Principal Product Design Lead

$137,600 - $294,000/Yr

Microsoft - Mountain View, CA

Full-time - Principal

Hybrid - Mountain View, CA

5,001-10,000 employees

Publishing Industries

About the position

The Principal Product Design Lead at Microsoft AI is responsible for driving the design vision and execution of innovative consumer products, specifically focusing on the AI Companion, Copilot. This role combines leadership with hands-on design work, requiring a blend of creativity, empathy, and technical expertise to craft exceptional user experiences. The position emphasizes collaboration within a fast-paced, design-driven environment, aiming to deliver high-quality, impactful AI applications that resonate with users.

Responsibilities

• Ship world-class AI applications that delight consumers with an emphasis on craft, quality, trust, and positive user and societal impact.
• Own a product area and be responsible for understanding user needs and behaviors, defining product requirements, managing end-to-end product development, launches, and iterations.
• Cross-functional communication and dependency management, scoping and scheduling, and seeing through implementation by collaborating with engineering through the finish line.
• Find your own path to get things done despite roadblocks to get your work into the hands of users quickly and iteratively.
• Set the bar for excellence and quality and hold the team accountable to that standard.
• Enjoy working in a fast-paced, design-driven, product development cycle.
• Translate business goals into strategy, user experience, and technical requirements in close collaboration with UX designers and AI model training teams.
• Define goals and performance indicators, set up and oversee experiments, measure success with data and research.
• Collaborate effectively and communicate clearly with cross-functional teams, including product managers, designers, and other engineers, to build exceptional consumer-grade applications.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 8+ years experience working in product or service design OR Master's Degree in the same fields AND 6+ years experience working in product or service design OR equivalent experience.
• A portfolio or work samples that demonstrate at least 5 years of experience designing world-class consumer products from vision through launch.
• Proven track record of setting design vision for innovative products that require bold thinking and risk-taking.
• Ability to break large bodies of work into a phased execution plan, and lead a cross-functional team from idea to polished implementation.
• Demonstrate high craft in design work; must value craft and translate vision into well-polished design prototypes.
• Experience that demonstrates proven ability to advocate for design thinking, effectively influence design outcomes, discover problems and tackle them in fast-paced and ambiguous environments.
• Experience diving into research and leveraging both qualitative and quantitative signals for design impact.
• Ability to own your work in a fast-paced, start-up-like environment, manage multiple priorities, and adapt to ever-changing requirements and deadlines.
• Proven ability to collaborate and contribute to a positive, inclusive work environment, fostering knowledge sharing and growth within the team.

Nice-to-haves

• Prototype-level engineering experience like JavaScript or Python.
• Experience prompting LLMs, working with generative AI, or an intense desire to learn.

Benefits

• Competitive salary range of $137,600 - $294,000 per year based on experience and location.
• Hybrid work model with in-office requirements three days a week.
• Opportunities for professional development and growth within the company.