Manager, Design - Systems & Infrastructure

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Manager, Design - Systems & Infrastructure

Company: Figma

Location: San Francisco, CA; New York, NY; United States

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Design Operations / Design Systems Management

Date Posted: 2026-08-14T16:47:44

Experience Level: 5-10 years

Remote Status: Remote OK (United States)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead and scale a team of designers dedicated to advancing Figma's internal Design Systems and Design Infrastructure.

• Define and execute a strategic vision for design foundations, tokens, variables, and component libraries to ensure product quality and coherence.

• Drive adoption of design systems and infrastructure improvements across product and engineering teams through deep cross-functional partnerships.

• Evolve the operating model for design systems, focusing on governance, contribution, and feedback loops for continuous improvement.

• Foster a high-performing team environment, emphasizing individual growth, technical craft, and leadership development.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a senior leadership opportunity within Design Operations, focusing on the foundational elements that enable product development at scale. The emphasis on "Systems & Infrastructure" and "Design Management" suggests a strategic role overseeing the architecture and implementation of design standards and tools that impact all of Figma's product suite. The "AI-enabled Design Systems workflows" mention indicates a forward-looking approach to design operations.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Team Leadership & Growth: Lead, mentor, and develop a team of designers specializing in design systems, foundations, tokens, component libraries, and internal tooling. Foster a culture of continuous learning and excellence.

• Vision & Strategy Setting: Define and articulate an ambitious vision for Figma's internal design system evolution, aligning it with the company's transformation and product suite expansion.

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Collaborate closely with Design, Product, and Engineering leaders to align on strategy, resourcing, technical direction, and successful adoption of design systems and infrastructure.

• Operational Model Evolution: Design and implement an effective operating model for the Design Systems team, including robust governance frameworks, clear contribution paths, efficient critique and review processes, comprehensive documentation, and feedback mechanisms.

• Adoption & Influence: Drive widespread adoption of design system components and infrastructure by demonstrating value, fostering trust, and balancing system coherence with the autonomy required by individual product teams.

• Infrastructure Development: Oversee the development and maintenance of internal tooling and automation that streamlines system maintenance, contribution, and adoption, potentially including token pipelines and design-to-code workflows.

• Organizational Representation: Act as the primary advocate for the Design Systems perspective in broader organizational discussions, ensuring design infrastructure keeps pace with the company's growth and product expansion.

• Quality & Coherence: Establish and uphold a high quality bar for all design system assets, ensuring consistency, usability, and maintainability across Figma's entire product ecosystem.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of people management, strategic planning, and operational execution. The emphasis on "evolving an internal design system at scale" and "leading the change required to drive meaningful adoption" points to a critical, transformative role. The expectation to "partner deeply with Design, Product, and Engineering leaders" underscores the collaborative nature and strategic importance of this position within Figma's GTM and product development functions.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong understanding of design principles, system architecture, and user experience is expected, often gained through formal education in design, computer science, or related fields, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience:

• Minimum of 4+ years in design management, with a proven track record of direct people leadership across multiple workstreams.

• Demonstrated success in hiring, coaching, retaining, and developing design talent.

• Experience evolving and scaling an internal design system within a complex product organization.

• Proven ability to drive adoption and manage organizational change related to design systems and infrastructure. Required Skills:

• Design Management: Expertise in leading and growing design teams, setting team direction, and fostering individual career development.

• Design Systems: Deep technical fluency with design foundations, tokens and variables, component libraries, and system architecture.

• Infrastructure & Tooling: Understanding of internal tooling, automation, and system architecture principles relevant to design systems.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Proven ability to partner effectively with Product Management and Engineering leadership on strategy, execution, and adoption.

• Change Management: Experience leading significant organizational change and driving adoption of new systems and processes.

• Figma Expertise: Deep, hands-on proficiency with Figma as a design tool and platform.

• Problem-Solving & Agency: High degree of initiative, ownership, and ability to drive clarity and momentum in ambiguous environments.

Preferred Skills:

• Direct experience applying or leading AI-enabled Design Systems workflows.

• Experience connecting coded component systems with design libraries and establishing design-to-code workflows.

• Building and maintaining reliable token pipelines for synchronization between design foundations and code.

