Staff Product Designer, Growth

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Staff Product Designer, Growth

Company: Pinterest

Location: San Francisco, CA, US or Remote, US

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Product Design, Growth

Date Posted: June 16, 2025

Experience Level: Staff (5+ years)

Remote Status: Hybrid (Remote with quarterly in-office collaboration)

🎨 Role Summary

• Lead design initiatives focused on driving user growth and engagement through innovative social experiences and sharing flows on the Pinterest platform.
• Define and execute product strategy, roadmap, and design process in close collaboration with product and engineering counterparts within a fast-paced, data-driven environment.
• Mentor and coach other product designers, fostering a culture of high design execution and continuous improvement within the team.
• Champion a user-centered design approach, balancing speed and quality to deliver impactful product changes that drive both optimization and new feature development.

🖼️ Primary Responsibilities

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional partners in Product Management and Engineering to define the product strategy, roadmap, and iterative design process for growth-focused social features.
• Design and iterate on core sharing flows and content formats, optimizing for user engagement, virality, and meaningful connections on the platform.
• Manage feedback and align design direction with multiple stakeholders across Growth and Core product teams, as well as design, product, and engineering leadership.
• Elevate the standard of design execution across the team through rigorous critique, feedback, and guidance, ensuring high-quality visual design and user experience.
• Provide coaching, mentorship, and guidance to junior and mid-level designers on the team, supporting their professional development and growth.
• Drive results by ensuring the team efficiently executes on design goals, balancing speed and quality in an experimental and data-driven environment.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree in design, Human-Computer Interaction, a related field, or equivalent practical design experience.

Experience: Minimum of 5+ years of progressive professional experience in Product Design, with a strong portfolio showcasing impactful design solutions, particularly in growth-focused or social product areas.

Required Skills:

• Proven experience leading complex, metrics-inspired design projects with demonstrable impact on user behavior and business outcomes.
• Exceptional product thinking and deep expertise in UX design principles, information architecture, and interaction design.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and storytelling skills with the ability to clearly articulate design decisions, rationale, and the problems being solved to diverse audiences.
• Ability to define clear and impactful design strategies that align with overall product and company goals.
• Demonstrated ability to drive results and hold a team accountable for high-quality, efficient design execution.
• Experience balancing the need for speed and quality in a fast-paced, experimental environment, with a focus on both optimization and 0-1 product development.
• High level of self-awareness, a strong growth mindset, and a focus on delivering measurable impact through design.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience working specifically on social features, platforms, or products.
• Experience in metrics-inspired design or working directly within growth teams, utilizing data to inform design decisions and measure success.
• A portfolio that strongly emphasizes experimentation, data-informed design processes, and systems thinking in product development.

🎨 Portfolio & Creative Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase 2-3 in-depth case studies demonstrating your end-to-end product design process, from problem definition and research through ideation, prototyping, testing, and final implementation.
• Highlight projects where you successfully led complex initiatives, particularly those related to user growth, engagement, or social features.
• Clearly articulate the problem you were solving, your design approach, key decisions made, and the measurable impact of your design solutions on user behavior and business metrics.
• Present high-fidelity mockups and prototypes that demonstrate strong visual design skills and attention to detail.

Process Documentation:

• Document your research and discovery phase, including user interviews, surveys, data analysis, and competitive analysis that informed your design direction.
• Illustrate your ideation and iteration methods, showcasing sketches, wireframes, user flows, and how you explored different design solutions.
• Explain your validation and testing approaches, including usability testing, A/B testing, and how you incorporated feedback into your designs.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $155,652—$320,460 USD per year.

This range represents the base salary for this position in the United States. The final salary offered will be determined by a variety of factors, including location, relevant prior experience, particular skills, and expertise, aligning with competitive design industry standards for a Staff Product Designer role at a company of Pinterest's size and stage.

Benefits:

• Equity compensation, providing an ownership stake in the company's success.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans.
• Generous paid time off, including vacation, sick leave, and company holidays.
• Opportunities for professional development and continuous learning.
• Support for mental wellness and employee assistance programs.
• Retirement savings plans with company contribution.
• Flexible work arrangements (PinFlex) supporting a hybrid work model.

Working Hours: Full-time, typically 40 hours per week, with flexibility to accommodate collaboration across time zones and the creative demands of design work.

🎯Team & Company Context

🏢 Company & Design Culture

Industry: Software Development / Social Media / Visual Discovery. Pinterest operates within the dynamic visual discovery and social media landscape, impacting how users find inspiration and connect online.

Company Size: Over 11,000 employees globally. This size indicates a well-established organization with structured teams and processes, offering opportunities for broad impact and collaboration.

Founded: 2010. Pinterest has a significant history in the tech industry, evolving its platform and design approach over time.

Team Structure:

• The Staff Product Designer will be part of the Social Experiences team, reporting within the Growth organization.
• Expected to work closely with Product Managers, Engineers, Data Scientists, and other designers.
• The Staff level implies leadership within the design team, potentially guiding the work of more junior designers.

Methodology:

• Operates in a fast-paced, iterative, experimental, and data-driven environment, typical of growth teams in tech.
• Likely utilizes agile or lean methodologies for product development.
• Emphasizes using data and metrics to inform design decisions and measure the impact of features.

Company Website: https://www.pinterest.com/

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Design Career Level: Staff Product Designer. This is a senior individual contributor role, requiring significant experience, leadership in design, and the ability to drive complex initiatives with broad impact.

Reporting Structure: Reports to a Design Manager or Director within the Growth organization.

Design Impact: This role has a direct impact on Pinterest's core growth metrics by improving social connectivity and sharing, influencing how millions of users interact with the platform daily.

