Design Program Manager

Design Program Manager

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$/yr - $/yr

Whatnot is the largest live shopping platform in North America and Europe to buy, sell, and discover the things you love. We’re re‑defining e‑commerce by blending community, shopping, and entertainment into a community just for you. With hubs in the US, UK, Germany, Ireland, and Poland, we’re building the future of online marketplaces – together.

From fashion, beauty, and electronics to collectibles like trading cards, comic books, and even live plants, our live auctions have something for everyone.

And we’re just getting started! As one of the fastest growing marketplaces, we’re looking for bold, forward‑thinking problem solvers across all functional areas.

Whatnot’s Design Studio is a high‑impact, cross‑functional creative engine that shapes the future of Whatnot. We tackle bold, high‑craft initiatives that push the boundaries of design and technology. We own and elevate the Whatnot Design System (WDS), create world‑class visual and motion systems, and partner deeply with product and engineering to empower teams to build faster together.

We raise the bar on quality. We bring design rigor to ambiguous problems. And we deliver work that energizes the company and inspires our community.

We’re looking for a Design Program Manager who brings structure, clarity, and momentum to a team operating at the intersection of design, product, engineering, and brand. In this role, you will help orchestrate the Design Studio’s most ambitious initiatives—from large‑scale feature launches to design system rollouts and other high‑impact work.

You’ll be the operational heartbeat of the Design Studio: ensuring work is scoped effectively, timelines stay healthy, teams are aligned, and designers have what they need to deliver exceptional work.

This is a highly cross‑functional role in a fast‑paced environment. You’ll thrive here if you’re proactive, detail‑obsessed, a strong communicator, and energized by making complex work run smoothly.

We’re remote‑first, but this role requires being within commuting distance of one of our office hubs:
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, or New York City.

• Drive operational excellence across the Design Studio—creating clarity, alignment, and predictability for high‑impact initiatives.
• Partner closely with Design, Product, and Engineering leadership to plan, prioritize, and sequence work across multiple parallel tracks.
• Manage planning cycles, scoping, resourcing, timelines, and cross‑team dependencies.
• Operationalize and oversee the evolution of the Whatnot Design System (WDS), ensuring smooth adoption and collaboration across product teams.
• Facilitate communication flows—run stand‑ups, reviews, critiques, and cross‑functional syncs that keep teams aligned and unblocked.
• Build lightweight processes that scale without slowing teams down; identify inefficiencies and continuously improve how the studio operates.
• Ensure projects have clear goals, success metrics, and feedback loops; maintain documentation that keeps teams aligned and informed.
• Act as the connective tissue between disciplines—fostering strong relationships across Design, Product, Engineering, Marketing, and Leadership.

• 7+ years experience in Design Operations, Program Management, Creative Operations, or equivalent roles within high‑velocity product organizations.
• A track record of working directly with product design teams and cross‑functional partners, ensuring delivery of high‑quality design solutions.
• Proven track record managing complex, multi‑stakeholder design projects in consumer technology companies.
• Demonstrated ability to influence without authority and drive consensus across diverse teams.
• Experience with project management methodologies and tools (Agile, Jira, Confluence).
• Experience with design systems is a strong plus.

$190,000/year to $210,000/year + benefits + equity.

The salary range may be inclusive of several levels that would be applicable to the position. Final salary will be based on a number of factors including, level, relevant prior…