This role is a rare opportunity to lead design for the heart of Ancestry’s product—the Tree, the Person Page, Merge, and Records—foundational experiences that define how millions of users engage with their family history. As Director of Product Design on the Engage team, you’ll be at the center of our most critical product surfaces, ensuring they work seamlessly together to deliver clarity, connection, and discovery. This is not just about optimizing what already exists; it’s about reimagining how these core experiences evolve as a unified ecosystem. It requires a design leader with a strong product sensibility, a systems-thinking mindset, and the ability to balance craft with scale. You’ll need to advocate across disciplines, align with senior stakeholders, and guide a team through complexity and legacy to deliver elegant, human-centered solutions. For someone who wants to shape the future of our flagship experience—and the legacy of the Ancestry brand—this is that moment.
What you’ll do
- Lead the design vision and execution for the Research team, ensuring cohesion and delight across the full customer journey.
- Partner across product areas and functions to eliminate friction, fill gaps, and ensure customers experience Ancestry as a rich, connected, and purpose-driven platform.
- Identify and prioritize key moments in the user journey that drive trust, retention, and discovery — and improve them through thoughtful product design and iteration.
- Collaborate closely with product, engineering, data, marketing, and customer support to ensure every touchpoint is aligned and intentional.
- Translate insights from qualitative research and quantitative data into actionable design direction, balancing creativity and clarity.
- Evangelize the customer journey internally — bringing a user-first lens to cross-org decision making and fostering a culture of customer empathy.
- Guide the creation of key design artifacts, including user flows, prototypes, wireframes, and visual systems.
- Coach and mentor a team of talented designers, helping them collaborate and grow as strategic thinkers and empathic customer advocates.
Who you are
- Extensive experience in UX or product design, including a track record of leading design in cross-functional, collaborative environments.
- Proven ability to move between strategic thinking and hands-on execution with ease.
- Deep understanding of end-to-end customer journey mapping and experience design.
- Experience leading teams focused on onboarding, lifecycle, navigation, and engagement.
- A strong foundation in human-centered design, with the ability to bring clarity to complex or unfamiliar spaces.
- Strong communicator and influencer who can align diverse stakeholders around a shared vision.
- Passionate about creating connected, high-trust experiences that put the user first.
- Bonus: Background in consumer subscription products, digital ecosystems, or identity-driven experiences.
Why Ancestry?
Join a dedicated team working to connect millions of people with their past and enrich their futures. At Ancestry, you will play a role in pioneering legal solutions that shape the consumer genomics industry. Your contributions will help foster and protect our workforce that is dedicated to helping our customers tell their own stories, while supporting a brand recognized and trusted around the world. We offer a collaborative workplace, competitive compensation, and the opportunity to make a meaningful difference.
Compensation
Ancestry values pay transparency and equity. As a signatory of the ParityPledge in Support of Women and the ParityPledge in Support of People of Color, we are pleased to share the base salary range for this position: $195,000 - $208,000, with eligibility for bonus, equity, and comprehensive benefits including health, dental, and vision. Actual salary will depend on location and experience. We will provide detailed compensation data for a specific location during the recruiting process.
*Note: Disclosure as required by sb19-085(8-5-20) and sb1162(1-1-23).
