Staff Product Designer, Shop

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Staff Product Designer, Shop

Company: Fanatics Betting & Gaming

Location: New York, NY, United States

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design (E-commerce/Mobile App Focus)

Date Posted: 2026-08-18

Experience Level: 10+ Years

Remote Status: Hybrid (Remote OK, potential for in-office collaboration)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead end-to-end product design for the Fanatics App's Shop experience, focusing on discovery, merchandising, and conversion optimization within a mobile-first environment.

• Drive multi-milestone design programs, translating ambiguous requirements into tangible business outcomes with minimal oversight, demonstrating strong product strategy and stakeholder management.

• Contribute to and evolve the FanApp design system, creating reusable patterns for product cards, merchandising modules, and recommendation surfaces to ensure consistency and adoption across the platform.

• Utilize advanced prototyping techniques, including within the product environment (code/app), leveraging AI tools to explore and validate user behavior against real data and backend constraints.

• Establish and uphold design evaluation and validation standards for the Shop pod, ensuring high craft quality and efficient handoffs to engineering.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a Staff Product Designer, indicating a senior individual contributor role with significant ownership and influence over product strategy and design direction within the "Shop" pod. The emphasis on "prototyping in the product environment itself" and "using AI tools" suggests a forward-thinking approach to design and development, requiring a candidate comfortable with cutting-edge methodologies and potentially a blend of design and technical understanding. The hybrid remote status implies a need for strong self-management and communication skills.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Own the complete user journey for the App Shop experience, from initial discovery and browse flows through personalized recommendations, product detail pages, cross-selling opportunities, and post-purchase engagement.

• Define and execute design strategy for complex, multi-milestone programs, proactively shaping product vision and influencing roadmaps in collaboration with Product Management and Engineering leadership.

• Develop and maintain robust design patterns and components for the Shop pod's contribution to the FanApp design system, ensuring scalability, reusability, and coherence with other app sections.

• Champion a data-informed design process, employing advanced prototyping and potentially AI-assisted tools to rapidly iterate, test hypotheses, and validate design solutions against user behavior and business objectives.

• Implement rigorous design critique and review processes, setting high standards for craft, interaction quality, and visual consistency, and ensuring seamless, well-defined handoffs to engineering teams.

• Mentor and guide junior designers within and adjacent to the Shop pod, fostering a culture of design excellence, ownership, and effective collaboration.

• Collaborate horizontally with other Staff Designers and Leads across the FanApp to ensure design consistency and strategic alignment between the Shop pod and other key areas like Home, Scores, and Loyalty.

• Partner with pod leadership on strategic planning and roadmap development, prioritizing initiatives based on user insights, design principles, and potential business impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of hands-on design execution and strategic leadership. The emphasis on "driving to business outcomes with minimal oversight" and "shaping product vision" signifies a high level of autonomy and influence expected from a Staff-level designer. The requirement to understand "backend constraints" and prototype within the "code/app environment" suggests a need for a designer who can bridge the gap between design and technical feasibility.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• While no specific degree is mandated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, HCI, Computer Science, or a related field is often preferred and demonstrates a foundational understanding of design principles. Experience:

• 10+ years of professional experience in Product Design, with a significant portion focused on Staff-level responsibilities or equivalent scope, demonstrating the ability to lead design initiatives for entire product areas or teams.

• Proven track record of successfully delivering end-to-end design solutions for complex e-commerce, shopping, or merchandising platforms, with a deep understanding of conversion funnels and user purchasing behavior.

• Demonstrated experience in building and scaling design systems, including creating reusable UI patterns, components, and guidelines that are adopted across multiple product teams.

• Extensive experience with advanced prototyping tools and methodologies, including a strong preference for candidates who have prototyped directly within application codebases or similar environments.

• A history of mentoring designers, providing constructive feedback, and elevating the overall craft and quality of design output within a team. Required Skills:

• Product Design: Mastery of the end-to-end product design process, from user research and ideation to detailed design, prototyping, and post-launch iteration.

• E-commerce & Merchandising: Deep understanding of online retail principles, customer journeys, product discovery, catalog management, and conversion optimization strategies.

• Systems Thinking: Ability to design cohesive and scalable systems of components and patterns, understanding how individual elements contribute to the overall user experience and business goals.

• Prototyping Fluency: Advanced proficiency in prototyping tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch) and a demonstrated ability to prototype within code/app environments, leveraging AI tools for efficiency and validation.

• Mobile-First Design: Expertise in designing for mobile applications, understanding platform-specific conventions, responsive design principles, and optimizing for mobile user interactions.

