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Sr. Staff Product Designer, Design Systems

Kong·San Francisco, USA·$150,000–$250,000 / year
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Kong, which builds API and AI connectivity technology for the agentic era, is hiring a Sr. Staff Product Designer to define and own the visual and interaction language of its entire platform and make sure that language shows up consistently in the products customers use. The role joins a Product Design team of around 20 people, reports to the VP of Design and acts as the design lead for the design system. It is explicitly a hands-on craft role: setting the visual bar, building the components and templates other designers work from, and staying close enough to the product to see where the system holds and where it breaks. The role works alongside a Design Technologist who owns the AI prototyping tooling and the Figma to code bridge with engineering.

AI skillsThis role asks for AI & agentic skills, exactly what we teach at Into Design Systems

What you'll do

  • Own the visual design direction of the design system across color, type, spacing, elevation and motion
  • Set and maintain a level of craft and polish that raises the bar for the whole design team, thinking through every component's states, variants and edge cases
  • Keep the system meticulously organized and documented so other designers can find and use it easily
  • Build in accessibility from the start, including high contrast mode, and partner with engineering on implementation that meets WCAG and beyond
  • Own the evolution of design tokens, color themes and foundational styling for a cohesive, scalable system
  • Design and maintain page templates and layout patterns that give designers a consistent starting point for layout, spacing and hierarchy
  • Partner with the Design Technologist on how the system translates into the AI prototyping kit and Figma to code workflows
  • Run office hours, engage in critiques, write clear guidance with do's and don'ts, mentor designers on systems thinking, and track down drift between the system and what is shipped

What they're looking for

  • 8+ years of product design experience, including significant time owning or co-owning a design system at scale
  • Exceptional modern visual design craft with strong, well-reasoned opinions about type, color, spacing and motion
  • A detail-oriented, organized approach to systems work, thinking naturally in states, variants and edge cases
  • Solid working knowledge of WCAG and experience partnering with engineers on accessible component implementation, including high contrast support
  • A track record of enabling a team of designers through documentation, critique, office hours or direct coaching
  • A bias toward the shipped product over the theoretical system, chasing real-world drift rather than polishing an unused spec
  • Comfort partnering directly with engineering on implementation tradeoffs and component APIs, and leading a design system roadmap
  • Portfolio, site or repo showing visual and interaction craft, design system work, evidence of enabling other designers, accessibility decisions and a system change driven through to a shipped outcome

Summary written by Into Design Systems from the public job posting, without guarantee of accuracy or completeness. Always verify the details and apply on the company's official page.

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