual communication skills