• Design Systems: Experience in contributing to, maintaining, or leading the development of design systems and component libraries.

• User Experience (UX) Research & Design: Ability to conduct user research, analyze findings, and translate them into intuitive and effective user experiences.

• Interaction Design: Skill in defining how users interact with the product, creating clear, efficient, and engaging user flows.

Preferred Skills:

• Data Analysis: Familiarity with analyzing user data, A/B testing results, and conversion metrics to inform design decisions and measure impact.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Proven ability to work effectively with Product Managers, Engineers, Data Scientists, and other stakeholders in a fast-paced, agile environment.

• Visual Design: Strong aesthetic sensibility and a keen eye for visual hierarchy, typography, color, and layout that aligns with brand identity.

• Stakeholder Management: Experience in presenting design concepts, articulating rationale, and managing feedback from various levels of stakeholders.

• Product Strategy: Ability to contribute to product strategy discussions, identify opportunities, and align design efforts with business objectives.

• AI Tool Proficiency: Experience or demonstrated aptitude in leveraging AI tools for design exploration, content generation, or validation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for prototyping within the "product environment itself (code/app)" is a significant differentiator, suggesting a need for a designer with a strong technical inclination or experience collaborating very closely with engineering on implementation details. The emphasis on "AI tools" indicates a proactive approach to adopting new technologies in the design workflow.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• E-commerce Case Studies: Showcase 2-3 detailed case studies focusing on significant e-commerce, shopping, or merchandising design initiatives. Highlight the problem, your role, the design process, key decisions, and measurable outcomes.

• Systems Design Example: Include an example of your contribution to a design system, a component library, or a complex set of interconnected patterns. Demonstrate your ability to think systematically and create scalable solutions.

• Mobile App Experience: Feature a strong case study demonstrating expertise in mobile-first product design, specifically for consumer-facing applications.

• Problem-Solving & Iteration: Showcase examples where you navigated ambiguity, tackled complex user problems, and iterated on designs based on data, user feedback, or technical constraints. Quantify improvements where possible.

• Prototyping Examples: Provide links or descriptions of interactive prototypes, ideally demonstrating your ability to create high-fidelity, functional prototypes, and ideally, examples of in-app or code-based prototyping.

Process Documentation:

• Demonstrate your approach to user research, ideation, wireframing, prototyping, and user testing within your case studies.

• Clearly articulate how you collaborate with product managers and engineers throughout the design lifecycle, including handoff processes and iterative feedback loops.

• Explain your methodology for defining and measuring design success, referencing key metrics related to conversion, engagement, or user satisfaction.

• Showcase how you approach the design and implementation of reusable design patterns and system components.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the emphasis on advanced prototyping and systems thinking, candidates should be prepared to demonstrate not just final designs but the iterative process and the underlying strategic thinking. The portfolio should explicitly address how the candidate "raises the design bar" and mentors others.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $136,000 - $190,000 USD per year.

Benefits:

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

• Bonus: Potential for performance-based bonuses.

• Retirement Savings Plan: Likely a 401(k) or similar plan.

• Paid Time Off: Generous vacation, sick leave, and holidays.

• Employee Discounts: On Fanatics merchandise and potentially other company offerings.

• Professional Development: Opportunities for learning and growth, including conferences and training.

• Wellness Programs: Initiatives to support employee well-being.

Working Hours: 40 hours per week, with flexibility expected for a Staff-level role in a fast-moving consumer environment. This may include occasional work outside standard hours to meet project deadlines or address urgent issues.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is for the US market and may vary based on the candidate's specific location within the US due to geographical compensation zones. The company explicitly mentions that ranges will change based on country and state of residence. The benefits listed are standard for a full-time role at a company of this size and industry, with specific details available on their benefits website.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Digital Sports Platform, E-commerce, Collectibles, Sports Betting & Gaming. Fanatics is a rapidly growing, digitally-focused company aiming to be the premier destination for sports fans globally.

Company Size: Over 2,000 employees (based on general knowledge of Fanatics, actual size may vary and is not explicitly provided in the raw data). This indicates a large, established organization with significant resources and complex operations.

Founded: Fanatics was founded in 1995. The company has evolved significantly, expanding into multiple verticals.

Team Structure:

• Pod-Based Model: The role sits within a "Shop pod," a cross-functional team comprising Product Management, Engineering, and Design. This structure emphasizes agile development and close collaboration.

