Design Program Manager

As Handshake’s dedicated Design Program Manager, you will be the operational heartbeat of our design org. You will partner closely with our Design team to implement processes that support quality, consistency, and clarity across our design practice, freeing up our designers to focus more fully on their core roles. You’ll take on the critical challenges we face today, including:Establishing and maintaining a design process with clear points of approval and decision making across squads and horizontals.Bringing structure and accountability to design systems governance (colors, typography, components, etc.).Supporting our growing design team with scalable workflows, rituals, and tools that increase efficiency and reduce ambiguity.What You’ll DoDefine and operationalize our design process—from intake to approval—to reduce ambiguity and create consistent moments for feedback and decision-making. Granular decisions like: who reviews what, when, and how.Establish and lead core rituals (e.g. critiques, sprint planning, team reviews) that foster alignment, feedback, and community.Bring structure to our design systems governance, ensuring components, styles, and standards evolve consistently across surfaces.Own tooling and documentation that increases visibility into design work, timelines, and dependencies.Create space for continuous improvement by identifying process gaps, inefficiencies, and areas of misalignment—and implementing solutions that scale.Champion operational excellence within the design team and beyond, helping us move faster without compromising quality.What We’re Looking For5+ years of experience in program/project management or design operations, ideally within a product design org.A strong understanding of the design process and how design integrates with product and engineering.Experience building and evolving operational systems from the ground up.Comfortable leading meetings, aligning stakeholders, and managing cross-team workflows.Excellent communication and facilitation skills—you bring clarity to complexity.Empathetic, proactive, and process-minded. You thrive in ambiguous environments and take initiative to make things better.Nice to HavePrevious experience with Figma, Linear, or similar design/project management tools.Exposure to or direct involvement with design systems governance like: process setting and stakeholder communication.Background in UX/design and experience working closely with Product and Engineering teams.Why You’ll Love It HereYou’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the operational backbone of a high-impact, mission-driven design team.You’ll collaborate with a team that cares deeply about craft, collaboration, and inclusion.You’ll help ensure every design decision at Handshake is intentional, scalable, and user-centered by building systems that support intentional, scalable, and user-centered design decisions.

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