Staff Product Designer - Design Systems

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Staff Product Designer - Design Systems Company: eBay Location: Portland, Oregon, United States / Austin, Texas, United States Job Type: FULL_TIME Category: Product Design / Design Systems Date Posted: 2025-09-18 Experience Level: 6+ Years

🚀 Role Summary

• This role is critical for evolving eBay's comprehensive design system, acting as a bridge between design vision and execution across all product touchpoints.
• You will be instrumental in defining and scaling eBay's visual and interaction design language, ensuring consistency and innovation for millions of users.
• The position requires a deep understanding of systems thinking and a proven ability to collaborate effectively with product, engineering, and design teams to implement user-centric solutions.
• This is a senior-level individual contributor role focused on driving strategic design initiatives and influencing product development through a robust design system.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the original listing is for a Product Designer role, the emphasis on "Design Systems" and the specific responsibilities clearly place this within a specialized operational function of Product Design. The role requires a strong understanding of how design systems operate as a framework for product consistency and efficiency, aligning with operational best practices in scaling design efforts.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Partner with cross-functional domain teams (product management, engineering, UX research) to understand product needs, align design system initiatives with business goals, and conduct thorough audits of existing product flows for consistency and potential improvements.
• Develop, refine, and maintain eBay's global design system, integrating visual design principles, interaction design patterns, and robust systems thinking to create comprehensive design guidelines, reusable components, and extensive libraries.
• Collaborate closely with UI/UX designers, front-end developers, and other stakeholders to ensure the effective and consistent application of the design system across all eBay products and platforms, while actively soliciting and incorporating feedback and research findings for continuous iteration and enhancement.
• Create high-fidelity prototypes and visual demonstrations to showcase the capabilities and scalability of the design system components and templates, ensuring they are adaptable to diverse eBay experiences and uphold a high standard of design excellence and brand integrity.
• Mentor and guide fellow designers on the strategic application and best practices of the design system, fostering a culture of shared knowledge and consistent design execution.
• Stay abreast of emerging industry trends, design tools, and front-end development technologies to proactively evolve the design system and ensure it remains relevant, efficient, and aligned with the latest design innovations and user expectations.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities listed focus heavily on process definition, standardization, and cross-functional alignment, which are core operational functions within a design context. The emphasis on auditing, creating guidelines, ensuring consistent application, and mentoring highlights the operational aspects of maintaining and scaling a design system.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience:

• Minimum of 6 years of professional experience in User Experience Design, Visual Design, Interaction Design, or a closely related field, with a significant focus on building, maintaining, and scaling design systems.
• Proven track record of successfully implementing design systems in large-scale digital products or platforms.
• Experience working within Agile development environments and collaborating effectively with engineering teams.

Required Skills:

• Demonstrated expertise in visual design principles, typography, color theory, and layout.
• Strong proficiency in interaction design, including user flows, wireframing, and prototyping.
• Advanced knowledge of systems design, component-based architecture, and pattern libraries.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to drive alignment across diverse teams and influence decision-making processes.
• Self-motivated and capable of independently managing complex projects while also thriving in a collaborative team environment.
• Familiarity with front-end development concepts, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, to inform design decisions and facilitate effective collaboration with engineering partners.
• High proficiency with industry-standard design and prototyping tools, particularly Figma.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with advanced prototyping tools within Figma, Proto.io, Rive, Play, or similar platforms for creating dynamic and interactive design system components.
• Experience mentoring junior designers and contributing to design team growth.
• Familiarity with accessibility standards (WCAG) and their application in design systems.
• Experience in e-commerce or large-scale consumer-facing platforms.
• Understanding of design system governance models and contribution workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: The required skills emphasize a blend of creative design expertise and systematic, process-oriented thinking. The "familiarity with front-end development" and "proficiency with Figma" are critical operational tools for this role. The preferred skills further highlight a need for advanced system thinking and collaborative process management.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio showcasing a minimum of 3-5 significant design system projects or case studies that demonstrate your strategic thinking, design process, and impact.
• Each case study should clearly articulate the problem statement, your role, the design process, key challenges encountered, and the measurable outcomes or impact of your work on the product and user experience.
• Evidence of your ability to define and document design principles, interaction patterns, and visual specifications within a design system context.
• Examples of collaboration with engineering teams to ensure successful implementation of design system components.
• Demonstrations of how you've driven consistency and efficiency across multiple products or platforms using a design system.

