Senior Director of Product Design

Position Summary

Candid is a nonprofit that provides the most comprehensive data and insights about the social sector. We get you the information you need to do good. Candid currently has an opportunity for a Senior Director of Product Design. The Senior Director of Product Design leads Candid’s end-to-end product design function, shaping how users experience our data, products, and AI-powered capabilities. This role is responsible for design strategy, execution excellence, and team leadership across product design, visual and user interface design, and UX research—ensuring design is a first-class driver of product outcomes within Candid’s Product Operating Model (POM).

Position: Senior Director of Product Design

Reporting to: VP of Product

Supervises: Product Designers; Visual & User Interface Designer; UX Researcher

Schedule: 35-hour work week, Monday through Friday

Compensation: $165,000 - $225,000 (this range is for the NYC area and will be adjusted for other localities; additionally, factors like skills and experience will be considered).

Location: Remote. In-person attendance is expected twice per year during our annual, weeklong all-staff summits. Additional in-person meeting participation is expected at least once per quarter for senior leaders and at least once per month for the executive team. Staff not located in the NYC area are expected to travel for these meetings.

Benefits: Health insurance (medical, dental, vision), retirement contribution with additional option for a match, paid life insurance and AD&D, paid leave time (PTO, compassionate leave, volunteer, holiday, parental), short-term and long-term disability, pre-tax transit, flexible spending accounts, supplemental insurance, summer hours, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program eligible employer.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead Candid’s product design vision, ensuring design excellence across discovery, delivery, and iteration.
• Serve as a strategic partner to Product Management, Engineering, and Data leadership to shape product direction and priorities.
• Embed design deeply within Product Operating Model teams, ensuring user needs, business outcomes, and technical constraints are addressed holistically.
• Establish best practices for AI-enabled product design, including interaction patterns for recommendations, automation, summaries, decision support, and human-in-the-loop workflows.
• Ensure AI-driven experiences are intuitive, transparent, trustworthy, and aligned with Candid’s mission and values.
• Guide teams in designing for explainability, confidence, and responsible use of AI in user-facing products.
• Oversee the evolution of design systems, UI patterns, and visual standards across product and marketing surfaces.
• Ensure consistency, accessibility, and scalability across all digital experiences.
• Set a high bar for craft, usability, and clarity—especially in complex, data-rich products.
• Lead, coach, and develop a multidisciplinary design organization.
• Ensure user research and insights meaningfully inform product strategy, prioritization, and design decisions.
• Partner with UX Research leadership to integrate qualitative and quantitative learning into product development.
• Promote a test-and-learn mindset through experimentation and iteration.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Influence, Partnerships, and other stakeholders to ensure cohesive, aligned experiences across touchpoints.
• Act as a design leader and advocate across the organization, clearly communicating design intent, tradeoffs, and impact.

Requirements

• 12+ years of experience in product design, UX, or related disciplines, including senior leadership roles.
• Proven experience leading product design organizations in modern, product-led environments.
• Demonstrated experience designing and shipping AI-powered or data-intensive products.
• Strong understanding of product strategy, user-centered design, experimentation, and outcome-driven development.
• Experience managing and developing senior designers and researchers.
• Ability to operate at both strategic and execution levels.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder leadership skills.
• Willingness to perform other duties and special projects as needed/requested.
• Sensitivity and respect for racial, gender, sexual orientation, and cultural differences.
• Champions and represents Candid’s core values: We’re driven, direct, accessible, curious, and inclusive.

About Candid
Candid’s mission is to get you the information you need to do good.

The world’s problems are only growing, and change can’t wait. Nonprofits are needed now more than ever, but all too often their work goes without adequate support.

Candid makes it easier and faster for nonprofits and funders to connect in pursuit of solutions to change the world. Candid is where nonprofits find grants, donors find nonprofits that inspire them, and all can gain insights about the work being done for good.

Candid is a qualifying nonprofit organization as defined by the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. As such, Candid employees may claim their employment time on their PSLF application. We offer a competitive salary and excellent benefits. Due to the high volume of applicants we typically receive, we regret that we can only contact candidates we would like to interview.

For more information on positions available at Candid, please visit our website: Work with us

Candid is an equal opportunity employer. Candid provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.