• Experience creating internal tooling and automation to improve system maintenance, contribution, and adoption.

• A track record of building and managing shared platform or infrastructure services that other teams rely on.

• Leading large-scale system migrations or design-infrastructure transformations across a multi-product organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The qualifications emphasize a strong blend of leadership, technical design systems knowledge, and operational acumen. The explicit mention of "Figma expertise" is crucial, indicating that hands-on experience with the tool itself is highly valued, not just theoretical knowledge of design systems. The "plus" skills point towards candidates with advanced experience in platform engineering, automation, and large-scale system transformations, signaling a desire for a leader who can tackle complex, foundational challenges.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Design Leadership Case Studies: Showcase examples of leading design teams through complex projects, demonstrating impact on team growth, project outcomes, and operational efficiency.

• Design System Evolution: Present detailed case studies of how you've contributed to or led the evolution of a design system, highlighting strategic vision, implementation challenges, and adoption strategies.

• System Architecture & Foundations: Include examples demonstrating understanding of design foundations, token systems, and component library architecture, showcasing how these elements drive consistency and scalability.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration Examples: Provide evidence of successful collaboration with Product and Engineering, illustrating how you've aligned stakeholders and driven consensus on design system initiatives.

• Impact & Metrics: Quantify the impact of your work through metrics related to design system adoption, efficiency gains, reduction in design debt, or improvements in product quality.

Process Documentation:

• Design System Governance Frameworks: Demonstrate experience in establishing and documenting governance models for design systems, including contribution guidelines, review processes, and version control strategies.

• Workflow Optimization: Illustrate how you've optimized workflows related to design system contribution, maintenance, and adoption, potentially through automation or improved tooling.

• System Adoption Strategies: Document strategies employed to drive adoption of design systems, including communication plans, training materials, and feedback loops.

• Design-to-Code Integration: Showcase understanding and experience with processes that bridge the gap between design components and coded implementations, ensuring consistency and efficiency.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a role focused on Design Systems and Infrastructure management, a portfolio should heavily feature strategic documentation and evidence of process improvement. Candidates should be prepared to present not just visual design work, but also the strategic thinking, operational frameworks, and measurable outcomes associated with building and scaling design systems. The focus on "system architecture" and "governance" suggests that documentation of processes, not just final outputs, will be key.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $204,000 - $348,000 USD annually. This range reflects the senior management level, the critical nature of the role overseeing core design infrastructure, and the high cost of living in major tech hubs like San Francisco and New York.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Includes health, dental, and vision insurance.

• Retirement Planning: Offers retirement benefits with company contributions.

• Family Support: Provides robust parental leave and reproductive/family planning support.

• Wellness & Mental Health: Includes dedicated mental health and wellness benefits.

• Paid Time Off: Generous paid time off (PTO), including paid sick leave, holidays, and company recharge days. Exempt employees may receive flexible paid PTO subject to manager approval.

• Equity: Figma offers company equity to employees.

• Reimbursements: Cell phone and home internet reimbursements are provided.

• Lifestyle Spending Accounts: Additional flexible spending accounts for various lifestyle needs.

• Bonus/Incentive Plans: Eligible non-sales roles may participate in an annual bonus plan.

• Sales Incentive Compensation: Applicable for most sales roles (though this role is not sales-focused).

Working Hours: Full-time role, typically around 40 hours per week. The role allows for remote work within the United States, offering flexibility in how and where work is performed, though in-person onboarding is required.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is competitive for a senior Design Manager role in a major tech company and aligns with industry benchmarks for such positions in high-cost-of-living areas. The extensive benefits package reflects Figma's commitment to employee well-being and work-life integration, with specific provisions for family support and wellness that are attractive to experienced professionals. The inclusion of equity and bonus potential further enhances the overall compensation package.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Software / Technology (Product Design & Collaboration Tools)

Company Size: Figma is a rapidly growing company, indicating a dynamic and evolving environment with increasing complexity and opportunities for impact. The exact size is not specified, but it's implied to be substantial enough to require dedicated design systems and infrastructure management at scale.

Founded: Figma was founded in 2012, giving it a mature yet innovative market presence, known for disrupting traditional design workflows with its collaborative, web-based platform.

Team Structure:

• The Design Systems and Infrastructure team will likely operate as a specialized group within the broader Design organization.

