Description
At Instacart, we're transforming the grocery industry by delivering an essential service that customers rely on to get their groceries and household goods. As a Senior Design Program Manager II, you'll drive operational excellence and programmatic execution across the Design organization, building AI-enabled systems, scaling critical processes, and managing the tools and vendor relationships that power our creative work.
Overview
You'll own end-to-end program execution for high-visibility design initiatives while building the operational backbone that enables the Design organization to scale. You'll leverage AI to automate workflows, manage critical vendor relationships, and create repeatable systems that translate our design, creative, and product strategy into shipped experiences.
Responsibilities
- Programmatic Execution: Drive end-to-end delivery of complex, multi-quarter design initiatives across Design, Product, Engineering, Marketing, Legal, Business Development, and other cross-functional teams.
- AI Enablement: Build and deploy AI-enabled workflows that automate program management tasks.
- Operations & Vendor Management: Own strategic vendor relationships and contract management for design tooling.
- Systems & Tooling: Champion team health through capacity planning, roadmapping, and resource allocation.
- Design Systems & Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner with the Instacart Design System (IDS) team to align programs with system evolution and component adoption.
- Design Craft Integration: Apply design thinking and product sense to program design.
Requirements
- 6+ years in program management and design operations within design or product organizations.
- Strong product sense and design craft sensibility.
- Experience with all stages of the product development lifecycle.
- Technical fluency to collaborate with design system and engineering teams.
- Proven track record driving complex, cross-functional programs.
- AI fluency: Experience leveraging AI tools to drive efficiency and scale programs.
- Vendor/contract management experience.
- Deep knowledge of design and program management tooling ecosystems.