BetterUp

Principal Product Designer, Core

BetterUp$230K — $285K *
Consumer Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years of product design experience in consumer/B2B SaaS with a focus on strategic roles.
  • Strong portfolio showcasing systems thinking and design execution across various stages.
  • Track record of leading impactful, multi-year design initiatives.
  • Experience in guiding senior product and engineering leadership direction.
  • Demonstrated understanding of scalable design systems and their foundational impact.
  • Familiarity with designing for intersections of human behavior and technology, particularly AI.
  • Exceptional communication and storytelling abilities to convey complex ideas.
  • Curiosity in AI tools' enhancement of design processes.

Responsibilities

  • Architect the design vision for BetterUp's core product experiences.
  • Drive design quality and set craft standards within the team.
  • Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Research to influence early roadmap stages.
  • Lead complex design challenges through clear thinking and a strong point of view.
  • Build scalable design systems for coherence across teams.
  • Mentor senior designers, providing constructive feedback for development.
  • Influence executive stakeholders to align design strategy with business goals.
  • Represent design in cross-functional planning sessions.

Benefits

  • Access to BetterUp coaching for personal and family support.
  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance.
  • Flexible paid time off to promote work-life balance.
  • All federal holidays and specific 'Inner Workdays' for personal well-being.
  • Five volunteer days to contribute to community service.
  • Learning and Development stipend for continuous growth.
  • Paid company-wide summer and winter breaks.
  • 401(k) self-contribution options for future savings.
Full Job Description
The Opportunity

BetterUp is looking for a Principal Product Designer to join our Design team and shape the future of human transformation at scale. This is a rare opportunity to work at the highest individual contributor level in Design-owning domain-level craft, strategy, and systems thinking across BetterUp's core product experiences. Reporting to the VP of Product Design, you will set the bar for design excellence, influence cross-functional direction, and help define what it means to build a world-class human-AI product.

What You'll Do
  • Architect the design vision for BetterUp's core product experiences-identifying the highest-leverage opportunities, defining the strategic direction, and ensuring continuity across complex, multi-surface journeys
  • Drive design quality and craft standards across the product, raising the bar for the entire Design org through rigorous critique, deep collaboration, and principled decision-making
  • Partner closely with Product, Engineering, and Research to shape roadmaps from the earliest stages-bringing design perspective to problem framing, not just solutions
  • Lead complex, ambiguous design challenges from 01 and 1n, navigating organizational complexity with clear thinking and strong point of view
  • Build and maintain scalable design systems and foundational patterns that enable speed and coherence across teams
  • Mentor and elevate senior designers, providing thoughtful feedback that develops taste, confidence, and craft
  • Influence VP-level and executive stakeholders with clarity and conviction, earning trust as a thought partner on product and design strategy
  • Represent the design function in cross-functional planning, helping align design investment with company priorities

What You'll Bring
  • 10+ years of product design experience, including time at a consumer or B2B SaaS company where design played a central role in product strategy
  • A portfolio that demonstrates exceptional craft, systems thinking, and the ability to operate across the full design spectrum-from early concept to polished execution
  • Proven track record of leading complex, multi-year design initiatives with measurable impact on product outcomes and user experience
  • Deep experience influencing product and engineering direction at the senior leadership level
  • Strong design systems sensibility-you understand how foundational decisions compound across a product at scale
  • Experience designing products at the intersection of human behavior and technology; familiarity with AI-native product patterns is a strong plus
  • Exceptional communication and storytelling skills-you make complex ideas clear and compelling to any audience
  • A growth mindset and genuine curiosity about how AI tools can enhance design craft and process


AI at BetterUp

Our team thrives at the intersection of human expertise and AI capability. As an AI-forward company, adaptation and continuous learning are part of our daily work. We're looking for teammates who are excited to evolve alongside technology - people who experiment boldly, share their discoveries openly, and help define best practices for AI-augmented work. These professionals thoughtfully integrate AI into their work to deliver exceptional results while maintaining the human judgment and creativity that drives real innovation. During our interview process, you'll have opportunities to showcase how you harness AI to learn, iterate, and amplify your impact.

As a Principal Product Designer, you'll:
  • Shape company-wide AI strategy in partnership with executive leadership, ensuring design's voice is central to how BetterUp's AI capabilities are built and experienced
  • Remove institutional barriers to AI adoption and drive cultural change that embraces continuous reinvention across the Design org
  • Serve as BetterUp's foremost design expert in AI-powered product experiences, with recognized internal and external influence
  • Directly contribute to competitive differentiation through breakthrough design applications that define market leadership

During our interview process, you'll have opportunities to showcase how you harness AI to learn, iterate, and amplify your impact. We encourage all candidates to share examples of how they've used AI tools in their work-whether Figma plugins, generative design tools, or AI-powered user research analysis.

Benefits:

At BetterUp, we are committed to living out our mission every day and that starts with providing benefits that allow our employees to care for themselves, support their families, and give back to their community.
  • Access to BetterUp coaching; one for you and one for a friend or family member
  • A competitive compensation plan with opportunity for advancement
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance
  • Flexible paid time off
  • Per year:
    • All federal/statutory holidays observed
    • 4 BetterUp Inner Workdays (https://www.betterup.co/inner-work)
    • 5 Volunteer Days to give back
    • Learning and Development stipend
    • Company wide Summer & Winter breaks
  • Year-round charitable contribution of your choice on behalf of BetterUp
  • 401(k) self contribution

About BetterUp

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, KCVO, ADC is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is sixth in the line of succession to the British throne. Born in St Mary's Hospital, London, Harry was educated at Wetherby School, Ludgrove School, and Eton College. He spent parts of his gap year in Australia and Lesotho, then underwent officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He was commissioned as a cornet into the Blues and Royals, serving temporarily with his brother William and completed training as a troop leader. In 2007–2008, he served for over ten weeks in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He returned to Afghanistan for a 20-week deployment in 2012–2013 with the Army Air Corps. In June 2015, he resigned from the army. Harry launched the Invictus Games in 2014 and remains the patron of its foundation. He also gives patronage to several other organisations, including the HALO Trust and Walking With The Wounded. To encourage people to open up about their mental health issues, Harry, alongside the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, initiated the mental health awareness campaign "Heads Together" in April 2016. In 2018, Harry was made Duke of Sussex prior to his wedding to American actress Meghan Markle. In January 2020, the couple stepped down as senior members of the royal family and moved to the Duchess's native Southern California. In October 2020, they launched Archewell Inc., an American public organisation that focuses on non-profit activities and creative media ventures. They have two children, Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.
Learn more about BetterUp
Industry
Founded
2013

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