Process Documentation:

• Showcase examples of design system documentation, including style guides, component libraries, usage guidelines, and best practice recommendations.
• Provide evidence of your process for auditing existing products to identify inconsistencies and areas for design system improvement.
• Illustrate your workflow for creating, testing, and iterating on new design system components and patterns.
• Include examples of how you've facilitated design system adoption and provided support to product teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a role focused on Design Systems, a portfolio is not just a showcase of visual work but a demonstration of operational rigor in building and maintaining scalable design frameworks. The emphasis is on process, documentation, and measurable impact, which are critical for any operations-focused role.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $124,000 - $208,300 per year.

Benefits:

• Target Bonus: Opportunity to receive a discretionary annual bonus based on individual and company performance.
• Restricted Stock Units (RSUs): Potential for equity participation, aligning your success with the company's growth.
• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans to support employee well-being.
• Financial Wellness: Access to financial planning resources and benefits designed to support long-term financial security.
• Retirement Savings: Eligibility for a 401(k) plan, with potential company matching contributions.
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO): Ample paid time off for rest, relaxation, and personal needs.
• Parental Leave: Support for new parents through dedicated parental leave benefits.

Working Hours: Standard full-time work schedule, typically around 40 hours per week. While the role is on-site, there may be flexibility in daily scheduling, subject to team and project needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is competitive for a Staff Product Designer in the specified locations. The benefits package is comprehensive, offering a mix of financial incentives, health and wellness support, and work-life balance provisions, which are attractive to experienced professionals in design and operations.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: E-commerce. eBay is a global leader in online retail, connecting millions of buyers and sellers across diverse product categories. Company Size: eBay is a large, established public company with a significant global presence, indicating a structured organizational environment with opportunities for broad impact and cross-functional collaboration. Founded: eBay was founded in 1995. This long history suggests a mature company with established processes and a deep understanding of the e-commerce landscape, but also a continuous drive for innovation to stay competitive.

Team Structure:

• The role is within the OneExperience team, a comprehensive, cross-functional design organization.
• This team encompasses expertise in taste-making, strategy, design systems, visual design, experience design, content creation, and motion design.
• The Design Systems team specifically focuses on evolving the core design and visual language that powers the entire eBay experience.
• You will report to the Head of Design Systems within the Core Product Organization.

Methodology:

• The OneExperience team is dedicated to creating cohesive and innovative design solutions that enhance product consistency and drive innovation.
• A key methodology will involve leveraging the design system as a central component for achieving these goals, ensuring a high standard of design excellence across all platforms.
• The role will involve a strong emphasis on research, user feedback, and iterative design processes to continuously improve the design system and its implementation.

Company Website: https://jobs.ebayinc.com/us/en

📝 Enhancement Note: eBay's culture is described as customer-centric, valuing authenticity, bold ideas, and inclusivity. The OneExperience team's structure highlights a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to design, with a clear focus on operationalizing design excellence through a design system.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This is a "Staff" level position, which is typically considered a senior individual contributor role. It signifies a high degree of expertise, strategic influence, and the ability to drive significant initiatives independently. In an operations context, this means owning and advancing critical operational frameworks like the design system. Reporting Structure: The role reports to the Head of Design Systems, indicating a clear line of management within a specialized design operations function. This structure allows for focused mentorship and strategic direction from a leader experienced in design system management. Operations Impact: The primary impact of this role is on the efficiency, consistency, and quality of design across eBay's product portfolio. By maintaining and evolving the design system, this position directly influences the speed of product development, the scalability of design efforts, and the overall user experience, which in turn impacts customer satisfaction and business outcomes.

Growth Opportunities:

• Deep Specialization: Opportunity to become a recognized expert in design systems, a highly sought-after skill in the industry, potentially leading to Principal or Director-level roles in design operations or system design.
• Leadership Development: Potential to mentor junior designers, lead design system initiatives, and influence broader design strategy, building leadership capabilities.
• Cross-Functional Exposure: Gain extensive experience collaborating with product management, engineering, and research, broadening your understanding of the end-to-end product development lifecycle and operational dependencies.
• Strategic Influence: Contribute to the strategic direction of eBay's user experience by shaping the core design language that all products adhere to.

