VP Experience Design, Platforms & Tools

As VP Experience Design, Platforms & Tools, you will lead the design vision for PayPal's platform products, guiding a multi-disciplinary team to create innovative, user-centric experiences across diverse platforms. You will be accountable for design strategy and execution at scale, collaborating with product and engineering to define a next-generation roadmap. This role involves architecting world-class experiences for consumer and merchant segments, fostering a test-and-learn mindset, and attracting top design talent while inspiring and influencing across the company.

Must Have

• Lead global teams of designers, driving best practices in process and methodology.
• Guide UX efforts across teams, including strategy, planning, and presenting to senior staff.
• Envision next-generation experiences and design language using research, ideation, and prototyping.
• Hold team accountable to leverage and extend design systems, style guides, patterns, and assets.
• Contribute to the wider UX community, mentoring others.
• Pioneer a new incubation process, pushing design prototyping and customer feedback upstream.
• Establish a clear design vision aligned with PayPal’s platform and business strategy.
• Define scalable design principles, systems, and standards across platforms.
• Drive innovation by anticipating emerging customer needs and technology trends.
• Lead design across critical enablers: identity & authentication, risk & compliance, servicing & customer support, merchant & consumer tooling.
• Build, grow, and inspire a high-performing global design team.
• Provide mentorship and feedback to elevate craft, creativity, and impact.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning.
• Partner with product and engineering to ensure seamless execution of design solutions.
• Champion design thinking and customer-centricity across PayPal’s leadership.
• Influence key stakeholders with clear storytelling and data-driven insights.

Good to Have

• Financial services expertise

Perks & Benefits

• Flexible work environment
• Employee shares options
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Medical benefits
• Dental benefits
• Vision benefits

The Company

PayPal has been revolutionizing commerce globally for more than 25 years. Creating innovative experiences that make moving money, selling, and shopping simple, personalized, and secure, PayPal empowers consumers and businesses in approximately 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy.

We operate a global, two-sided network at scale that connects hundreds of millions of merchants and consumers. We help merchants and consumers connect, transact, and complete payments, whether they are online or in person. PayPal is more than a connection to third-party payment networks. We provide proprietary payment solutions accepted by merchants that enable the completion of payments on our platform on behalf of our customers.

We offer our customers the flexibility to use their accounts to purchase and receive payments for goods and services, as well as the ability to transfer and withdraw funds. We enable consumers to exchange funds more safely with merchants using a variety of funding sources, which may include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products such as gift cards, and eligible credit card rewards. Our PayPal, Venmo, and Xoom products also make it safer and simpler for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. We offer merchants an end-to-end payments solution that provides authorization and settlement capabilities, as well as instant access to funds and payouts. We also help merchants connect with their customers, process exchanges and returns, and manage risk. We enable consumers to engage in cross-border shopping and merchants to extend their global reach while reducing the complexity and friction involved in enabling cross-border trade.

Our beliefs are the foundation for how we conduct business every day. We live each day guided by our core values of Inclusion, Innovation, Collaboration, and Wellness. Together, our values ensure that we work together as one global team with our customers at the center of everything we do – and they push us to ensure we take care of ourselves, each other, and our communities.

Job Summary:

The Position:

The customer is at the center of everything we do at PayPal. As a leader in financial technologies, PayPal teams are cross-functional and inspired by the goal of improving the financial wellbeing of people and businesses around the world. Our cross-functional teams’ partner across the PayPal family of companies as one team to deliver unique and meaningful products for millions of customers around the world.

As a VP Experience Design, Platforms & Tools within the Experience Design team, you will serve as a design leader who is accountable for the design strategy and execution at scale across end-to-end experiences across platforms and form factors. We are seeking a passionate and experienced Design Leader to spearhead the design vision for our platform products, leading a team of multi-disciplinary designers , writers and researchers to develop innovative, user-centric experiences across our diverse platforms. This role requires a strong understanding of design principles, user research methodologies, and a proven ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality platform experiences.

You will work across various consumer and merchant segments to architect world-class experiences that transform our business. You’ll collaborate closely with product and engineering partners to define and execute a next-generation roadmap that meets today’s needs while anticipating tomorrow’s challenges. You will guide your team and collaborate with other leaders and cross-functional team members to build and deliver the best possible experiences across all aspects of commerce, from discovery to post-purchase.

You will guide your team and work with other senior leaders and cross-functional team members to build and deliver the best possible experiences for our sellers, from casual sellers and hobbyists to small businesses to some of the largest enterprises in the world.

The VP role calls for a collaborative design leader who can wear many hats, think conceptually and strategically about design, and who is passionate about consumer-based products that raise the design bar — blending software and brand experiences. The ideal candidate should be an experienced design leader who has successfully demonstrated taking business goals and turning them into inspiring world-class designs. The individual must have an understanding of the complexity of product development and new product incubation. The role requires the ability to develop ideas quickly in response to business needs, turn creative concepts into high-quality, on-brand customer experiences, partner closely with product and engineering teams, and to develop and coach a team of high craft designers, technologists, and strategists.