• This role involves significant collaboration with Product Management, Engineering (particularly front-end and platform engineers), and potentially UX Research.

• Reporting structure is likely to be within a senior Design leadership hierarchy, potentially reporting to a VP of Design or Head of Product Design. Methodology:

• Data-Driven Decisions: Expect a strong emphasis on using data to inform design system strategy, measure adoption, and identify areas for improvement.

• Agile & Iterative Development: Figma likely employs agile methodologies, requiring flexibility, rapid iteration, and continuous feedback loops for design system development and maintenance.

• Systemic Thinking: A core methodology will be understanding how components and infrastructure interact, ensuring coherence and scalability across the entire product suite.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: Figma's culture is known for being collaborative, design-centric, and focused on innovation. As a leader in the design tool space, the company values quality, user experience, and empowering creative professionals. The "Grow as you go" value suggests a commitment to learning and development, which is crucial for a role managing evolving systems and infrastructure.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is a senior management position within the Design Operations and Design Systems domain. It involves direct people leadership, strategic decision-making, and significant scope over core product infrastructure. It represents a progression from individual contributor roles in design systems or design leadership roles with less system-wide responsibility.

Reporting Structure: The Manager, Design - Systems & Infrastructure will likely report to a Director or VP of Design, or a senior leader responsible for product infrastructure. They will manage a team of individual contributor designers. This structure allows for strategic alignment with higher-level design and product goals while enabling focused execution on systems.

Operations Impact: The impact of this role is profound, as the design systems and infrastructure managed are foundational to every product Figma builds. Success means enabling millions of users and thousands of internal teams to design and build with greater speed, coherence, and quality. This role directly influences the efficiency of Figma's product development lifecycle and the consistency of its user experience.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Expansion: Potential to grow into a Director or VP role overseeing larger design or platform teams, managing broader areas of product infrastructure.

• Specialization Advancement: Deepen expertise in areas like AI-driven design systems, platform engineering for design tools, or advanced governance models.

• Strategic Influence: Increased involvement in company-wide strategic planning, product roadmap prioritization, and defining the future of design tooling and collaboration.

• Mentorship & Advocacy: Become a recognized leader in the design systems community, mentoring other professionals and influencing industry best practices.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is a significant step for experienced design leaders looking to impact foundational elements of a major product. The growth potential is tied to scaling the team, expanding the scope of responsibilities, and potentially moving into more executive leadership roles within Figma or the broader tech industry. The focus on "systems" and "infrastructure" also offers a unique path for those interested in the technical and operational underpinnings of design at scale.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Figma operates with a hybrid model, allowing for remote work within the United States. While specific office details aren't provided, tech companies in San Francisco and New York typically offer modern, collaborative office spaces designed to foster creativity and teamwork. The company requires in-person onboarding.

Office Location(s): Primary hubs are San Francisco, CA, and New York, NY. Remote employees are based within the United States.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Spaces: Offices are likely equipped with open workspaces, meeting rooms, and informal areas to encourage spontaneous collaboration and idea sharing.

• Tools & Technology: Access to cutting-edge design and collaboration tools, including Figma itself, and potentially specialized software for system management and development.

• Team Interaction: Opportunities for regular interaction with design, product, and engineering teams through structured meetings, workshops, and informal communication channels.

Work Schedule: Full-time, with flexibility offered through the remote work option. While core hours may exist for team synchronization, the remote nature allows for some autonomy in structuring the workday, which can be beneficial for deep work and managing complex system development processes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid and remote-friendly (within the US) nature of this role offers significant flexibility, a key consideration for senior professionals. The requirement for in-person onboarding suggests a commitment to building team cohesion from the outset. The workspace context implies an environment that supports both focused individual work and dynamic team collaboration, essential for managing complex design systems.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will review your application and resume to assess alignment with the core requirements.

• Hiring Manager Interview: A deep dive into your experience in design management, design systems, and people leadership. Expect questions about your leadership philosophy, team building, and strategic approach.

• Portfolio Review: A dedicated session where you will present your portfolio, focusing on case studies that demonstrate your experience in managing design systems, leading teams, driving adoption, and impacting product quality. Be prepared to discuss your process, challenges, and outcomes in detail.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Interviews with key stakeholders from Product and Engineering to assess your ability to collaborate, influence, and drive consensus across disciplines.