• Reporting: The Staff Product Designer will likely report to a Design Lead or Head of Design, while working closely with the Product Manager and Engineering Manager of their specific pod.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Extensive collaboration is expected not only within the Shop pod but also horizontally with other FanApp design staff and leads to ensure platform-wide design coherence and system adoption.

Methodology:

• Agile Development: The pod structure and emphasis on iterative design suggest an agile development methodology.

• Data-Informed Design: A strong reliance on user data, A/B testing, and conversion metrics to guide product decisions and validate design solutions.

• Systems-Oriented Approach: Emphasis on building scalable design systems and reusable patterns to ensure consistency and efficiency across the platform.

• User-Centricity: While data-driven, the core focus remains on enhancing the fan experience, implying a deep understanding of user needs and motivations.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: Fanatics is known for its aggressive growth strategy and expansion into new markets. The "Shop pod" operates within the broader "FanApp," which aims to be the central hub for sports fans. This context suggests a dynamic, fast-paced environment where design plays a critical role in driving user engagement and commercial success across multiple fan activities.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: Staff Product Designer. This is a senior individual contributor role, signifying a high level of expertise, autonomy, and influence. Staff designers are expected to tackle ambiguous problems, set design direction for significant product areas, and mentor other designers.

Reporting Structure: The designer will be embedded within a cross-functional "Shop pod" and will collaborate closely with its Product Manager and Engineering Manager. They will likely report to a Design Lead or Head of Design, providing horizontal leadership and mentorship to other designers on and around the pod.

Operations Impact: The "Shop pod" is central to Fanatics' strategy of creating a daily destination for sports fans. The Staff Product Designer's work directly impacts:

• Revenue Generation: By optimizing discovery, merchandising, and conversion flows, directly influencing sales of licensed gear, collectibles, and exclusive drops.

• User Engagement & Retention: Creating a seamless and compelling shopping experience that encourages repeat visits and purchases, contributing to the overall stickiness of the FanApp.

• Brand Perception: Shaping the perception of Fanatics' e-commerce capabilities and ensuring the Shop experience aligns with the brand's premium positioning.

• Platform Cohesion: Ensuring the Shop experience integrates harmoniously with other FanApp features (Scores, Collectibles, Betting), contributing to a unified and intuitive fan journey.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Expansion: Potential to grow into a Design Lead or Manager role, overseeing larger teams or multiple product areas within Fanatics.

• Strategic Influence: Deepen influence on product strategy and roadmap development for the entire FanApp or specific verticals.

• Specialization: Further specialize in areas like e-commerce optimization, personalization, or design systems within a large-scale consumer platform.

• Cross-functional Expertise: Develop deeper expertise in working with engineering and product management in a high-growth, fast-paced tech environment.

• Mentorship Development: Hone leadership and mentorship skills by guiding and developing other designers.

📝 Enhancement Note: A Staff Product Designer role at Fanatics offers significant leverage due to the company's scale and ambition. The opportunity to shape a core component of a major digital sports platform provides substantial career growth potential, moving beyond individual feature ownership to influencing platform-wide strategy and user experience.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is described as "Remote OK" and situated in New York, NY. This suggests a hybrid work model. Fanatics likely has modern office spaces in New York designed to foster collaboration, with options for employees to work remotely part of the time.

Office Location(s): New York, NY, United States. This is a major hub for technology and media companies, offering access to a diverse talent pool and industry events.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Pods: Designers work embedded within cross-functional pods, fostering close communication and teamwork with product managers and engineers.

• Technology-Rich Environment: Access to industry-standard design tools, collaboration platforms, and potentially advanced prototyping/AI tools.

• Fast-Paced Culture: Expect a dynamic and energetic work environment common in high-growth tech companies, with a focus on rapid iteration and delivery.

• Cross-Functional Interaction: Regular interaction with other design staff, product leads, and stakeholders across different departments.

Work Schedule: While a standard 40-hour work week is implied, the "Staff" level and "fast-moving consumer environment" suggest flexibility and potential for extended hours during critical project phases or launches. The remote flexibility allows for some control over personal work schedules, provided deliverables are met.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid nature of the role in a major city like New York suggests a balance between remote work flexibility and the benefits of in-person collaboration, particularly for design critiques, team building, and strategic alignment.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screen: A recruiter or hiring manager will likely conduct an initial screening call to assess basic qualifications, experience, and cultural fit.

• Portfolio Presentation & Deep Dive: This is a critical stage where candidates present 2-3 key case studies from their portfolio. Expect in-depth questions about their role, process, decision-making, and impact. Focus on how you solved problems, iterated, and achieved measurable results.

