Principal Product Designer, Yahoo Search - Tentpole & Editorial Experiences

External

Yahoo · US

Full-timeHybridToday

Cross-functional CollaborationDesign SystemsLeadershipMachine LearningNegotiation

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About the role

Yahoo Search plays a unique role during the world's biggest moments-when millions of people turn to search to understand, explore, celebrate, and participate in live, high-stakes events like FIFA World Cup, March Madness, major elections, and breaking cultural moments. We're looking for a Principal Product Designer to define and lead the design vision for tentpole event experiences within Yahoo Search . This is a highly strategic individual contributor role for a true product designer -someone who blends systems thinking, sharp product instincts, and a playful, delightful approach to craft experiences that feel timely, trustworthy, and unmistakably Yahoo. You will operate at a squad-to-org level , shaping long-term design strategy while also guiding teams through ambiguity, rapid iteration, and complex cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

Set Vision & Strategy

Identify opportunities to incorporate AI and machine learning insights into live-event experiences, using data-informed design to anticipate user needs, improve relevance, and enhance engagement at scale.

Establish the design architecture and experience strategy for major product areas that activate during high-traffic, high-visibility moments.

Balance short-term event execution with long-term platform thinking , making thoughtful trade-offs that scale beyond a single moment.

Drive Impact Across Teams

Influence product and design strategy across multiple teams and overlapping initiatives , ensuring a cohesive, high-quality user experience.

Identify systemic UX and platform gaps exposed by tentpole events and partner with teams to address them through durable solutions.

Shape roadmaps by anticipating future moments, risks, and opportunities tied to live content, news cycles, and sports calendars.

Design with Delight & Rigor

Champion a fun, expressive, and delightful design approach that enhances clarity and trust without sacrificing usability or performance.

Evolve and expand design patterns for our design system, interaction models, and visual language tailored to live, dynamic, and time-sensitive experiences.

Set and uphold the quality bar for multiple teams, serving as a role model for design excellence and craft.

Create Leverage Through Systems & Standards

Improve organizational effectiveness by creating new standards, frameworks, principles, and strategic artifacts that increase design quality and velocity.

Lead impactful efforts to extend and refine design systems to better support live events, personalization, and rapid iteration.

Direct others in the adoption of best practices and scalable design mechanisms.

Align, Influence & Lead (Without Authority)

Align teams and senior leadership around a shared vision by telling a compelling strategic story rooted in user needs, business impact, and cultural relevance.

Anticipate and resolve high-level conflicts across product, engineering, editorial, data, and partnerships.

Turn complex, and sometimes conflicting, feedback into clear, actionable next steps.

Mentor & Multiply Impact

Mentor and develop designers , raising the overall bar for product thinking and execution.

Lead cross-functional initiatives, helping teams navigate ambiguity, debug conflict, and stay aligned under pressure.

Conduct interviews and technical assessments for senior and principal-level design candidates.

Serve as a role model for professional maturity, ethical decision-making, and strong product judgment .

What You Bring

10+ years of experience in product design, with a proven track record leading large-scale, consumer-facing products .

Demonstrated ability to operate at an Principal level , setting vision and influencing strategy across multiple teams.

Deep product thinking: you understand how design decisions, informed by AI-driven insights and personalization, drive business outcomes, engagement, and trust, especially during high-stakes moments.

Experience designing for live, real-time, or event-driven experiences (sports, news, media, commerce, or cultural moments strongly preferred).

Exceptional storytelling, collaboration, and negotiation skills.

A portfolio that shows both systems-level thinking and craft-level excellence , with examples of delight, personality, and impact.

Comfort thriving in highly ambiguous, fast-moving environments .

Why Yahoo

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Principal Product Designer, Yahoo Search - Tentpole & Editorial Experiences

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