Principal Product Designer (Design Systems)

Yahoo Sports is one of the internet’s leading destinations for comprehensive sports news and innovative fantasy games. We produce insightful content across multiple platforms and curate quality coverage from around the web to inform and entertain fans. We're an original fantasy sports pioneer, with a legacy of innovation that helps us continue to be a fantasy leader. And as one of the most-visited sports platforms on the internet, we're one of the best places for brands to reach fans.

As a Principal, you will be the steward of our visual language and the architect of our design-production engine. You will define the strategy for direct design-to-code and prompt-to-code paths, transforming our design system from a static library into a machine-readable ecosystem. Your work will enable our product teams to ship high-fidelity, data-dense experiences with the velocity and precision that defines the industry standard.Responsibilities

• AI-First System Architecture: Define and lead the long-term roadmap for an "AI-ready" design system, architecting a framework where components and logic are structured for seamless LLM consumption and automated UI generation.

• Workflow Automation: Identify and implement AI-driven efficiencies in the design lifecycle, replacing manual asset management and documentation with automated, AI-assisted workflows.

• Direct-to-Code Strategy: Drive the implementation of advanced Design-to-Code pipelines, ensuring that our design tokens, variables, and logic serve as the universal source of truth for Web, iOS, and Android.

• AI-Augmented Oversight: Shift the team focus from manual pixel-pushing to high-level orchestration, using AI tools to assemble layouts while maintaining absolute brand integrity.

• High-Density Data Modeling: Lead the design of complex, data-rich patterns for live sports and analytics, ensuring the system remains performant and scalable across diverse platforms.

• Cross-Functional AI Alignment: Collaborate with Engineering to bridge the gap between design tokens and AI-pair programming tools (e.g., Copilot), ensuring design intent is preserved in automated code generation.

• System Stewardship: Direct the prioritization of the design system backlog, balancing urgent product needs with long-term architectural health and scalability.

• Mentorship & AI Fluency: Elevate the collective skill set of the design team, fostering a culture of prompt engineering, structured AI interaction, and systems thinking.

Basic Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in Product Design, with a specialized focus on Design Systems at scale.

• Proven track record of building and maintaining complex design systems for multi-platform products (Web, iOS, Android).

• Experience integrating AI tools or automated workflows into the design process (e.g., using LLMs for documentation, Figma AI, or automated linting).

• Demonstrated ability to perform prompt engineering or structured interaction with AI tools to accelerate design output.

• Advanced expertise in Figma, including variables, design tokens, and advanced component architecture.

• Strong understanding of front-end development principles (HTML/CSS, Swift UI, or Kotlin) to lead design-to-code initiatives.

• Experience leading functional teams or projects with complex resource requirements and high-stakes business impact.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with live data visualization and high-density sports analytics.

• Knowledge of JSON/code-based system management and version control (Git).

• A commitment to staying current on emerging AI tools and proactively suggesting improvements to the design production engine.

• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence executive-level stakeholders on the future of design technology.

The material job duties and responsibilities of this role include those listed above as well as adhering to Yahoo policies; exercising sound judgment; working effectively, safely and inclusively with others; exhibiting trustworthiness and meeting expectations; and safeguarding business operations and brand integrity.

At Yahoo, we offer flexible hybrid work options that our employees love! While most roles don’t require regular office attendance, you may occasionally be asked to attend in-person events or team sessions. You’ll always get notice to make arrangements. Your recruiter will let you know if a specific job requires regular attendance at a Yahoo office or facility. If you have any questions about how this applies to the role, just ask the recruiter!

Yahoo is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category. Yahoo will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law. Yahoo is dedicated to providing an accessible environment for all candidates during the application process and for employees during their employment. If you need accessibility assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please submit a request via the Accommodation Request Form (www.yahooinc.com/careers/contact-us.html) or call +1.866.772.3182. Requests and calls received for non-disability related issues, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.

We believe that a diverse and inclusive workplace strengthens Yahoo and deepens our relationships. When you support everyone to be their best selves, they spark discovery, innovation and creativity. Among other efforts, our 11 employee resource groups (ERGs) enhance a culture of belonging with programs, events and fellowship that help educate, support and create a workplace where all feel welcome.

The compensation for this position ranges from $143,625.00 - $299,375.00/yr and will vary depending on factors such as your location, skills and experience.The compensation package may also include incentive compensation opportunities in the form of discretionary annual bonus or commissions. Our comprehensive benefits include healthcare, a great 401k, backup childcare, education stipends and much (much) more.

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