Lead Product Designer

Location:

San Francisco, CA or NY, New York (In‑office preferred) Remote opportunity available in the following states: CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, IL, MI, MN, NH, NJ, NY, OR, SD, TX, TN, UT, WI, WY.

Rakuten Rewards is a leading e-commerce company that enhances the way people shop by offering Cash Back, deals and rewards from more than 3,500 merchants. Founded in 1999, Rakuten has grown to become the go-to shopping destination for consumers, having paid out nearly $2 billion in Cash Back to its 15 million members. The company also operates Shop Style, a leading fashion discovery destination, and Cartera Commerce, a top rewards platform for airlines and banks.

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The Lead Product Designer, Growth will own the design of the core product experience across the member journey for Web, iOS, and Android. This role sits within the Product & Design organization on the Growth Team, reporting to the Sr. Manager of Product Design, and is central to company strategy this year.

• Own end-to-end design and set the design direction of Rakuten’s core member experience across Web, iOS, and Android, from problem framing through shipped product.
• Define foundational UX patterns and interaction standards that scale and uplift craft.
• Drive research and competitive analysis to uncover pain points and validate solutions.
• Shape squad-level vision, influence product direction through compelling presentations, and build stakeholder buy-in.
• Collaborate cross‑functionally with product managers, engineers, and UX writers; communicate design rationale clearly and make pragmatic tradeoffs with engineering.
• Navigate complex stakeholder dynamics across multiple teams, driving alignment and maintaining momentum.
• Contribute informally to design culture through critiques, knowledge sharing, and helping raise the bar across the broader design org.
• Leverage AI tools and Claude Code to rapidly build interactive prototypes that validate UX concepts early, reducing reliance on engineering cycles for exploratory work.
• Embrace AI‑assisted workflows across research synthesis, ideation, and iteration, bringing a modern, tool‑forward approach to the design process.

• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Human‑Computer Interaction, UI/UX, Graphic Design, or a related discipline.
• 6+ years designing digital products (Web and iOS/Android) in close partnership with Product and Engineering.
• Portfolio demonstrating end-to-end product design with clear evidence of process, decision‑making, and measurable outcomes.
• Demonstrated experience setting design direction for large product areas and driving cross‑functional alignment.
• Proven ability to establish design frameworks that address complexity at scale.
• Proficiency with design and prototyping tools, e.g., Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, InVision, Framer.
• Excellent communication skills, an engaging presentation style, and strong visual storytelling.
• Experience navigating complex stakeholder dynamics and leading without formal authority.

• Experience in e‑commerce, loyalty, consumer growth, or activation‑focused product work.
• Familiarity with experimentation frameworks and working alongside Analytics to define success metrics.
• Active use of AI tools as part of a design workflow, ideally including AI coding tools for rapid prototyping.
• Experience setting AI strategy or workflows for a product team.
• Experience in a mid‑to‑large scale company where design has a clear seat at the table and is expected to influence strategy.

• USD $ - $ annually.
• The successful applicant for this role will be eligible for discretionary bonus, health, vision, dental insurance, 401k matching, PTO, Volunteer Time Off (VTO), and other employee benefits as the company implements.

Rakuten provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. Rakuten considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, provincial or local laws.