Discord is used by over 200 million people every month for many different reasons, but there’s one thing that nearly everyone does on our platform: play video games. Over 90% of our users play games, spending a combined 1.5 billion hours playing thousands of unique titles on Discord each month. Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We are focused on making it easier and more fun for people to talk and hang out before, during, and after playing games.
Our team's mission is to create win-win-win solutions that drive success for players, games businesses, and Discord. We help games businesses succeed through in-game integrations and on-platform tools that help them connect with their players, and create innovative player experiences that help them build lasting friendships through games. As our Senior Design Manager, you'll report to the Director of Product Design, and lead a talented team of designers across the full product development cycle, from strategic visioning through launch and iteration. For example, defining the future of Official Game Communities on Discord, transforming our B2B2C capabilities into a unified suite of offerings, designing a best-in-class B2B portal, and creating social gaming experiences like invites, LFG, and the future of player identity on Discord.
What You'll Be Doing
- Partner with engineering, data science, research, and product leaders to define annual strategy
- Inspire teams through strategic storytelling, leading vision sprints that turn complex problems into compelling product directions
- Lead and mentor the broader design team while directly managing the careers of three designers (to start), holding yourself accountable to their professional development and craft excellence
- Evolve team processes, rituals, and rhythms that drive a safe, nurturing culture for growth while ensuring razor-sharp clarity of focus and priority across the design team
- Provide direct, actionable feedback to designers and facilitate weekly critiques that elevate the quality of work and strengthen collaborative problem-solving skills, upholding a culture of doing exceptional work and being exceptional to work with
- Contribute hands-on design leadership when needed, and where your skill-set and expertise adds the most value, whether it be strategic vision level or quickly diving into an interaction detail
- Uphold high design quality standards, and bring moments of delight and joy, across consumer and developer-facing experiences, while ensuring our solutions meet the diverse needs of both gaming businesses and Discord's player community
What you should have
- 10+ years of experience in consumer-facing digital product design work, including gaming, communication platforms, or B2B experiences
- 4+ years directly managing design teams of 5 or more, with a track record of growing talent and building cultures of creative excellence
- Ability to bring simplicity and clarity to complex problems or opportunity spaces, and turn insights into compelling product directions
- Ability to communicate to peers and executive stakeholders in ways that drive action
- Strong leadership skills rooted in empathy: you understand how to staff and grow your direct reports in challenging, supportive ways while motivating teams to deliver excellent results
- Hands-on design excellence that inspires your team, with the ability to design and prototype in Figma to demonstrate the visual craft standards you expect from others
- Operational effectiveness in communication, roadmapping, and planning, with comfort adjusting to pivots and new opportunities that influence defined plans
Bonus Points
- You play video games
- Experience integrating with AI tools in your design workflows
- Experience working at a reputable creative agency
The US base salary range for this full-time position is $272,000 to $306,000 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role and level. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include equity, or benefits.
Why Discord?
Discord plays a uniquely important role in the future of gaming. We're a multiplatform, multigenerational and multiplayer platform that helps people deepen their friendships around games and shared interests. We believe games give us a way to have fun with our favorite people, whether listening to music together or grinding in competitive matches for diamond rank. Join us in our mission! Your future is just a click away!
Discord is committed to inclusion and providing reasonable accommodations during the interview process. We want you to feel set up for success, so if you are in need of reasonable accommodations, please let your recruiter know.
Please see our Applicant and Candidate Privacy Policy for details regarding Discord’s collection and usage of personal information relating to the application and recruitment process by clicking HERE.
Top Skills
What We Do
Discord is a voice, video and text app that helps friends and communities come together to hang out and explore their interests — from artists and activists, to study groups, sneakerheads, plant parents, and more. With 150 million monthly users across 19 million active communities, called servers, Discord has grown to become one of the most popular communications services in the world. Discord was built without selling ads or user data and instead, offers a premium subscription called Nitro that gives users special perks like higher quality streams and fun customizations.
Why Work With Us
Imagine a workplace that not only tolerates but celebrates the unique perspectives each and every person brings to it. One that is representative of the world we want to live, play and work in. Well, imagine no more. Just as Discord gives everyone the power to belong, we are building a workplace that is welcoming and inclusive from the inside out.
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