Senior Design Program Manager - Remote

About the Role

We're seeking a Senior Design Program Manager to join our team at Instacart. This remote position offers the opportunity to drive operational excellence and programmatic execution across our design organization, serving over 90 cross-functional partners. If you are passionate about transforming the grocery industry and thrive in a dynamic environment, this role is for you.

What You'll Do

• Lead end-to-end program delivery for complex, multi-quarter design initiatives across Design, Product, Engineering, Marketing, Legal, and Business Development.
• Build and deploy AI-enabled workflows to automate status reporting, resource tracking, and stakeholder communications.
• Manage operations and vendor relationships for design tooling, ensuring compliance and optimizing licensing.
• Establish scalable systems for capacity planning and resource allocation, implementing metrics that create seamless workflows.
• Partner with the Instacart Design System (IDS) team to align programs with system evolution and component adoption.
• Translate leadership vision into actionable operating models and run planning cycles to bring clarity to complexity.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in program management or design operations within design and/or product organizations.
• Hands-on experience with design systems concepts and modern product development lifecycles.
• Technical fluency collaborating with design systems and engineering teams.
• Proven track record of building and scaling operational systems in fast-paced environments.
• Demonstrated AI fluency using LLMs and automation platforms to streamline workflows.
• Vendor and contract management experience, including negotiating software contracts.
• Proficiency with design and program management tools like Figma and Jira.
• Excellent communication skills with experience presenting to executive leadership.

Nice to Have

• Experience building or scaling a design system across multiple product teams.
• Experience implementing AI-powered workflows for design tooling ecosystems.
• Success in translating leadership vision into measurable roadmaps.

What We Offer

• Highly competitive compensation and benefits.
• Flexible work environment with the option to work from home or any location.
• Equity grants for new hires and annual refresh grants.
• Opportunities for professional growth and development.
• A collaborative team culture that values innovation and creativity.