📝 Enhancement Note: The Staff level designation suggests a significant impact and autonomy, aligning with senior operational roles. The growth opportunities are focused on deepening expertise within design systems and expanding influence across the organization, characteristic of career progression in specialized operational fields.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is designated as "On-site," indicating a requirement to work from one of eBay's physical office locations in Portland, Oregon, or Austin, Texas. This suggests a traditional office environment that fosters in-person collaboration and team synergy. Office Location(s):

• Portland, Oregon, United States (97201)
• Austin, Texas, United States (78729)

Workspace Context:

• The environment is likely to be collaborative, with opportunities for direct interaction with design, product, and engineering teams on a daily basis.
• As part of the OneExperience team, you can expect a dynamic workspace where multidisciplinary teams work together to achieve cohesive design outcomes.
• Access to modern design tools and technologies, including Figma and advanced prototyping software, will be standard.
• The company culture emphasizes innovation and bold ideas, suggesting an environment that encourages experimentation and creative problem-solving.

Work Schedule: A standard full-time work schedule is expected, with approximately 40 hours per week. While on-site, there may be flexibility in daily start and end times, subject to departmental needs and team coordination. The focus will be on delivering results and contributing effectively to team goals.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement implies a structured work environment that prioritizes in-person collaboration, which is often beneficial for complex operational initiatives like design system development and maintenance.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will likely review your application and resume for relevant experience and skills.
• Portfolio Review: Expect a dedicated session to present your design system portfolio. This is a critical stage where you'll walk through your case studies, explaining your process, contributions, and impact. Be prepared to discuss your approach to problem-solving, collaboration, and design system governance.
• Design Exercise/Challenge: You might be given a design challenge or asked to critique an existing product flow and propose improvements based on design system principles. This assesses your practical application of design system thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Cross-Functional Interviews: Interviews with product managers, engineers, and other designers to assess your ability to collaborate, communicate effectively, and integrate the design system into product development workflows.
• Behavioral Interviews: Questions to gauge your cultural fit, leadership potential, problem-solving approach, and how you handle challenges, feedback, and teamwork.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly define the problem, your specific role and contributions, the design process, key decisions made, challenges overcome, and quantifiable results or impact.
• Highlight Systems Thinking: Emphasize how you approached scalability, consistency, reusability, and maintainability within your design system projects.
• Showcase Documentation: Include examples of your design system documentation (e.g., style guides, component specs) to demonstrate your attention to detail and process rigor.
• Demonstrate Collaboration: Be ready to discuss how you partnered with engineers and product managers, and how you addressed their feedback and technical constraints.
• Focus on Impact: Quantify your achievements whenever possible (e.g., reduction in design/development time, increase in consistency, improved user satisfaction metrics).

Challenge Preparation:

• Anticipate Design System Questions: Prepare to discuss your philosophy on design systems, how you measure their success, and how you advocate for their adoption.
• Practice Presenting: Rehearse your portfolio presentation to ensure a clear, concise, and impactful delivery within the allotted time.
• Research eBay: Understand eBay's current product offerings, user base, and brand, and consider how a design system supports their business objectives.
• Think About Scalability: For any design challenge, consider how your solutions would scale within a large organization and integrate with an existing or evolving design system.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process for a senior design systems role will heavily scrutinize practical application and operational management of design frameworks. Portfolio presentation and case study articulation are paramount.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: The core design and prototyping tool. Proficiency in Figma, including its advanced features for component creation, variants, auto layout, and collaboration, is essential.
• Advanced Prototyping Tools: Experience with tools like Proto.io, Rive, or Play for creating sophisticated, interactive prototypes that demonstrate complex component behaviors and animations within the design system.
• Design System Management Platforms: While not explicitly mentioned, familiarity with tools or methodologies for managing design system documentation, versioning, and distribution would be beneficial.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not a primary focus for this role, an understanding of how design system usage is tracked and measured (e.g., component adoption rates, impact on user metrics) is valuable. Familiarity with analytics tools used in product development (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) can provide context.

CRM & Automation:

• Not directly applicable to the core responsibilities of this design role, but understanding how design systems integrate with development workflows and potentially with project management or collaboration tools (like Jira, Asana) is relevant for effective cross-functional partnership.

📝 Enhancement Note: The technology stack is heavily focused on design and prototyping tools, with Figma being the central requirement. The emphasis on advanced prototyping highlights the need for a deep technical understanding of how components function and interact.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer Focus: A deep commitment to understanding and serving the needs of eBay's buyers and sellers, ensuring the design system directly supports a positive user experience.
• Consistency & Scalability: A dedication to building and maintaining a design system that promotes uniformity, efficiency, and scalability across eBay's vast product ecosystem.
• Collaboration & Partnership: A strong emphasis on working effectively with cross-functional teams, fostering open communication and shared ownership of design outcomes.
• Innovation & Continuous Improvement: A drive to constantly evolve the design system, staying ahead of industry trends and incorporating new approaches to enhance design quality and efficiency.
• Excellence & Craftsmanship: A commitment to high-quality design execution, attention to detail, and a passion for creating elegant and functional user experiences.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: The role requires seamless collaboration with Product Management, Engineering, UX Research, and other design disciplines within the OneExperience team. The design system acts as a unifying force for these collaborations.
• Proactive Communication: Expect to proactively communicate updates, gather feedback, and align on design system strategies with various stakeholders.
• Feedback-Driven Iteration: A culture of open feedback exchange is crucial for iterating on design system components and guidelines, ensuring they meet the diverse needs of product teams and users.
• Knowledge Sharing: An environment that encourages sharing best practices, learnings, and resources related to design systems and component usage.