• Team Interviews: Meetings with designers on the team to evaluate cultural fit, leadership style, and your approach to mentorship and development.

• Final Round: Potentially an interview with a senior executive (e.g., VP of Design) to confirm strategic alignment and leadership capabilities.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Impact: Quantify achievements using metrics related to efficiency, adoption, quality, and team development.

• Structure Your Narratives: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your approach, the solutions implemented (especially regarding systems and infrastructure), and the measurable results.

• Highlight Systemic Thinking: Demonstrate your understanding of how design systems, tokens, and infrastructure interrelate and impact the broader product ecosystem.

• Showcase Leadership: Explain your role in leading teams, mentoring designers, and influencing stakeholders.

• Tailor to Figma: Connect your experience and portfolio examples to Figma's mission and the specific challenges outlined in the job description.

• Prepare for Technical Depth: Be ready to discuss technical aspects of design systems, component libraries, and design-to-code workflows.

Challenge Preparation:

• Design Systems Strategy: Be prepared to discuss how you would approach developing or evolving a design system for a complex product suite, considering adoption, governance, and scalability.

• Team Development Scenarios: Anticipate questions about how you would onboard new designers, manage underperformance, or foster growth within your team.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Practice articulating how you would align design system goals with product roadmaps and engineering constraints.

• Stakeholder Management: Prepare examples of how you've managed competing priorities or influenced senior stakeholders on design system initiatives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is designed to assess leadership, strategic thinking, technical depth in design systems, and cross-functional collaboration skills. A strong portfolio that clearly articulates process, impact, and leadership is critical. Candidates should be ready to demonstrate not just design talent, but operational expertise and the ability to manage complex, cross-functional initiatives.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Deep, hands-on expertise is required, both as a user and in understanding its capabilities for design systems and infrastructure.

• Design System Management Platforms: Experience with tools that facilitate component management, documentation, and version control (e.g., Zeroheight, Storybook, or similar internal tools).

• Prototyping & Collaboration Tools: Proficiency in tools that support rapid prototyping, user testing, and collaborative design workflows.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Data Analysis Tools: Familiarity with tools for tracking design system adoption, usage, and impact (e.g., Amplitude, Mixpanel, or internal analytics platforms).

• Dashboarding Tools: Experience creating dashboards to visualize key performance indicators (KPIs) for design systems and infrastructure (e.g., Tableau, Looker, or Figma's own dashboarding capabilities).

CRM & Automation:

• Project Management Software: Tools like Jira, Asana, or Trello for managing design system development sprints, tracking tasks, and coordinating with engineering.

• Documentation Platforms: Tools like Confluence, Notion, or internal wikis for comprehensive documentation of design system guidelines, processes, and technical specifications.

• Automation Tools: Experience with scripting or tools that automate design system tasks, such as token generation, component updates, or documentation publishing.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in Figma is paramount. Beyond that, the role requires familiarity with the ecosystem of tools used to build, manage, and scale design systems. This includes documentation platforms, project management tools, and analytics for tracking adoption and impact. Experience with automation and tools that bridge design and code will be highly advantageous.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Grow as you go: Embraces continuous learning, experimentation, and development. This is central to how the team will tackle evolving system challenges.

• Coherence without Limiting Autonomy: Strives to create robust, consistent systems that empower product teams to innovate without being overly restrictive.

• Quality and Craftsmanship: A commitment to high standards in design, code, and system architecture.

• Collaboration and Transparency: Fosters an environment where ideas are shared openly, feedback is constructive, and cross-functional partnerships are prioritized.

• Data-Informed Decision Making: Utilizes data to guide strategy, measure success, and identify areas for improvement in design systems and infrastructure.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Works closely with Product and Engineering to ensure design systems are deeply integrated into the product development lifecycle.

• Empowerment and Support: Aims to empower product teams by providing them with well-documented, reliable, and easy-to-use design system resources.

• Feedback-Driven Iteration: Actively seeks and incorporates feedback from designers, engineers, and product managers to continuously improve the design system and its infrastructure.

• Knowledge Sharing: Promotes a culture of sharing best practices, learnings, and new techniques related to design systems and infrastructure management.

