Via

Principal Product Designer, Transit Operations

Via • $200K — $230K *
New York, NY 10025In-Person
Transportation
5 - 7 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Extensive experience in designing and shipping complex digital products and platforms.
  • Proven ability to navigate ambiguity and lead product initiatives from concept to completion.
  • High standards for craft and product quality, especially in interaction design.
  • Strong communication skills to align and influence senior stakeholders across various teams.
  • High autonomy in defining paths forward in uncertain situations.
  • Strong collaboration skills with the ability to drive discussions.
  • A creative mindset focused on innovation and embracing new technologies.
  • Passion for improving transportation systems and community impact.

Responsibilities

  • Lead design for complex areas of Via's Transit Operations product, ensuring coherent workflows and scalable experiences.
  • Transform operational workflows and technical constraints into clear, purposeful user experiences.
  • Partner with Product and Engineering to define problems and facilitate thoughtful product decisions.
  • Understand user and community needs to align designs accordingly.
  • Utilize research and feedback for continuous product improvement.
  • Identify opportunities and provide clarity in ambiguous problem areas.
  • Elevate design quality within the Transit Operations and influence broader Design practices.
  • Explore innovative design approaches, including the use of AI in workflows.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health coverage including dental and vision options.
  • Generous 401(k) with company match and vesting.
  • Fully paid parental leave with options for extended leave.
  • Support for family planning, mental health, and wellness perks.
  • 20 days of paid time off (PTO) annually.
Full Job Description
We're looking for a Principal Product Designer to help shape the future of Via's Transit Operations platform - leading a core product area that powers how transit agencies manage and operate their services every day.

This is a senior individual contributor role for a designer who thrives on complexity. You'll take on some of the most challenging areas of our operations platform: deeply interconnected workflows, information-dense systems, and products used for hours every day by dispatchers and transit operators to make decisions that directly impact riders and drivers.

As a Principal Product Designer, you'll bring exceptional product judgment, systems thinking, and craft. You'll turn ambiguity into clear product direction and carry that direction through execution in close partnership with Product, Engineering, and leadership. Your influence will extend beyond the work you directly own - helping establish patterns, challenge assumptions, and raise the quality and coherence of the broader Transit Operations experience and Design organization.

What you'll do:
  • Lead design for complex and strategic areas of Via's Transit Operations product, setting direction across interconnected workflows and creating coherent, scalable experiences.
  • Transform complex operational workflows, business requirements, and technical constraints into experiences that are clear, intuitive, and purposeful. Move fluidly between systems-level thinking and detailed execution - personally carrying ideas from early exploration through polished, production-ready experiences.
  • Partner closely with Product and Engineering to frame problems, explore possibilities, make thoughtful tradeoffs, and drive high-quality product decisions.
  • Develop a deep understanding of the users and communities we serve, and design experiences that are tightly aligned with their needs.
  • Use research, data, experimentation, and customer feedback to validate decisions and continuously improve the product.
  • Proactively identify opportunities, bring clarity to ambiguous problem spaces, and create momentum where direction is unclear.
  • Raise the quality bar for Transit Operations and influence the broader Design organization through the strength of your work, critique, collaboration, and contribution to shared patterns and systems.
  • Help shape the future of product design at Via by exploring new ways of thinking, creating, and validating products - including leveraging AI as part of your everyday workflow.

What we're looking for:
  • Extensive experience designing and shipping complex digital products and platforms, with a portfolio demonstrating exceptional product thinking, craft, and the ability to create scalable solutions for sophisticated operational systems.
  • Proven ability to navigate ambiguity and lead complex product initiatives end-to-end, using strong product judgment to create simple, clear, and impactful experiences.
  • A high bar for craft and product quality, with deep attention to interaction, hierarchy, behavior, and the details that make experiences exceptional.
  • Strong communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to articulate a point of view, create alignment, and influence senior Product, Engineering, Design, and business stakeholders.
  • High autonomy and ownership. You're comfortable defining the path forward when the solution - or even the problem - isn't fully formed.
  • A strong collaborator who builds alignment across Product, Engineering, Design, and leadership, using clear communication, thoughtful critique, and influence to drive better product decisions.
  • A creative and curious mindset. You constantly look for better ways to solve problems, challenge conventions, and leverage emerging technologies to expand what's possible in product design.
  • Passion for Via's mission and the opportunity to improve how transportation works for communities around the world.

Compensation and Benefits:
  • Final salary will be determined by the candidate's experience, knowledge, and skills. Salary reflected does not include equity or variable pay, where applicable
  • Base salary range: $200,000-$230,000
  • Comprehensive health coverage, with low-cost dental and vision plans
  • A 401(k) with a generous company match and vesting
  • Fully paid parental leave for new parents, with extended leave options
  • Additional benefits (family planning, mental health, pet insurance, and other wellness perks)
  • 20 days of paid time off (PTO) annually

There has never been a more exciting time to be on the cutting edge of public mobility.

Ready to join the ride?

About Via

Via Transportation, Inc. is a global public transport, logistics, and TransitTech company headquartered in New York City. Via licenses its technology to cities, transportation authorities, school districts, universities, and private organizations to help build their own technology-driven transportation networks. It operates in partnership with over 400 local governments across more than 20 countries globally, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Brazil, Indonesia, Finland, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. In October 2020, Via acquired the logistics company Fleetonomy to accelerate its entry into the last-mile deliveries industry. In March 2021, Via purchased the transportation planning platform Remix for $100M to create the first end-to-end TransitTech platform for cities and transit agencies.
Learn more about Via
Industry
Transportation
Founded
2016
* Ladders Estimates

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