Principal Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Principal Product Designer

Company: Gen Digital Inc.

Location: New York, New York, United States

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: Product Design / User Experience (UX)

Date Posted: May 19, 2026

Experience Level: 8+ Years

Remote Status: Hybrid (3 days in office per week)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the definition and delivery of user-first product experiences across mobile, desktop, and web platforms, with a strong emphasis on AI-driven features and cybersecurity solutions.

• Drive the strategic vision for design, translating complex user needs and business objectives into elegant, usable, and human-centered interfaces.

• Champion and advance the craft of product design, ensuring a high standard of quality in interaction, visual design, and overall user experience.

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional partners, including product management, research, and engineering, to influence product strategy and ensure seamless execution of design initiatives.

• Contribute to an AI-first company mission by designing intelligent, transparent, and trustworthy experiences that leverage AI to simplify tasks and personalize user journeys.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the job title is "Principal Product Designer," the description strongly emphasizes aspects of Revenue Operations and GTM strategy through its focus on user acquisition, retention, and driving business growth via user value. The role requires a deep understanding of B2C product strategy, user empathy, and data-informed decision-making, all critical for optimizing the customer journey and driving revenue. The emphasis on AI and cybersecurity also indicates a need for designers who can translate complex technical concepts into accessible and trustworthy user experiences, directly impacting user adoption and engagement.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Strategic Design Leadership: Translate complex problems and abstract ideas into elegant, usable, and delightful solutions, grounded in user needs and business goals, with a focus on driving user value and business growth.

• Craft Excellence: Own the end-to-end experience quality, from initial flows and information architecture to intricate interaction details and visual polish, ensuring every touchpoint is cohesive, confident, and human-centered.

• AI-Powered Experience Design: Bring clarity, usability, and trustworthiness to AI-powered products by designing interactions that feel natural, transparent, and empower users.

• Systems Thinking & Scalability: Design and champion scalable design patterns, frameworks, and design systems to elevate design quality across the organization and enable faster execution on complex problems.

• Impactful Solutions: Turn user insights and data into actionable design strategies, creating solutions that address real-world challenges in cybersecurity and financial wellness.

• Prototyping and User Validation: Utilize rapid prototyping and user testing, particularly with AI-driven features, to explore new possibilities, gather feedback, and iterate on designs.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner effectively with product, research, and engineering teams to align design outcomes with user needs, business objectives, and AI capabilities, influencing product and engineering decisions.

• Design Quality Advocacy: Champion design quality through the entire product lifecycle, ensuring accessibility, human-centeredness, and aesthetic appeal in all user touchpoints. Actively give and solicit feedback to maintain a high bar for craft.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strategic design role that directly impacts business outcomes by focusing on user acquisition, engagement, and retention within B2C products. The emphasis on "shaping strategy through design" and "turning insights into impact" aligns with GTM objectives, where design plays a crucial role in customer adoption and perceived value. The need to design for "user value and business growth across journeys and platforms" is a direct link to revenue generation and optimization.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a strong portfolio and proven experience in product design are paramount. A degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), or a related field is often beneficial but not strictly required if equivalent experience is demonstrated.

Experience:

• 8+ years of progressive product design experience, with a significant portion dedicated to shipping mobile-first B2C products at scale.

Required Skills:

• Exceptional Interaction and Visual Design Craft: Best-in-class ability in layout, navigation, information architecture (IA), UI design, motion design, and micro-interactions.

• Systems Thinking: Ability to design and implement scalable design systems, standards, and principles that enhance quality across a product organization.

• End-to-End Product Design Mastery: Proficiency in all phases of the design process, including discovery, defining flows and IA, creating high-fidelity UI mockups, rapid prototyping, and partnering with engineering for implementation.

• Intuitive Usability & User Empathy: A strong natural sense for usability, complemented by deep user empathy and a commitment to human-centered design principles.

• Data-Informed Decision-Making: Ability to leverage qualitative insights, user analytics, and A/B test results to inform and iterate on design solutions.

• Influential Collaboration: Proven ability to partner effectively across disciplines, using design to influence product and engineering decisions and build trusted relationships.

• Storytelling and Communication: Strong skills in framing problems, presenting trade-offs, articulating design rationale, and aligning stakeholders around design decisions.

• Modern Design Tools Proficiency: Expertise with industry-standard design and prototyping tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, InVision) to express motion, states, and end-to-end experiences.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience designing AI-driven features, including personalization, recommendations, and automation, with a focus on transparency and user control.