📝 Enhancement Note: Figma's core values, particularly "Grow as you go" and the emphasis on balancing coherence with autonomy, are directly applicable to the management of design systems. The ideal candidate will embody a collaborative spirit and a commitment to building systems that are both powerful and accessible, fostering a positive and productive environment for their team and stakeholders.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Scaling Design Systems: Managing the complexity of evolving design systems and infrastructure to support a rapidly growing product suite and user base.

• Driving Adoption: Overcoming resistance to change and ensuring consistent adoption of design system guidelines and components across numerous product teams.

• Balancing Coherence and Autonomy: Finding the optimal balance between enforcing system standards for consistency and allowing product teams the flexibility they need to innovate and meet specific user needs.

• Technical Evolution: Keeping pace with advancements in design technology, AI, and design-to-code workflows to ensure the design system remains cutting-edge.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Navigating diverse priorities and perspectives from Design, Product, and Engineering to achieve consensus on system direction and implementation.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Design System Strategies: Opportunities to explore and implement cutting-edge strategies in AI-driven design systems, platform engineering, and advanced governance.

• Leadership Development: Formal and informal mentorship, executive coaching, and opportunities to hone people management and strategic leadership skills.

• Industry Engagement: Participation in design system conferences, workshops, and community events to stay abreast of industry trends and best practices.

• Technical Skill Enhancement: Deepen understanding of front-end development principles, component-based architecture, and automation technologies relevant to design infrastructure.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are inherent to managing foundational systems in a fast-growing tech company. The growth opportunities are significant, offering a path for career advancement and deep specialization in a critical area of product development. This role is ideal for someone who thrives on solving complex problems and wants to make a tangible impact on a widely used product.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe your philosophy on managing design systems and the balance between coherence and team autonomy. How would you apply this at Figma?" (Focus on your approach to governance, contribution models, and stakeholder alignment.)

• "Walk me through a significant organizational change you led related to design systems or infrastructure. What were the key challenges, your strategy, and the measurable outcomes?" (Prepare a detailed case study highlighting your change management and adoption strategies.)

• "How do you envision AI impacting the future of design systems, and what steps would you take to integrate AI-enabled workflows at Figma?" (Showcase forward-thinking and technical curiosity.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about Figma's mission and its approach to design collaboration?" (Research Figma's product, values, and market position.)

• "How would you foster a 'Grow as you go' culture within your design systems team?" (Connect your leadership style to Figma's stated values.)

• "Describe a time you had to influence senior stakeholders to adopt a new design system strategy. How did you build consensus and demonstrate value?" (Focus on communication, data, and partnership.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly outline the problem/opportunity, your strategic approach, the system/infrastructure solutions you implemented, the adoption process, and the quantifiable impact.

• Highlight Process, Not Just Pixels: Emphasize your role in defining processes, establishing governance, and collaborating cross-functionally.

• Demonstrate Technical Depth: Be prepared to discuss the technical underpinnings of design systems, including tokens, component architecture, and design-to-code workflows.

• Focus on Leadership: Clearly articulate your contributions as a leader, including team development, mentorship, and stakeholder management.

• Tailor to Figma: Use Figma as a reference point where possible, demonstrating an understanding of its product and user base.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating strategic thinking, leadership capabilities, deep understanding of design systems at scale, and strong cross-functional collaboration skills. Candidates should be ready to articulate their process, quantify their impact, and connect their experience directly to Figma's needs and culture.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations position:

• Submit your application through the Greenhouse application link provided.

• Portfolio Customization: Curate your portfolio to prominently feature case studies on design system management, team leadership, and cross-functional collaboration. Prioritize examples that demonstrate your ability to scale systems and drive adoption.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to highlight keywords such as "Design Management," "Design Systems," "Infrastructure," "Tokens," "Component Libraries," "AI-enabled Workflows," and "Cross-functional Collaboration." Quantify achievements wherever possible.

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your leadership philosophy, design systems strategy, and experience with change management. Prepare specific examples for behavioral questions and be ready to present your portfolio with a clear narrative emphasizing impact and process.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Figma's product, mission, values (especially "Grow as you go"), and recent news. Understand their position in the market and how design systems contribute to their success.

⚠️ 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.