At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead design initiatives and enhance operational efficiency using AI-driven workflows.
- Company: Join Instacart, a leader in transforming the grocery industry with innovative solutions.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive pay, flexible work options, and equity grants.
- Other info: Remote role with opportunities for career growth and collaboration.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on how people access food while working in a dynamic environment.
- Qualifications: 6+ years in program management with strong design and technical skills.
We're transforming the grocery industry at Instacart, where we invite the world to share love through food because we believe everyone should have access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together. We work to deliver an essential service that customers rely on to get their groceries and household goods, while also offering safe and flexible earnings opportunities to Instacart Personal Shoppers.
Instacart is on a mission to make eating well effortless for everyone and great design is a key ingredient. As a Senior Design Program Manager, you'll drive operational excellence and programmatic execution across the Design organization—building AI-enabled systems, scaling critical processes, and managing the tools and vendor relationships that power our creative work. This role sits at the intersection of design craft, technical operations, and strategic execution.
About the Role:
- Own end-to-end program execution for high-visibility design initiatives while building the operational backbone that enables the Design organization to scale.
- Leverage AI to automate workflows, manage critical vendor relationships (Figma, design tooling, contractors), and create repeatable systems that translate our design, creative and product strategy into shipped experiences.
- Report to the Director of Technical Program Management and work closely with Design and Product Leadership, Marketing, Engineering, and several other cross-functional partners to deliver outcomes that matter.
About the Job:
- Programmatic Execution: Drive end-to-end delivery of complex, multi-quarter design initiatives across Design, Product, Engineering, Marketing, Legal, Business Development and other cross-functional teams.
- AI Enablement: Build and deploy AI-enabled workflows that automate program management tasks—status reporting, resource tracking, documentation synthesis, and stakeholder communication.
- Operations & Vendor Management: Own strategic vendor relationships and contract management for design tooling (Figma, prototyping, asset management, collaboration platforms).
- Systems & Tooling: Champion team health through capacity planning, roadmapping, and resource allocation.
- Design Systems & Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner with the Instacart Design System (IDS) team to align programs with system evolution and component adoption.
- Design Craft Integration: Apply design thinking and product sense to program design—understanding user needs, designing operational experiences, and iterating based on feedback.
About You:
- Minimum Qualifications: 6+ years in program management and design operations within design or product organizations, with deep experience driving operational excellence and culture for design and product teams.
- Strong product sense and design craft sensibility, with well-developed methods and tools for driving fluid programs forward into the market.
- Experience with all stages of the product development lifecycle, launching products end-to-end.
- Technical fluency to collaborate with design system and engineering teams—understanding system architecture, component APIs, design-to-code workflows, and technical constraints.
- Proven track record driving complex, cross-functional programs from 0→1 and scaling operational systems in fast-paced environments.
- AI fluency: Experience leveraging AI tools (LLMs, automation platforms) to drive efficiency and scale programs.
- Vendor/contract management experience: negotiating software contracts, managing relationships, optimizing spend, ensuring compliance.
- Deep knowledge of design and program management tooling ecosystems (Figma, Linear, Jira, Dovetail, asset management, prototyping tools).
- Ability to drive organizational change and influence cross-functional partners—bringing clarity to complexity.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; comfortable presenting to executive leadership.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Design systems expertise: building/scaling systems, managing component libraries, defining tokens, driving adoption programs.
- Experience building AI-powered workflows for creative operations or design tooling integrations.
- Success translating leadership vision into actionable roadmaps and operating models.
- Experience in hybrid/embedded team models with deep cross-functional partnership.
- Comfort balancing hands-on execution with strategic oversight.
- Track record using data and storytelling to influence leadership and secure buy-in for operational investments.
Instacart provides highly market-competitive compensation and benefits in each location where our employees work. This role is remote and the base pay range for a successful candidate is dependent on their permanent work location.
Senior Design Program Manager II in Winnipeg employer: Wwshemi
At Instacart, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer that champions flexibility and innovation in the grocery industry. Our Flex First approach allows employees to choose their ideal work environment while fostering a collaborative culture through regular in-person events. With competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, and ample opportunities for professional growth, we empower our team members to thrive and make a meaningful impact in the lives of our customers.
