Senior Director of Design & Research, Babylist
$261.4-313.7k
Salary applicable for US candidates. Canada: $260,500 to $325,750 CAD + Equity & Bonus opportunities
More information about location
Online universal baby registry
Be an early applicant
Online universal baby registry
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$261.4-313.7k
Salary applicable for US candidates. Canada: $260,500 to $325,750 CAD + Equity & Bonus opportunities
More information about location
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help expecting parents get exactly what they need for the arrival of their new baby.
Role
Who you are
- Experienced design leader with 12+ years in product design and 5+ years managing and developing design teams in a user-centered, product-driven environment
- Strong product and user experience thinker applying clear judgment grounded in usability, accessibility, research, and real user insight
- Broad design generalist with exposure to research, content design, or design systems as an added strength
- Strategic problem solver comfortable shaping direction across complex product areas and multiple platforms
- Clear communicator who collaborates effectively with Product, Engineering, and Marketing
- Practical AI partner with a working understanding of how AI can support workflows and user-facing experiences
- User-centered leader motivated by supporting parents, gift givers, and growing families
- Systems-minded operator focused on clarity, outcomes, and building structures that help teams work effectively
- Executive-ready partner able to influence decisions with evidence, research, and product insight
What the job involves
- Babylist is hiring a Senior Director of Product Design and Research to shape the long-term experience strategy across Product Design, User Research, UX Content Design, and Design System
- These functions are central to how Babylist supports parents and gift givers as they discover products, build a registry, manage health needs, and shop with confidence
- This role reports to the Chief Product Officer to ensure that user insight, research, and product judgment meaningfully influence how Babylist sets priorities, builds products, and plans for the future
- The Senior Director guides the vision for usability, accessibility, clarity, and experience quality across platforms and surfaces
- The role sets direction for how Babylist integrates AI into user workflows in ways that are intuitive, helpful, and trustworthy
- This is a strategic leadership role that shapes how the organization understands users, identifies the problems that matter most, and brings clarity to product decisions
- It also develops the systems, rituals, and team structures that help designers, researchers, and content designers work at a high level and deliver consistent experiences as Babylist scales
- Set and champion a multi-year user experience direction for Babylist, create a clear, inspiring vision for how registry, health, shopping, and content should evolve, grounded in user insight, research, and design judgment
- Shape company-level planning with user insight and evidence bringing research, data, and clear user needs into executive decisions to prioritize the problems that matter most
- Lead Babylist’s approach to AI-supported experiences setting the direction for how AI supports user workflows and decision-making through simple and intuitive interfaces
- Set clear standards for usability, accessibility, and quality establishing expectations that improve clarity, consistency, and experience quality across platforms
- Develop the strategic plan for Product Design and Research defining team structure, capacity, and long-term goals that align with company priorities
- Build systems that support effective planning and decision making evolving current processes to support clear priorities, consistent alignment, and strong execution across teams
- Establish mechanisms that measure experience quality tracking usability, user satisfaction, research insights, and design system adoption to create clear visibility for leaders and teams
- Guide execution across multiple platforms and surfaces providing direction that helps teams navigate complexity and deliver cohesive, high-quality experiences
- Identify and prioritize high-impact user problems partnering with Product and Engineering to focus on the issues that most affect parents and gift givers
- Scale the Heartbeat Design System across the organization expanding adoption to improve consistency and long-term sustainability
- Develop and grow multidisciplinary design teams supporting designers, researchers, and content designers with clear expectations, feedback, and development paths
- Increase visibility into user experience work across Babylist improving how user needs, research findings, and experience updates are communicated across Product, Engineering, and partner teams
- Represent Product Design and Research at the executive level influencing company strategy and ensuring user needs stay central to decisions and long-term planning
Application process
- Babylist uses AI to record and transcribe all interviews for evaluation purposes in accordance with CCPA and GDPR
- By participating in an interview, you consent to this recording and transcription
- During the interview process, we're evaluating your individual problem-solving skills, creativity, and approach to challenges
- While AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Cursor are part of your daily toolkit once you join Babylist, all interviews, assessments, and take-home assignments must be completed independently
- You may not use AI tools, third-party services, coaching platforms, or content-farming services during any part of the interview process unless we explicitly permit it
- We will clearly communicate when AI tools are allowed for specific assessments
- Any indication of third-party assistance or AI-generated responses will result in immediate disqualification
- We may also verify educational credentials through third-party sources—providing false or misleading information will result in removal from consideration
Our take
Since its 2011 launch, Babylist has grown into one of the most highly rated baby registries in the US. The difference it offers is that it allows users to include products from any store in their registries. On top of this, the company’s model also focuses heavily on creating informational content, which allows it to generate ad revenue while building customer loyalty.
Originally scaled with fairly low venture funding, Babylist claims half of new parents in the US now use its services. This, given that the baby products industry is worth close to $90 billion, shows the company's immense growth and speaks to the impact it has made in the space.
Babylist has seen strong funding in the past, which has fuelled projects such as the launch of virtual showrooms and further expanded the company's presence. The company acquired Expectful, a health and wellness tool, in 2023 with the long-term vision of combining the two companies into a larger health and wellness media property that can help people navigate all aspects of parenthood from fertility to diapers.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
67% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (1 round)
Nov 2021
$40m
SERIES C
Total funding: $40m
Company benefits
- HAPPIER WEEKENDS – We work to live, not live to work. That means we generally don’t work nights or weekends, and we offer 10 paid holidays throughout the year, in addition to your paid time off.
- PAID TIME OFF THAT WORKS FOR YOU – Life is unpredictable. Use your time off for what you need, whether that’s a vacation, family event or a day to unplug.
- PARENTAL LEAVE – We offer a flexible, 12-week paid parental leave policy.
- FLEXIBLE BENEFITS – Choose from benefits that support your working style, whether that's remote, in the office or something in between.
- HEALTH & WELLNESS – Wellness benefits include 100% paid coverage for medical, vision and dental for full-time employees.
- BABYLIST STORE DISCOUNT – All full-time employees receive a generous Babylist Store discount.
Company HQ
Emeryville, CA
Leadership
Natalie Gordon
(Founder & CEO)Former Software Engineer at Amazon. Initially founded Babylist as a side project and has since taken the company to a market leading status.
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