Design Manager

Byte by Yum! is building the world’s leading AI-driven platform for restaurant operations and digital ordering. Our products power Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, and The Habit Burger Grill across more than 55,000 restaurants worldwide.

We are seeking a highly organized and forward-thinking Design Manager to lead a team of designers and strengthen the systems and structures that enable design excellence at scale. This role is critical to helping us bring order and clarity to complex, enterprise-grade systems—from point-of-sale to digital ordering to multi-brand operations platforms.

As a Design Manager, you will guide and grow a team of designers, put in place scalable processes and frameworks, and ensure our design work is connected to both customer needs and Yum!’s business outcomes. You will also play a key role in building operational maturity for the design function, helping us move faster, work smarter, and deliver consistent, high-quality experiences across our global portfolio.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Team Development:

• Lead, coach, and mentor a team of designers working across enterprise and large-scale systems.
• Create clarity in roles, responsibilities, and expectations; hold the team accountable while enabling autonomy.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Design Operations & Systems:

• Implement systems, processes, and workflows that improve design efficiency, quality, and consistency across complex, multi-product environments.
• Partner with cross-functional leaders to forecast, plan, and allocate design resources across Yum!’s global portfolio.
• Drive continuous improvement in tools, documentation, and design practices to support scale and reliability.

Strategic Execution:

• Translate customer and franchisee needs into actionable design priorities; ensure alignment across Product, Engineering, and Operations.
• Establish success metrics, monitor progress, and ensure design deliverables meet the needs of enterprise and operational users.
• Anticipate challenges, proactively solve problems, and create frameworks that scale with Yum!’s global growth.

Collaboration & Influence:

• Build strong relationships with partners in Product, Engineering, and Operations to align priorities and roadmaps.
• Advocate for design’s role in shaping enterprise product strategy, ensuring complex system design is human-centered and efficient.
• Represent the design team in leadership forums, providing clarity, structure, and operational visibility.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, HCI, or related field; or equivalent practical experience.
• 6–8+ years of experience in UX/UI design, with at least 2 years in a people-management role.
• Demonstrated experience leading design for enterprise systems, operational tools, or complex multi-platform environments.
• Strong organizational skills; proven ability to set up and run systems, structures, and processes that improve team efficiency.
• Proactive, forward-leaning mindset with the ability to anticipate needs and drive solutions independently.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills; able to engage with partners at multiple levels of a global organization.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience scaling design teams in large, distributed, or multi-brand environments.
• Familiarity with design systems and operational best practices for enterprise software.
• Master’s degree in Design, HCI, or related field.

Salary Range: $135,000 - $170,000 annually + bonus eligibility. This is the expected salary range for this position. Ultimately, in determining pay, we'll consider the successful candidate’s location, experience, and other job-related factors.

Yum! Brands, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky, and its subsidiaries franchise or operate a system of over 59,000 restaurants in more than 155 countries and territories under the company’s concepts – KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger & Grill. The Company's KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut brands are global leaders of the chicken, Mexican-style food, and pizza categories, respectively. Habit Burger & Grill is a fast casual restaurant concept specializing in made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches and more. In 2024, Yum! was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America, and the company was recognized among TIME Magazine’s list of Best Companies for Future Leaders, Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Responsible Companies and USA Today’s America’s Climate Leaders. Yum! also received widespread recognition in 2023, including being listed on the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index; and Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers for Diversity. In addition, KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut brands were ranked in the top five of Entrepreneur’s Top Global Franchises Ranking for 2023.