📝 Enhancement Note: The team's values and collaboration style are centered around operationalizing design excellence through a shared system, emphasizing efficiency, consistency, and cross-functional alignment.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Scaling Design Systems: Ensuring the design system remains comprehensive and manageable as eBay's product suite grows and evolves. This involves strategic planning for component expansion and refinement.
• Driving Adoption and Consistency: Encouraging and supporting widespread adoption of the design system across numerous product teams, overcoming potential resistance or differing interpretations.
• Balancing Standardization with Flexibility: Creating a design system that provides strong guardrails for consistency while allowing enough flexibility for product teams to innovate and meet unique user needs.
• Staying Current with Technology: Keeping the design system aligned with rapidly changing front-end technologies and design tools to maintain its relevance and effectiveness.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Mastering Design System Strategy: Deepen expertise in advanced design system methodologies, governance models, and best practices for large-scale organizations.
• Industry Best Practices: Opportunities to attend industry conferences, workshops, and online courses focused on design systems, UX trends, and advanced design tooling.
• Mentorship and Leadership: Develop leadership skills by mentoring junior designers, leading design system initiatives, and potentially contributing to the strategic direction of the broader design organization.
• Cross-Disciplinary Learning: Gain insights into product management, front-end development, and user research processes, broadening your understanding of the product development lifecycle.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are inherent to managing and scaling a design system within a large organization, requiring robust operational planning and execution. The growth opportunities focus on deepening specialized knowledge and leadership capabilities within this operational domain.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach auditing eBay's current product suite to identify opportunities for design system integration and improvement?" (Focus on process, metrics, and stakeholder engagement.)
• "Describe a time you had to drive adoption of a design system component or pattern within a team that was resistant. What was your strategy, and what was the outcome?" (Highlight collaboration, communication, and problem-solving.)
• "Imagine we need to introduce a new complex component (e.g., a data visualization chart). Walk me through your process from concept to implementation within our design system." (Demonstrate your systematic approach, documentation, and collaboration with engineering.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about eBay's mission and its current product experience?" (Show your research and alignment with company values.)
• "How do you see the design system supporting eBay's goal of connecting people and building communities for economic opportunity?" (Connect design system strategy to business objectives.)
• "Describe your ideal collaboration with product managers and engineers when developing and implementing design system elements." (Assess your teamwork and communication style.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Focus on Impact: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your solution, and the measurable impact. Use data and metrics where possible.
• Tell a Story: Structure your portfolio presentations as narratives that guide the interviewer through your problem-solving process and design thinking.
• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals, prototypes, and documentation examples to illustrate your points effectively. Prepare to demo interactive elements.
• Be Prepared for Deep Dives: Expect detailed questions about your design decisions, technical considerations, and collaboration processes. Be ready to defend your choices with rationale.
• Tailor to eBay: If possible, subtly weave in how your past experiences and design system philosophies align with eBay's specific needs and brand.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should emphasize demonstrating a systematic, process-driven approach to design systems, coupled with strong communication and collaboration skills.

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📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Staff Product Designer - Design Systems position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on the eBay Careers website.
• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your portfolio clearly showcases relevant design system projects, detailing your strategic approach, process, and impact. Tailor your case studies to highlight experience with large-scale systems, collaboration with engineering, and driving consistency.
• Resume Optimization: Update your resume to prominently feature your 6+ years of experience in UX/Visual/Interaction Design, specifically highlighting your work on design systems, proficiency in Figma, and familiarity with front-end development concepts. Use keywords like "design systems," "component libraries," "visual language," "interaction patterns," and "scalability."
• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design process, system thinking, and collaboration strategies. Prepare to walk through your portfolio case studies with confidence, focusing on quantifiable results and your role in driving design system adoption and excellence.
• Company Research: Thoroughly research eBay's products, user base, and company culture. Understand how a robust design system contributes to their mission and business objectives, and be prepared to discuss your insights.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.