• Expertise in designing for complex flows, navigation, and micro-interactions within mobile and responsive web environments.

• Advanced design systems skills, including the creation, documentation, and evolution of component libraries and patterns.

• Experience designing for cybersecurity or financial services domains.

• Startup or solo-designer experience, demonstrating self-sufficiency and adaptability.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "About You" section provides critical context for required skills, highlighting "maker's mindset," "ambiguous problem spaces," "strategic, systems thinker," and "data-informed decision-making." These are core competencies for operations roles focused on process improvement and strategic execution, indicating that this design role requires a blend of creative talent and operational rigor. The emphasis on B2C products and scale is crucial for understanding the business impact of design decisions, relevant to GTM strategy.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Demonstrate End-to-End Design Process: Showcase a minimum of 2-3 comprehensive case studies that illustrate your ability to tackle complex, ambiguous problems from initial research and strategy through to final execution and iteration.

• Highlight B2C Mobile-First Experience: Feature projects specifically focused on mobile-first B2C products, demonstrating your understanding of mobile UX patterns, responsive design, and scalability.

• Showcase Design Systems Contribution: Include examples of your involvement in creating, evolving, or utilizing design systems, component libraries, or design standards, illustrating their impact on product quality and consistency.

• Illustrate AI-Driven Feature Design: Present case studies that specifically detail your experience designing AI-powered features, such as personalization, recommendations, or automation, emphasizing user trust and transparency.

• Quantify Impact: Where possible, quantify the impact of your design contributions using metrics related to user engagement, conversion rates, task completion, or business growth. This is crucial for demonstrating ROI.

Process Documentation:

• Problem Framing and Strategy: Clearly articulate the problem space, user needs, and business objectives for each project. Detail how you developed a design strategy to address these.

• User Research and Insights: Document your approach to user research, including methodologies used (e.g., interviews, surveys, usability testing) and how insights were synthesized to inform design decisions.

• Design Iteration and Validation: Showcase the iterative nature of your design process, including wireframing, prototyping, and user testing, and how feedback was incorporated to refine solutions.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Describe your collaboration process with product managers, engineers, and researchers, highlighting how you influenced decisions and ensured successful implementation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio requirements are heavily geared towards demonstrating strategic thinking, process management, and quantifiable impact, which are core tenets of operations roles. The emphasis on "end-to-end process," "quantifying impact," and "design systems" directly maps to operational excellence and efficiency. The inclusion of AI-driven features highlights a forward-thinking approach to product development, relevant to modern GTM strategies.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: The annual base salary for this position is expected to be between $150,000 and $180,000 USD.

📝 Enhancement Note: This salary range is provided directly in the job description. For Principal Designer roles in New York City, this range is competitive and aligns with industry benchmarks for senior-level design positions in tech. Factors influencing the exact salary within this range will include a candidate's specific experience, skills, and demonstrated impact, particularly in B2C, AI, and cybersecurity domains.

Benefits:

• 401(k) Match: Generous company contribution to retirement savings.

• Health Insurance Options: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.

• Disability Coverage: Protection against loss of income due to disability.

• Life Insurance: Financial security for beneficiaries.

• Unlimited Paid Time Off: Flexible and generous vacation and leave policy, promoting work-life balance.

Working Hours: The standard working hours are 40 hours per week. The hybrid model allows for flexibility, with 3 days per week expected in the New York City office.

📝 Enhancement Note: The unlimited PTO is a significant benefit that aligns with a results-oriented work environment, common in operations roles where focus is on output rather than strict time tracking. The hybrid model offers a balance between collaborative in-office work and the flexibility of remote work.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology, specifically Cybersecurity, Identity Protection, and Financial Wellness. Gen Digital Inc. is a global leader with well-known brands like Norton, Avast, and LifeLock, operating in a dynamic and rapidly evolving market.

Company Size: Gen Digital Inc. is a large, global organization with a significant employee base (implied by its status as a global company with multiple brands). This size offers stability, resources, and opportunities for broad impact, while also requiring designers to navigate complex organizational structures and processes.

Founded: Gen Digital Inc. was formed through the merger of NortonLifeLock and Avast in 2022, building on decades of heritage in cybersecurity. This history suggests a company with deep roots in protecting consumers, now integrating and innovating rapidly, particularly with an AI-first strategy.

