Lead Product Designer (United States)

Come join our Design team

Our Design team is committed to creating industry-leading user experiences that help Karat deliver on its purpose of unlocking opportunity.

What you will do

As a Lead Product Designer at Karat, you'll drive major design initiatives that shape our product direction and user experience. You'll have significant cross-functional influence, setting standards and patterns that elevate our entire design practice. Your strategic thinking will impact both immediate product decisions and long-term design vision.

• Drive major design initiatives that span multiple product areas and significantly impact business outcomes, leading cross-functional teams through complex design challenges.
• Lead and scale our design system, establishing governance, documentation, and adoption processes that ensure consistency and efficiency across all product touchpoints.
• Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to integrate design thinking into organizational strategy and roadmap planning, influencing product decisions at the leadership level.
• Plan and execute strategic user research that informs product direction and business strategy, using data and analytics to measure design impact on business metrics.
• Mentor and develop designers across all levels while leading design critiques and establishing feedback cultures that elevate the entire team.
• Lead cross-functional ideation sessions for complex problems, creating solutions at the intersection of design, business objectives, and technology that advance design-driven initiatives.

The experience you will bring

• 7+ years of professional experience as a Product Designer, with demonstrated progression in scope and impact, including a portfolio showcasing strategic thinking and design leadership
• Proven track record of driving major design initiatives that significantly impacted business outcomes, with experience establishing design processes or standards in growing organizations
• Familiarity/experience with leveraging AI, automation, and emerging technologies in design, including creating AI-driven features with awareness of ethical considerations
• Demonstrated ability to influence product strategy and business decisions through design expertise, including experience leading cross-functional teams and building consensus among diverse stakeholders
• Advanced experience in user research methodologies and strategic research planning, with proven ability to balance competing priorities and make strategic trade-offs
• Expert-level proficiency in design tools and systems with experience scaling design operations, plus a strong understanding of technical constraints and development processes
• Proven experience mentoring and developing design talent across multiple levels, with strong communication and presentation skills for senior leadership and executive teams

This position is only available to candidates residing in the following U.S. states: CA, CT, Washington D.C., FL, GA, IL, KS, MA, MD, MO, NC, NV, NY, OR, PA, RI, SC, TX, VA, and WA. While our team operates 100% remotely, we are currently limiting hiring to these specific locations. Applications from other states will not be considered at this time.

Immigration sponsorship is not available.

Benefits of joining Karat in the United States

All U.S.-based offers include a competitive salary in local currency and Karat-granted stock options. We’re proud of our additional offerings, and highlight some of our team’s favorites below.

Benefits / Wellness:

Benefits are available for all full-time, U.S. employees

• Employer-sponsored healthcare (100% premium coverage for employees and 75% premium coverage for eligible dependents)
  • Medical (Regence PPO and HDHP available)
    • HSA employer contribution for those enrolled in the HDHP medical plan
  • Dental and Vision (Guardian)
• 100% employer-paid Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, and Standard Life Insurance
• Optional Life Insurance available
• Flexible Savings Account (Healthcare)
• 401(k) match of 4%
• 100% employer-paid mental wellness supportvia Spring Healthfor employees and eligible dependents
  • 10 therapy sessions per year at no cost to employee
  • 10 coaching sessions per year at no cost to employee

Time Off:

U.S. Time Off Policies

• Vacation:flexible policy for salaried employees and three (3) work weeks available for hourly employees per year
• Wellness (Sick Mental Health): three (3) work weeks available per year
• Karat ‘No Questions Asked’ Leave: one (1) work week per calendar year
• Other:Bereavement, Jury Duty, LOA, etc. available as-needed

U.S. Parental Leave: 24 weeks

• 16 weeks: full-out, full pay
• 8 weeks: “Karat Phase-Back” 20 hours per week, full pay

U.S. Holidays

• U.S. Holiday Schedule available here: 10 days
• Karat Summer Break: 5 days - July
• Karat Winter Break: 5 days - December

Originally posted on Himalayas