Product Design Manager

About The Job

At Build Ops, we’re building a groundbreaking software solution designed to empower today’s commercial contractors. From service management to project execution, we’re reimagining how our customers operate. Our team thrives on ambition, innovation, and collaboration—qualities we look for in every new hire.

What You’ll Do

• Own design outcomes for a defined portfolio of product areas, ensuring cohesive experiences across multiple teams, surfaces, and workflows.
• Partner with Product and Engineering leaders to shape portfolio direction, prioritize opportunities, and drive clarity on what "great" looks like.
• Translate ambiguous problem spaces into structured plans that create momentum, unblock teams, and improve decision-making quality.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of product designers, building strong growth plans and raising performance over time.
• Create a culture of accountability and craft excellence through clear expectations, consistent feedback, and high-quality design reviews.
• Build trusted partnerships with Product Management and Engineering, ensuring design is integrated early and consistently through delivery.
• Influence roadmaps and execution by proactively identifying risks, dependencies, and opportunities across teams.
• Establish and evolve design processes that increase speed, clarity, and quality without adding unnecessary overhead.
• Ensure design decisions scale through repeatable patterns, reusable components, and alignment with Build Ops  design system.
• Advocate for user research, usability testing, and customer feedback loops as part of the normal product development lifecycle.

What We Look For

• 7+ years of experience in product design, including 3+ years of people management with direct reports.
• Proven ability to lead complex product spaces and deliver measurable outcomes across multiple teams or functional areas.
• Strong portfolio-level thinking: capable of aligning multiple related initiatives into a coherent user experience and strategy.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, including the ability to influence without authority and drive alignment across senior partners.
• Demonstrated ability to break down complex problems and deliver simple, scalable solutions grounded in systems thinking.
• Strong communication skills: able to present clearly, give actionable feedback, and adjust message/tone/medium depending on the situation.
• Strong design craft fundamentals, with a high bar for interaction design, UX quality, and usability.
• Experience driving consistency through design systems, shared patterns, and design operations practices.
• Experience leveraging AI tools to enhance various stages of the product design process—from research and ideation to prototyping.
• Experience in enterprise software or vertical SaaS environments, preferred but not required.
• Familiarity with the commercial trades (HVAC, plumbing, electrical) and/or construction workflows is a plus.
• Familiarity with HTML/CSS and technical constraints that affect UX quality is a plus.
• Experience with tools like Figma, Dovetail, User Voice, and Jira is a plus.

Who You Are

• A strategic thinker and systems-level leader who thrives in a high-growth startup environment.
• A strong people leader who finds fulfillment in developing talent and raising the bar on craft.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity—you bring clarity, momentum, and operational rigor to complex product spaces.
• A connective force across teams, reducing fragmentation and ensuring work ladders up to a coherent customer experience.
• A self-starter with integrity, grit, and a strong work ethic who takes ownership and delivers results.
• Willing to travel up to six times per year for team gatherings and customer visits.

Compensation

• [$ - $ / year] salary + bonus (LA hub).
• [ CAD -  CAD / year] salary + bonus (Toronto hub).

What we offer

• Generous equity grant, become an owner in our company!
• Macbook computer provided
• A comprehensive benefits package
• Flexible PTO and hybrid work schedules
• Work from home stipend
• Hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, and Raleigh with hybrid work schedules and lunch provided for in-office days
• Company events like BBQs and team-building activities, both in-person…