Principal Product Designer, Thumbtack
Customer Design Lead
$249.1-379.5k
Salary range dependent on candidate location
Local services marketplace app
Open for applications
Local services marketplace app
1001+ employees
Open for applications
$249.1-379.5k
Salary range dependent on candidate location
1001+ employees
Company mission
Thumbtack's mission is to help homeowners care for their homes, all the way from minor retouching to fundamental remodelling projects.
Role
Who you are
- 12+ years of product design experience, with significant time at principal or staff level
- Portfolio demonstrating platform-level or pillar-level design ownership, not just individual feature execution
- Deep expertise in cross-platform experience design (native + web)
- Track record of establishing quality infrastructure: design principles, quality bar or other rituals
- Strong product thinking and the ability to shape strategy, prioritize opportunities, and navigate complex business and user tradeoffs
- Exceptional mentorship and coaching skills, particularly for senior and staff ICs
- Highly effective communication skills: able to present and influence at the org and company level
- Experience partnering with research and analytics leaders to drive forward-thinking, strategic insights
- Demonstrated ability to work across multiple teams and drive alignment on ambiguous, high-stakes problems
What the job involves
- As the Customer Design Lead, you will own and elevate the end-to-end experience for Thumbtack's Customer platform across native and web. This is a horizontal, cross-pillar role: you will work across pods and pillars to ensure the product is cohesive, consistent, and positioned for the future — not just well-executed in any one area. You will help shape the future direction of the customer experience by identifying strategic opportunities, influencing product direction, and driving ambitious, customer-centered thinking across the organization
- You will set the quality bar for the customer experience, identify systemic gaps, establish design principles, mentor senior and mid-level designers, and drive the highest-impact strategic projects. You will operate as a strategic leader for the customer experience and business
- Own the end-to-end quality and coherence of the customer experience across native and web
- Shape product direction at the pillar and company level through customer insight, systems thinking, and strategic design leadership
- Identify systemic experience gaps and high-impact opportunities; drive cross-pillar projects to close them
- Establish and uphold customer design principles that guide teams in making product and quality tradeoff decisions
- Identify systemic experience gaps and drive cross-pillar projects to close them
- Produce platform-level artifacts: experience maps, north star visions, and strategic roadmaps
- Mentor senior and mid-level designers on craft and career growth
Our take
ThumbTack is a local services marketplace app that pairs customers with skilled professionals. Instead of simply searching for a professional, users provide ThumbTack with details of the job they need completing and the professionals then pitch their services to the potential customer using credits. ThumbTack makes its money by charging the professional for these credits.
It positions itself as something a little different in a saturated local services space that is dominated by companies like Angie’s List, TaskRabbit, Yelp, eBay, and Amazon. It also focuses on a broad range of professionals, from traditional home services like electricians and painters to photographers, personal trainers, and birthday party magicians.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a boost in business for ThumbTack as more people stayed at home and made changes to their properties, increasing the demand for home professionals. In fact, after 2019, the company doubled in value to $3.2 billion with its 2021 raise. Since its 2024 funding round, its updated app has 30 new features, and the company is partnering with the likes of trade-powering platform and Unicorn ServiceTitan, indicating Thumbtack's sustained sway in the market.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-5% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 9 rounds)
Jun 2021
$275m
LATE VC
Jul 2019
$150m
SERIES F
Total funding: $699.4m
Company benefits
- Parental leave
- Health insurance
- Community matters | Sure, our ways of connecting have changed. But we haven’t missed a beat, from virtual concerts to “TTversary” celebrations to weekly catch-ups
- Always be improving | We bring out the best in our colleagues — and our product — by pushing each beyond what we believe we’re capable of. We give honest feedback, even when it’s hard
- Wellness is a way of life | We promote balance with generous PTO and company-wide holidays — and find our centers every Wellness Wednesday with yoga featuring a Thumbtack pro
- A worthy mission | In a world where tech is often seen as eroding good jobs, we’re helping small business owners thrive. Our product makes entrepreneurship accessible to everyone
- Driven by our values | Our values are the compass by which we make all our decisions. Each one matters: Lead with why, Make it count, Own it, Choose teamwork, and Say what you mean
- Plus, amazing benefits | All the benefits you’d expect, plus a few more: generous parental and fertility benefits, $1800 for Thumbtack services per year and a $1200 remote work stipend
- Virtual-first working model coupled with quarterly in-person events and Camp Thumbtack
- 20+ company-wide holidays including two week-long shutdowns
- Libraries (collaborative workspaces) in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Toronto, and Manila
- Cell phone and WiFi reimbursements
- Subscriptions and Employee Assistance Program for mental health and well-being
Company HQ
SoMa, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Marco Zappacosta
(Co-Founder & CEO)Having studied at Columbia University, Marco co-founded Thumbtack in August 2008. He has served as CEO since January 2009.
Jonathan Swanson
(Co-Founder & Chairman)Jonathan started his career creating financial market reports for the White House before co-founding Thumbtack in 2008. Currently Founder at Powerset and Athena.
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