Principal Product Designer (Teams)

We are seeking a talented and experienced Principal Product Designer to join our highly collaborative design team at Microsoft Teams. In this role, you will define and design compelling experiences that empower people to achieve more together by shaping the core communication and collaboration features of our transformative chat-based app, while also spearheading the development of innovative, AI-driven messaging experiences that will shape the future of communication. Our team comprises user researchers, engineers, and product designers who value creativity, open idea sharing, and having fun while delivering products that our millions of users love. You will create alignment on schedules and plan definitions, including dependency tracking, ensuring cohesive progress across the discipline. 

As a visionary Principal Product Designer, you will elevate the craft by inspiring, defining, articulating, and delivering elegant and simplified solutions to our most complex challenges. Leading by example, you will collaborate with partners and executive stakeholders to drive exceptional design outcomes, aligning design solutions with business, technical, and user requirements. Your knowledge in Design Systems will guide the adoption of the latest updates, and you will advocate for acquiring new systems as needed. You will lead expansive prototyping initiatives and direct your team to generate innovative solutions for complex products. Effective communication of your ideas through compelling stories, sketches, and fully rendered designs is crucial to your success. Additionally, you will set the context for senior leadership, communicate a convincing product story to inspire excitement and support, and provide oversight and guidance to a team of product designers, ensuring high-quality, design-led initiatives across mobile and desktop platforms.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

• Lead Cross-Functional Collaboration: Facilitate effective collaboration with creative team members, program managers, developers, and executive stakeholders to define, iterate, and implement new and existing product features, ensuring alignment with business, technical, and user requirements. 
• Design System Knowledge: Act as the Design System authority by overseeing the adoption and consistency of design standards across multiple teams, evaluating industry updates, and advocating for the acquisition or enhancement of design systems to maintain high-quality craftsmanship.
• Team Leadership and Mentorship: Provide oversight and guidance to a team of product designers, mentoring newer members, fostering a creative and inclusive work environment, and ensuring the team delivers exceptional design outcomes aligned with the original vision and goals.
• Strategic Product Design and Prototyping: Drive the product design lifecycle from conception to delivery, including schedule alignment, dependency tracking, expansive prototyping initiatives, and ensuring designs meet user needs and company standards through detailed interaction models and user experience enhancements.
• Compelling Communication and Storytelling: Develop and communicate persuasive product stories to diverse audiences, including senior leadership and key stakeholders, to inspire excitement and garner support. Influence product strategy and design decisions through effective storytelling and presentation of design concepts.