Design Director, Product Design

We are seeking a Design Director, Product Design & Prototyping to join a growing digital design studio in New York City. This is a senior, highly hands-on role for someone who can define what a product should be, rapidly build working prototypes, and lead the product from early concept through design and go-to-market.

The ideal candidate brings a combination of product thinking, design judgment, prototyping expertise, and technical fluency. You may come from product design, product leadership, creative technology, or design engineering, but you should have a track record of defining and shipping real digital products and be comfortable building prototypes yourself using modern AI-assisted tools.

Responsibilities
Define digital products from the earliest stages, including customer problems, features, MVP scope, user stories, acceptance criteria, prioritization, and product roadmaps
Build high-fidelity, interactive working prototypes that bring product concepts to life quickly
Use AI-assisted tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, v0, Figma Make , and emerging prototyping technologies to rapidly explore and validate ideas
Translate early concepts into experiences that can be demonstrated to clients, users, and senior leadership
Partner with strategy, design, product, and engineering teams to determine what should be built and how it should work
Shape go-to-market thinking alongside the product, including target users, positioning, launch strategy, adoption, and measures of success
Lead designers throughout product development, setting the creative bar, directing critiques, and guiding the work from concept through execution
Create prototypes for client engagements, new-business pitches, and internally developed product concepts
Evaluate technical feasibility and collaborate closely with engineers to ensure concepts can translate into scalable products
Present product concepts, prototypes, and recommendations directly to executive-level stakeholders
Help establish new approaches to AI-enabled product design, prototyping, and innovation

Qualifications
15+ years of experience with significant senior-level experience across product design, product management, creative technology, design engineering, or related digital product disciplines
Strong track record of defining, designing, and launching digital products, not simply contributing individual features
Deep experience in product design and rapid prototyping
Hands-on experience building interactive prototypes using modern prototyping and AI-assisted development tools
Fluency with tools such as Figma, Figma Make, Claude Code, Cursor, v0, or similar platforms
Strong understanding of product strategy, MVP definition, feature prioritization, user stories, acceptance criteria, and roadmapping
Ability to think across product, UX, technology, and business strategy
Enough technical fluency to collaborate credibly with engineering teams, evaluate feasibility, and understand the difference between a prototype and production-ready technology
Strong design judgment with the ability to evaluate interaction, usability, and overall product quality
Experience leading and providing creative direction to product designers
Experience presenting and selling ideas to senior client and executive stakeholders
Experience within a digital agency, design studio, consultancy, product innovation team, or similarly fast-paced digital environment strongly preferred