Growth Opportunities:

• Opportunity to deepen expertise in growth design, social product development, and data-informed design practices.
• Potential path to Principal Designer or Design Management roles within Pinterest's design organization.
• Exposure to complex technical and user challenges at scale, fostering significant skill development.

🌐 Work Environment

Studio Type: Hybrid model (PinFlex). This role supports remote work within the US but requires quarterly in-office collaboration, offering flexibility while maintaining opportunities for in-person team connection and intensive design sessions.

Office Location(s): Primary office in San Francisco, CA, serving as a hub for in-person collaboration when required.

Design Workspace Context:

• Hybrid model allows for focused remote work balanced with collaborative in-office sessions designed for brainstorming, workshops, and team building.
• Access to digital collaboration tools to facilitate seamless interaction with distributed team members.
• In-office environment likely offers dedicated design spaces, resources, and opportunities for spontaneous ideation.

Work Schedule: Flexible full-time schedule to align with team needs and personal work preferences within the hybrid model, accommodating collaboration across different US time zones.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Design Interview Process:

• Initial recruiter screen to assess basic qualifications and fit.
• Hiring Manager and/or team member interviews focusing on experience, product thinking, and collaboration skills.
• Portfolio review and presentation to a panel of designers and cross-functional partners, showcasing your design process and impact.
• Potential design challenge or whiteboard session to assess problem-solving and real-time design skills.
• Final interviews with design leadership and key stakeholders to evaluate strategic thinking, leadership potential, and cultural fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Select case studies that directly align with the requirements of a Staff Growth Product Designer role, highlighting projects with measurable impact on user behavior or business metrics.
• Structure your case studies using a clear narrative arc: Problem, Process, Solution, and Impact.
• For each project, explain your role, the constraints you faced, the trade-offs you considered, and your rationale for key design decisions.
• Quantify the impact of your work whenever possible using data and metrics.
• Be prepared to discuss your design process in detail, including how you conducted research, iterated on designs, and collaborated with cross-functional teams.

Challenge Preparation:

• Familiarize yourself with common design challenge formats (e.g., product thinking, feature design, whiteboard exercise).
• Practice articulating your thought process clearly and concisely while working through a problem.
• Be prepared to ask clarifying questions, consider different user needs and edge cases, and propose multiple potential solutions with their pros and cons.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Design Tools:

• Likely utilizes industry-standard design tools such as Figma, Sketch, or Adobe Creative Suite for UI design, prototyping, and collaboration. Proficiency in Figma is highly probable given current industry trends.
• Experience with advanced prototyping tools for demonstrating complex interactions and user flows.

Collaboration & Handoff:

• Utilizes collaboration platforms like Slack, Zoom, or Google Meet for communication and remote collaboration.
• Employs handoff tools such as Zeplin or InVision Inspect for seamless collaboration with engineering teams, providing detailed design specifications and assets.
• Experience with design system management tools for maintaining consistency and scalability across the platform.

Research & Testing:

• Familiarity with user research platforms and methodologies (e.g., user interviews, usability testing tools).
• Experience with A/B testing frameworks and analytics platforms (e.g., Amplitude, Google Analytics, internal tools) to inform design decisions and measure impact.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Design Values:

• Emphasis on bringing inspiration to users and creating a life they love, which translates into a focus on positive and engaging user experiences.
• Values creativity, innovation, and experimentation in the design process.
• Likely fosters a user-centered approach, prioritizing understanding and meeting user needs.
• Encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing within the design team and across disciplines.

Collaboration Style:

• Highly collaborative with strong partnerships between design, product management, and engineering.
• Emphasizes communication and feedback, likely utilizing design critiques and cross-functional working sessions.
• Operates in an iterative and experimental manner, requiring open communication and adaptability.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Design Challenges:

• Designing for a massive global user base with diverse needs and behaviors.
• Balancing rapid experimentation and iteration with maintaining a high bar for design quality and consistency.
• Measuring the impact of design changes on complex growth metrics and attributing success accurately.
• Navigating stakeholder feedback from multiple teams and aligning on a cohesive design vision for social features.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Opportunity to work on high-impact features that directly contribute to company growth, providing significant learning in product strategy and data-informed design.
• Mentorship opportunities, both giving and receiving, within a strong design organization.
• Exposure to cutting-edge growth strategies and experimentation methodologies.

💡 Interview Preparation

Design Process Questions:

• Be prepared to walk through your design process for a significant project, explaining your rationale at each stage and how you incorporated user feedback and data.
• Discuss how you approach problem definition, user research, ideation, prototyping, and testing in a growth-focused context.
• Explain how you balance speed and quality in an iterative design environment.

Company Culture Questions:

• Research Pinterest's mission, values, and recent product launches, particularly in the social or engagement space.
• Be prepared to discuss how your design philosophy and working style align with a data-driven, collaborative, and experimental culture.
• Ask thoughtful questions about the team structure, design process, and how design impact is measured within the Growth organization.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Practice presenting your case studies concisely and compellingly, focusing on the impact of your work.
• Tailor your presentation to highlight your experience in growth design, social features, and leading complex projects.
• Be ready to discuss the challenges you faced and how you overcame them, demonstrating your problem-solving skills.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this design position:

• Submit your application through this link.
• Customize your portfolio to prominently feature projects related to growth, social features, or platforms, clearly articulating the problem, your process, and the measurable impact.
• Optimize your resume to highlight relevant experience, skills (especially product thinking, UX design, and leadership), and quantifiable achievements that align with the requirements of a Staff Growth Product Designer role.
• Prepare for interviews by practicing articulating your design process, discussing your impact using data, and formulating thoughtful questions about the team and company culture.
• Research Pinterest's recent product developments and strategic focus areas, particularly concerning user growth and social engagement, to demonstrate your understanding and interest.