Team Structure:

• Design Team: The Principal Product Designer will be part of a global design team, working closely with Product Managers, UX Researchers, and Engineering partners. While specific team size isn't detailed, the emphasis on "raising the bar for craft" and "design systems" suggests a dedicated and structured design function.

• Reporting: The role likely reports into a Head of Design, Design Director, or VP of Product, with close collaboration across product leadership.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: The role is inherently collaborative, requiring strong partnerships with Product, Engineering, Research, and potentially Marketing/GTM teams to ensure cohesive and impactful product experiences.

Methodology:

• AI-First Approach: Gen is actively pursuing an AI-first strategy, meaning design will play a critical role in humanizing AI, ensuring its accessibility, trustworthiness, and integration into user workflows.

• User-Centricity: A strong emphasis on user needs, empathy, and data-informed decision-making drives product development.

• Systematic Design: The company values designing scalable patterns and frameworks to ensure consistency and efficiency.

• Agile Development: While not explicitly stated, the nature of tech product development and collaboration with engineering suggests an agile or iterative development process.

Company Website: https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company's focus on cybersecurity and financial wellness, combined with an AI-first strategy, presents a unique and challenging design environment. The integration of multiple brands suggests a need for designers who can manage brand consistency while driving innovation. The "scrappy and relentlessly customer driven" ethos, along with an openness to "healthy debate, experimentation and continuous learning," points to a dynamic and growth-oriented culture.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is at a Principal level, signifying senior-level expertise and influence. It requires not only exceptional craft but also strategic thinking, leadership in driving design initiatives, and the ability to mentor others. Principal designers are expected to tackle the most complex and ambiguous problems, shape product strategy, and contribute to the growth and maturity of the design organization.

Reporting Structure: The Principal Product Designer will likely report to a Design Manager or Director. They will work closely with Product Managers and Engineering Leads, acting as a key design voice within product teams. The role involves influencing without direct authority and fostering strong cross-functional relationships.

Operations Impact: The design's impact is directly tied to business success through:

• User Acquisition & Conversion: Designing intuitive and trustworthy experiences that encourage users to adopt and purchase security and financial wellness solutions.

• Customer Retention & Engagement: Creating seamless, valuable, and personalized experiences that foster long-term user loyalty and reduce churn.

• Brand Perception & Trust: Ensuring all touchpoints reflect the company's commitment to security, privacy, and financial well-being, building essential trust with consumers.

• Revenue Growth: By enhancing user value and driving adoption, the design directly contributes to revenue generation and market share growth.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership & Mentorship: Opportunity to mentor junior designers, lead design initiatives, and contribute to the strategic direction of the design team.

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in AI-driven design, cybersecurity UX, or financial wellness product design within a large, diverse portfolio.

• Strategic Influence: Play a key role in shaping product strategy and the company's AI-first vision through design leadership.

• Career Advancement: Potential to move into Design Lead, Group Design Manager, or Director-level roles within Gen Digital Inc.

• Skill Development: Continuous learning opportunities through exposure to cutting-edge AI technologies, complex user problems, and a dynamic industry landscape.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Principal" title and emphasis on strategic influence, mentorship, and shaping product direction indicate significant growth potential beyond individual contribution. This aligns with operations career paths that move into leadership and strategic planning roles. The direct link between design impact and revenue/customer metrics is a key aspect of operations career progression.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is Hybrid, requiring 3 days per week in the New York City office. This suggests a blend of focused individual work and collaborative team interaction.

Office Location(s): New York City, New York, United States. This location offers access to a vibrant tech ecosystem and a diverse talent pool.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The office setting is designed to foster collaboration, allowing for spontaneous brainstorming, whiteboarding sessions, and in-person alignment with product and engineering partners.

• Tools and Technology: Access to industry-standard design and prototyping tools, likely including advanced software and hardware necessary for high-fidelity design and presentation.

• Team Interaction: Opportunities to engage with a global team, balancing in-office discussions with remote communication channels to ensure seamless project execution across time zones.

Work Schedule: The standard work schedule is 40 hours per week, with the hybrid model providing flexibility on which days are spent in the office versus remote. This structure balances the need for focused work with the benefits of in-person collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model is increasingly common and offers a balance that appeals to many professionals. The explicit requirement of 3 days in the office highlights the company's value placed on in-person collaboration and team cohesion, which is often crucial for complex problem-solving and strategic alignment in operations and design.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Intro Call: An initial conversation to discuss the role, Gen Digital Inc., and your background and experience. This is an opportunity to gauge mutual fit.

