Principal Product Designer, Core

Let’s face it, a company whose mission is human transformation better have some fresh thinking about the employer/employee relationship.

We do. We can’t cram it all in here, but you’ll start noticing it from the first interview.

Even our candidate experience is different. And when you get an offer from us (and accept it), you get way more than a paycheck. You get a personal BetterUp Coach, a development plan, a trained and coached manager, the most amazing team you’ve ever met (yes, each with their own personal BetterUp Coach), and most importantly, work that matters.

This makes for a remarkably focused and fulfilling work experience. Frankly, it’s not for everyone. But for people with fire in their belly, it’s a game-changing, career-defining, soul-lifting move.

Join us and we promise you the most intense and fulfilling years of your career, doing life-changing work in a fun, inventive, soulful culture.

If that sounds exciting—and the job description below feels like a fit—we really should start talking.

The Opportunity

BetterUp is looking for a Principal Product Designer to join our Design team and shape the future of human transformation at scale. This is a rare opportunity to work at the highest individual contributor level in Design—owning domain-level craft, strategy, and systems thinking across BetterUp’s core product experiences. Reporting to the VP of Product Design, you will set the bar for design excellence, influence cross-functional direction, and help define what it means to build a world-class human-AI product.

What You'll Do

• Architect the design vision for BetterUp’s core product experiences—identifying the highest-leverage opportunities, defining the strategic direction, and ensuring continuity across complex, multi-surface journeys

• Drive design quality and craft standards across the product, raising the bar for the entire Design org through rigorous critique, deep collaboration, and principled decision-making

• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, and Research to shape roadmaps from the earliest stages—bringing design perspective to problem framing, not just solutions

• Lead complex, ambiguous design challenges from 0→1 and 1→n, navigating organizational complexity with clear thinking and strong point of view

• Build and maintain scalable design systems and foundational patterns that enable speed and coherence across teams

• Mentor and elevate senior designers, providing thoughtful feedback that develops taste, confidence, and craft

• Influence VP-level and executive stakeholders with clarity and conviction, earning trust as a thought partner on product and design strategy

• Represent the design function in cross-functional planning, helping align design investment with company priorities

What You'll Bring

• 10+ years of product design experience, including time at a consumer or B2B SaaS company where design played a central role in product strategy

• A portfolio that demonstrates exceptional craft, systems thinking, and the ability to operate across the full design spectrum—from early concept to polished execution

• Proven track record of leading complex, multi-year design initiatives with measurable impact on product outcomes and user experience

• Deep experience influencing product and engineering direction at the senior leadership level

• Strong design systems sensibility—you understand how foundational decisions compound across a product at scale

• Experience designing products at the intersection of human behavior and technology; familiarity with AI-native product patterns is a strong plus

• Exceptional communication and storytelling skills—you make complex ideas clear and compelling to any audience

• A growth mindset and genuine curiosity about how AI tools can enhance design craft and process

AI at BetterUp

Our team thrives at the intersection of human expertise and AI capability. As an AI-forward company, adaptation and continuous learning are part of our daily work. We're looking for teammates who are excited to evolve alongside technology – people who experiment boldly, share their discoveries openly, and help define best practices for AI-augmented work. These professionals thoughtfully integrate AI into their work to deliver exceptional results while maintaining the human judgment and creativity that drives real innovation. During our interview process, you’ll have opportunities to showcase how you harness AI to learn, iterate, and amplify your impact.

As a Principal Product Designer, you’ll:

• Shape company-wide AI strategy in partnership with executive leadership, ensuring design’s voice is central to how BetterUp’s AI capabilities are built and experienced

• Remove institutional barriers to AI adoption and drive cultural change that embraces continuous reinvention across the Design org

• Serve as BetterUp’s foremost design expert in AI-powered product experiences, with recognized internal and external influence

• Directly contribute to competitive differentiation through breakthrough design applications that define market leadership

During our interview process, you’ll have opportunities to showcase how you harness AI to learn, iterate, and amplify your impact. We encourage all candidates to share examples of how they’ve used AI tools in their work—whether Figma plugins, generative design tools, or AI-powered user research analysis.

Benefits:

At BetterUp, we are committed to living out our mission every day and that starts with providing benefits that allow our employees to care for themselves, support their families, and give back to their community.

• Access to BetterUp coaching; one for you and one for a friend or family member

• A competitive compensation plan with opportunity for advancement

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance

• Flexible paid time off

• Per year:

  • All federal/statutory holidays observed

  • 4 BetterUp Inner Workdays (https://www.betterup.co/inner-work)

  • 5 Volunteer Days to give back

  • Learning and Development stipend

  • Company wide Summer & Winter breaks

• Year-round charitable contribution of your choice on behalf of BetterUp

• 401(k) self contribution

We are dedicated to building diverse teams that fuel an authentic workplace and sense of belonging for each and every employee. We know applying for a job can be intimidating, please don’t hesitate to reach out — we encourage everyone interested in joining us to apply.

BetterUp Inc. provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, genetics, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status. In addition to federal law requirements, BetterUp Inc. complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

At BetterUp, we compensate our employees fairly for their work. Base salary is determined by job-related experience, education/training, residence location, as well as market indicators. The range below is representative of base salary only and does not include equity, sales bonus plans (when applicable) and benefits. This range may be modified in the future.

The base salary range for this role is as follows:

New York City and San Francisco: $250,0