Director, Design Systems

Key Responsibilities

• Own the Design Systems Vision: Define and lead the long-term roadmap for Bumble’s design system across mobile and web, ensuring it supports brand expression, UX consistency, and product velocity.
• Lead and Grow the Team: Manage and mentor a team of talented systems designers, fostering a culture of rigor, collaboration, and innovation.
• Drive Adoption and Alignment: Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to ensure seamless integration of the design system into workflows, tools, and codebases.
• Ensure Craft and Consistency: Maintain a high bar for design quality, accessibility, and engineering partnership across every component, token, and documentation artifact.
• Build Bridges Across Teams: Partner with Brand, Product Design, Engineering, and Research to ensure the system meets evolving product and user needs while remaining flexible and scalable.
• Enable Product Velocity: Reduce duplication and fragmentation by delivering a stable, well-documented system that helps teams move faster and smarter.
• Champion Inclusivity: Bake accessibility and inclusive design principles into every layer of the system — from color and typography to motion and interaction patterns.

Why This Role is Critical

At Bumble’s scale and pace, a strong design system is not just a toolkit — it’s a strategic capability. The Product Design Director, Design Systems plays a pivotal role in:

• Amplifying Product Teams: A well-maintained system enables designers and engineers to spend less time reinventing and more time innovating.
• Protecting Brand Integrity: As we scale and localize our products globally, the design system ensures our brand shows up consistently and beautifully across every touchpoint.
• Driving Inclusive Experiences: With accessibility embedded into the system’s DNA, we can ensure every user — regardless of ability or context — experiences Bumble as welcoming and empowering.
• Accelerating Time to Market: Systematized components and interactions allow teams to deliver polished features faster, with less risk and greater alignment.

This role directly shapes the craft, coherence, and performance of design across every Bumble product — and by extension, how millions of people experience connection every day.

What We're Looking For:

• 10+ years of experience in product design, with 4+ years focused on systems or platform design leadership.
• Proven success leading large-scale, multi-platform design systems in consumer tech environments.
• Deep understanding of systems architecture, component libraries, accessibility standards, and design tooling (especially Figma and design tokens).
• Experience partnering closely with engineers, including familiarity with frontend frameworks and system governance models.
• Strong mentorship and team development skills; you’ve grown high-performing design systems teams and built inclusive team cultures.
• Strategic thinker and systems-oriented problem solver who can balance near-term needs with long-term scalability.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills — able to advocate for design and build alignment across diverse stakeholders.
• Passionate about Bumble’s mission and committed to building safe, inclusive, and joyful experiences at scale.

Bonus Points

• Experience contributing to open-source design systems or cross-functional tooling.
• Background in accessibility-first or internationalized product environments.
• Familiarity with analytics, usage tracking, or measuring system adoption.

$240,000 - $257,500 a year

Why Join Us?

• You’ll own one of Bumble’s highest-potential growth areas, shaping how millions of people build real-life friendships.
• You’ll lead a talented, mission-driven team at a company known for challenging norms and designing for good.
• You’ll be building more than features—you’ll be building belonging at scale.