• Portfolio Review with Hiring Manager: A dedicated session to walk through your portfolio, focusing on key projects, your design process, and your ability to articulate design rationale and impact. Be prepared to discuss your contributions in detail.

• Design Exercise (Live Whiteboarding): A collaborative problem-solving session with designers. This assesses your thought process, ability to break down complex problems, ideation skills, and how you collaborate in real-time. Focus on clear communication and structured thinking.

• Final Round: Meet with additional team members to further assess your fit with the team and company culture. This may involve deeper dives into your portfolio and discussions about your strategic vision.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 2-3 of your strongest, most relevant case studies that best showcase your capabilities for this specific role (B2C, mobile-first, AI, cybersecurity, systems thinking).

• Tell a Story: Structure each case study as a narrative: the problem, your approach, your specific contributions, the solutions, and the measurable impact.

• Highlight Your Process: Clearly articulate your design process, emphasizing how you gathered insights, made decisions, iterated, and collaborated.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, include metrics that demonstrate the business and user value of your work.

• Be Ready for Deep Dives: Anticipate questions about your decision-making, trade-offs, and challenges encountered.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: Research Gen Digital Inc., its brands, and its AI-first strategy. Think about potential user challenges in cybersecurity and financial wellness.

• Practice Whiteboarding: Rehearse breaking down abstract problems into actionable steps on a whiteboard. Focus on clear, concise communication.

• Articulate Your Rationale: Be prepared to explain why you made certain design decisions, linking them back to user needs and business goals.

• Showcase Systems Thinking: Demonstrate how you approach designing scalable solutions and consider the broader ecosystem.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process is structured to assess both technical design skills and operational competencies like problem-solving, collaboration, and strategic thinking. The emphasis on a "live whiteboarding" exercise is a common method to evaluate an operations candidate's ability to think on their feet and communicate complex ideas clearly under pressure.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Mastery of modern design and prototyping tools is essential. This typically includes:

  • Figma: Widely used for collaborative design, prototyping, and design system management.
  • Sketch: Another popular vector design tool for UI design.
  • Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator): For asset creation and graphic design needs.
  • Prototyping tools (e.g., InVision, ProtoPie): To create interactive mockups and simulate user flows and micro-interactions.

• Design Systems: Experience with building, maintaining, and scaling design systems. This involves understanding component libraries, pattern definitions, and documentation.

Analytics & Reporting:

• User Analytics Platforms: Familiarity with tools like Google Analytics, Amplitude, or Mixpanel to understand user behavior, track key metrics, and inform design iterations.

• A/B Testing Tools: Experience designing for and interpreting results from A/B tests to validate design hypotheses and optimize user experiences.

• Qualitative Data Tools: Familiarity with tools for synthesizing user research findings, usability test results, and feedback.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a design tool, understanding how design impacts CRM and automation workflows is beneficial. This includes:
  • Understanding CRM principles: How user data is managed and how design can improve data input and output.
  • Awareness of automation: How AI-driven features can automate user tasks and how design makes these automated processes intuitive and reliable.

📝 Enhancement Note: The tools listed are standard for senior product designers. The inclusion of analytics and A/B testing tools highlights the data-informed aspect of the role, which is crucial for operations and GTM roles focused on performance optimization. Understanding CRM and automation principles is also increasingly important for designers to ensure their work aligns with broader business processes.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User-Obsessed & Empathetic: A deep commitment to understanding and serving user needs, prioritizing human-centered, accessible, and trustworthy experiences. This drives product decisions that foster user loyalty and advocacy.

• Strategic & Hands-On: A balance between high-level strategic thinking and a meticulous attention to detail in execution. This means being energized by both shaping vision and "sweating the craft details."

• Systems Thinker: An ability to see connections across user journeys, product surfaces, and teams, designing for long-term scalability and consistency rather than isolated solutions.

• Collaborative & Low-Ego: Skilled at building strong, trusting relationships with colleagues across disciplines, influencing without authority, and working towards shared goals with humility.

• Curious & Experimental: Eagerness to explore new patterns, especially around AI, and a willingness to learn through discovery, iteration, and embracing new technologies.

• Clear, Candid Communicator: Ability to give and receive constructive feedback effectively, raising the bar for design quality and fostering open dialogue.