• Design Exercise/Challenge: Candidates may be given a take-home design challenge or a live design exercise (potentially involving prototyping or system thinking) related to the Shop experience. This assesses practical design skills and problem-solving abilities under pressure.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Interviews with Product Managers, Engineering Leads, and potentially other designers. These sessions will focus on collaboration skills, technical understanding, and how you integrate with a pod.

• Staff-Level Discussion: A conversation with senior design leadership to assess strategic thinking, mentorship capabilities, and ability to operate at a Staff level with autonomy.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select case studies that best showcase your experience in e-commerce, mobile apps, design systems, and complex problem-solving.

• Focus on Impact: Clearly articulate the business and user outcomes of your work. Quantify results whenever possible (e.g., "increased conversion by X%", "reduced drop-off by Y%").

• Show Your Process: Don't just show final screens; explain your thinking, research, iterations, and the rationale behind your design decisions.

• Highlight Systems Thinking: Demonstrate how you approach designing scalable patterns and components, and how you ensure consistency.

• Emphasize Collaboration: Discuss how you partnered with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders.

• Prepare for Prototyping Questions: Be ready to discuss your prototyping tools and methodologies, especially your experience with in-app or code-based prototyping.

• Storytelling: Frame your case studies as compelling narratives that highlight your problem-solving skills and contributions.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: Research Fanatics' business, their app, and the competitive landscape. Understand the unique challenges of designing for a sports fan app that integrates multiple functionalities (Shop, Bet, Collect, Play).

• Focus on Problem Definition: For any given challenge, spend time defining the problem clearly before jumping to solutions.

• Systemic Solutions: Consider how your solutions might integrate with existing systems or design patterns.

• Feasibility & Constraints: Be mindful of technical and business constraints. The prompt's mention of "backend constraints" is important.

• Communication: Clearly articulate your thought process, assumptions, and design rationale.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "prototyping as the way you decide" and potentially prototyping "in the product environment itself (code/app)" suggests that candidates should be prepared to demonstrate practical, implementable solutions rather than purely conceptual ones. Portfolio pieces that show this capability will be highly advantageous.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (highly probable, industry standard), Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite. Advanced prototyping tools may include Framer, Principle, or native app development environments.

• Design Systems: Experience with Figma's component libraries, Storybook, or similar tools for managing design system assets.

• AI Tools: Candidates are encouraged to leverage AI tools for ideation, content generation, or rapid prototyping exploration. Specific tool names are not provided, but familiarity with current AI design assistants is beneficial.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Web/App Analytics: Google Analytics, Amplitude, Mixpanel, or similar platforms for tracking user behavior, conversion funnels, and engagement metrics.

• A/B Testing Tools: Optimizely, VWO, or in-house A/B testing frameworks to validate design hypotheses.

• Data Visualization: Tableau, Power BI, or internal dashboards for reporting and analysis.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a designer's primary tool, understanding how e-commerce platforms integrate with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Shopify Plus backend) and marketing automation tools is beneficial for context.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of prototyping in the "code/app environment" is a key differentiator. While Figma is a given, candidates with experience translating designs into functional prototypes within a development context (even if not full coding) will be highly valued. Familiarity with AI-assisted design tools is also a strong plus.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Fan Obsession: A core value is to relentlessly enhance the fan experience and delight sports fans globally. Design decisions should prioritize the fan's needs and enjoyment.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: A commitment to using data and insights to inform product strategy and design choices, ensuring measurable impact.

• Innovation & Agility: Embracing new technologies (like AI) and working in a fast-paced environment to deliver innovative solutions rapidly.

• Ownership & Accountability: Taking full responsibility for design outcomes, from concept to execution, and driving initiatives to completion with minimal oversight.

• Collaboration & Teamwork: Working effectively within cross-functional pods and across different teams to achieve common goals and maintain platform coherence.

• High Craftsmanship: A dedication to high-quality design execution, visual polish, and intuitive user interactions.

Collaboration Style:

• Embedded Pod Model: Designers work directly within cross-functional teams, fostering tight integration and shared ownership with Product Managers and Engineers.

• Horizontal Design Community: Active participation in a broader design community within Fanatics, sharing knowledge, providing feedback, and ensuring consistency across the app.

• Open Communication: Encouraging open dialogue, constructive critique, and transparent feedback loops to foster continuous improvement.

• Pragmatic Approach: Balancing ideal design solutions with practical constraints (technical, business) to deliver feasible and impactful results.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture emphasizes a blend of data-driven pragmatism and a passion for sports fandom. Designers are expected to be both strategic thinkers and hands-on executors, comfortable navigating ambiguity and driving results in a high-energy environment.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Multiple Fan Needs: Designing for an app where users have diverse primary goals (Shop, Bet, Collect, Play) requires careful prioritization and integration to ensure no single experience feels compromised.