• Resilient & Adaptable: Comfort navigating ambiguity, adapting to shifting priorities, and working effectively within distributed teams and across different time zones.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Design is embedded within product teams, fostering close collaboration with Product Management and Engineering from concept to launch.

• Process Review & Feedback: A culture that encourages open feedback loops, design critiques, and iterative refinement based on team input and user data.

• Knowledge Sharing: Opportunities to share learnings, best practices, and insights across the design team and broader product organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The listed values directly mirror key attributes sought in operations professionals: a focus on process, data, collaboration, adaptability, and a drive for continuous improvement. The emphasis on "systems thinking" and "strategic yet hands-on" approaches are particularly relevant to operations roles that bridge strategy and execution.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Designing for Trust in Cybersecurity: Balancing advanced security features with user-friendly interfaces, especially when dealing with complex threats and user anxiety.

• Humanizing AI: Translating sophisticated AI capabilities into transparent, intuitive, and trustworthy user experiences that users feel in control of.

• Scaling Design Systems: Ensuring design systems remain effective and adaptable as the product portfolio and company grow, while maintaining a high bar for craft.

• Navigating Ambiguity: Tackling large, undefined problem spaces and translating them into clear, actionable design strategies and solutions.

• Cross-Time Zone Collaboration: Effectively collaborating and maintaining alignment with a global, distributed team.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• AI & Emerging Technologies: Deepen expertise in designing for AI-driven features and stay at the forefront of technological advancements in cybersecurity and financial wellness.

• Strategic Leadership: Develop skills in influencing product strategy, mentoring junior designers, and contributing to the evolution of the design function.

• Industry Depth: Gain extensive experience within the cybersecurity and financial wellness sectors, understanding unique user needs and market dynamics.

• Design System Evolution: Contribute to and lead the development of sophisticated design systems that impact multiple product lines.

• Professional Development: Access to training, conferences, and opportunities to expand skill sets in areas like advanced prototyping, user research methodologies, and business acumen.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are significant and require a blend of technical skill, strategic thinking, and resilience – all hallmarks of successful operations professionals. The growth opportunities focus on leadership, strategic impact, and specialized domain expertise, providing a clear roadmap for career advancement within a complex operational environment.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you translated a complex, ambiguous problem into a clear, actionable design strategy. What was your process, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on problem framing, user research, and strategic thinking).

• "How do you approach designing AI-driven features to ensure they are transparent, trustworthy, and user-controlled? Provide an example." (Highlight your understanding of AI ethics and user experience design for intelligent systems).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about Gen Digital Inc.'s mission and its AI-first strategy? How do you see design contributing to this?" (Show your research and genuine interest).

• "How do you approach creating and scaling design systems to ensure consistency and quality across a large product portfolio?" (Assess your understanding of scalable design operations).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure as a Narrative: For each case study, clearly define: the problem, your role and contributions, your process (research, ideation, iteration), the solution, and the measurable impact (metrics).

• Focus on "Why": Be prepared to explain the rationale behind your design decisions, linking them to user needs, business goals, and data insights.

• Showcase Systems Thinking: Highlight how your designs are scalable, consistent, and integrate with broader design systems or product ecosystems.

• Demonstrate AI Expertise: If applicable, clearly articulate your approach to designing AI-powered features, emphasizing user trust and control.

• Keep it Concise: Be mindful of time. Practice delivering your presentations efficiently, allowing ample time for Q&A.

📝 Enhancement Note: These interview questions are designed to probe for operational competencies such as strategic thinking, problem-solving, cross-functional collaboration, and the ability to drive impact. The portfolio presentation strategy emphasizes clear communication, data-driven decision-making, and a structured approach, all critical for operations roles.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Principal Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Ashby.

• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight your 8+ years of experience, focusing on B2C, mobile-first product design, and any experience with cybersecurity, financial services, or AI-driven features. Quantify your achievements with metrics where possible.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your strongest case studies that best demonstrate your end-to-end design process, systems thinking, and ability to tackle complex problems. Ensure they showcase your interaction and visual design craft.

• Prepare for the Interview Process: Familiarize yourself with Gen Digital Inc.'s brands, AI-first strategy, and company values. Practice articulating your design process and project outcomes clearly and concisely.

• Practice Case Study Walkthroughs: Rehearse presenting your portfolio case studies, focusing on storytelling, impact quantification, and explaining your design rationale. Be ready for live whiteboarding exercises.

⚠️ 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.

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