• Scalability & Consistency: Maintaining a cohesive and high-quality user experience across a rapidly expanding product suite and diverse partner integrations.

• Rapid Iteration in a Competitive Market: The sports and betting industries are fast-moving. The Shop experience must continuously evolve to stay competitive and meet user expectations.

• Navigating Ambiguity: As a Staff role, you'll often tackle less-defined problems, requiring strong strategic thinking and the ability to create clarity and direction.

• Prototyping Complexity: The expectation to prototype within the "code/app environment" presents a technical challenge that requires a blend of design and technical understanding.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Cutting-Edge Tech: Opportunity to work with and influence the adoption of AI tools and advanced prototyping methodologies within a large-scale consumer product.

• Industry Leadership: Gain deep experience in the rapidly growing sports betting and digital collectibles markets.

• Product Strategy: Develop strategic thinking and influence by contributing to the roadmap and vision of a major digital sports platform.

• Design System Mastery: Contribute significantly to a large-scale design system, learning best practices for governance, adoption, and evolution.

• Mentorship & Leadership: Hone leadership skills by mentoring junior designers and influencing design standards across multiple teams.

• Cross-Functional Expertise: Deepen understanding of product management and engineering processes within a high-growth tech company.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges presented are typical for senior roles in innovative tech companies. The growth opportunities are substantial, offering a path for significant career advancement and skill development in a high-impact domain.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a complex e-commerce or merchandising problem you solved. What was your approach, what were the trade-offs, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on process, data, and measurable impact).

• "How do you approach designing for a platform that serves multiple distinct user needs (e.g., shopping vs. betting)? How would you ensure the Shop experience feels integrated yet distinct?" (Assess understanding of platform strategy and user segmentation).

• "Walk us through your process for contributing to or building a design system. What makes a system successful and adopted by other teams?" (Focus on scalability, documentation, and collaboration).

• "How do you decide when to use AI tools in your design process? Can you give an example of how you've used them to accelerate or improve your work?" (Assess adaptability and forward-thinking). Company & Culture Questions:

• "Why Fanatics, and why this role specifically? What excites you about the sports and gaming industry?" (Show genuine interest and alignment with the company's mission).

• "How do you approach mentoring junior designers? Describe a time you helped another designer grow their skills." (Assess leadership and collaborative spirit).

• "How do you balance user needs with business objectives and technical constraints?" (Evaluate pragmatism and strategic thinking).

• "Describe your experience working within an agile, cross-functional pod. What is your ideal collaboration dynamic with Product Managers and Engineers?" (Assess teamwork and communication style). Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly define the problem, your specific role and contributions, the design process (research, ideation, iteration), key decisions and rationale, and the final outcomes (quantified impact).

• Highlight Systems Thinking: Explicitly point out how your designs contribute to or build upon a design system. If you created patterns, explain their reusability.

• Demonstrate Prototyping Skills: Be ready to show interactive prototypes. If you have experience with code-based prototyping, be prepared to discuss or even demo it.

• Articulate Trade-offs: Discuss the choices you made and why, acknowledging any constraints or compromises.

• Focus on Impact: Clearly link your design work to business goals (e.g., conversion, retention) and user satisfaction.

• Engage Your Audience: Be prepared for Q&A. Answer questions directly and thoughtfully, drawing on your experience.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process will heavily scrutinize your ability to operate autonomously, think strategically, and contribute to both individual features and the broader design system. Demonstrating comfort with technical constraints and advanced prototyping will be key differentiators.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Staff Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the Fanatics Betting & Gaming careers portal via the provided link.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight your most relevant e-commerce, mobile app, and design system experience. Ensure your case studies clearly articulate your process, strategic thinking, and measurable impact. Be prepared to showcase examples of advanced prototyping.

• Resume Optimization: Update your resume to emphasize your 10+ years of experience, Staff-level responsibilities, and specific achievements in product design, e-commerce, and systems thinking. Use keywords from the job description naturally.

• Interview Preparation: Thoroughly review your portfolio and prepare to present your case studies in detail. Practice answering strategy and behavioral questions, focusing on your problem-solving approach, collaboration skills, and ability to mentor. Research Fanatics' products and recent news.

• Company Research: Understand Fanatics' mission, their approach to building a digital sports platform, and the specific goals of the FanApp. Familiarize yourself with their brand and target audience.

⚠️ 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.