You will lead a team that has passion for designing intuitive cross-platform experiences leveraging prototyping techniques, empathy, and research with a test and learn mindset. You will help us attract, develop, and retain the world’s best design talent, and have a passion for coaching teams and guiding partners in empathizing with customer problems. You will report to the Chief Design Officer and be a member of our diverse Experience Design leadership team where we use our design and research skills to inspire and influence across the company.

We believe that different perspectives and backgrounds inside our team lead to innovation and inclusion in our product design. We advocate for meaningful and engaging experiences for our diverse global customers. We support each other, learn from challenges, and have fun along the way.

Job Description:

Job Responsibilities

• Lead global teams of designers, drive best practices in process and methodology and deliver against business and customer needs.
• Guide UX efforts across teams, including strategy, planning, working with cross-functional partners to remove blockers and presenting effectively to senior staff and stakeholders.
• Work with the team to envision next generation experiences and design language, using research, ideation, experience design, and prototyping skills.
• Hold team accountable to leverage and extend the use of design system, style guides, patterns and assets in the creation of UX deliverables.
• Contribute to the wider UX & UX manager community, mentoring others, leveraging your strengths to help others grow.
• Pioneer a new incubation process, pushing design prototyping, customer feedback, and testing upstream to drive product decision making early in the process.

Strategic Design Leadership

• Establish a clear design vision aligned with PayPal’s platform and business strategy.
• Define scalable design principles, systems, and standards across platforms.
• Drive innovation by anticipating emerging customer needs and technology trends.

Platform & Scale Initiatives

• Lead design across critical enablers of PayPal’s growth, including:
• Next-generation identity & authentication — delivering secure, seamless login and account experiences.
• Risk & compliance workflows — designing transparent, friction-right solutions that build trust and protect users.
• Servicing & customer support — creating intuitive, proactive, and empathetic self-service and agent experiences.
• Merchant & consumer tooling — simplifying onboarding, payments, and account management at scale.

Team Leadership & Mentorship

• Build, grow, and inspire a high-performing global design team.
• Provide mentorship and feedback to elevate craft, creativity, and impact.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with product and engineering to ensure seamless execution of design solutions.
• Champion design thinking and customer-centricity across PayPal’s leadership.
• Influence key stakeholders with clear storytelling and data-driven insights.

Additional Responsibilities & Preferred Qualifications:

Requirements

• 20 years of UX experience with 10 years managing managers.
• Bachelor’s and/or master’s degree in the study of user experience, design, research or related fields, or equivalent professional experience.
• Proven experience in leading, growing, and inspiring highly talented and productive experience design teams.
• Complete experience design skillset, to deliver excellence across products and platforms, mobile apps, financial services expertise an advantage.
• Experience leading delivery, through feedback, design critique, presentation to program sponsors, planning and coordinating with partners where needed.
• Familiarity and experience with standard design and prototyping tools, such as Figma, Framer, and Miro.
• High degree of craft, taste, and product intuition, with a keen eye towards future trends, emerging technology, and shifting customer expectations.
• Experience managing multiple projects and working through ambiguity.
• Ability to work cross-team and synthesize feedback from multiple teams/owners.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Strong organizational skills and a relentless attention to detail.
• Compelling storyteller who can educate as well as entertain.

Subsidiary:

PayPal

Travel Percent:

0

• PayPal is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices.

Actual Compensation is based on various factors including but not limited to work location, and relevant skills and experience.

The total compensation for this practice may include an annual performance bonus (or other incentive compensation, as applicable), equity, and medical, dental, vision, and other benefits. For more information, visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com

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The US national annual pay range for this role is $250000 to $360000

PayPal does not charge candidates any fees for courses, applications, resume reviews, interviews, background checks, or onboarding. Any such request is a red flag and likely part of a scam. To learn more about how to identify and avoid recruitment fraud please visit https://careers.pypl.com/contact-us

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For the majority of employees, PayPal's balanced hybrid work model offers 3 days in the office for effective in-person collaboration and 2 days at your choice of either the PayPal office or your home workspace, ensuring that you equally have the benefits and conveniences of both locations.

Our Benefits:

At PayPal, we’re committed to building an equitable and inclusive global economy. And we can’t do this without our most important asset—you. That’s why we offer benefits to help you thrive in every stage of life. We champion your financial, physical, and mental health by offering valuable benefits and resources to help you care for the whole you.

We have great benefits including a flexible work environment, employee shares options, health and life insurance and more. To learn more about our benefits please visit https://www.paypalbenefits.com

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Who We Are:

Click Here

to learn more about our culture and community.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

PayPal provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. In addition, PayPal will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are unable to submit an application because of incompatible assistive technology or a disability, please contact us at paypalglobaltalentacquisition@paypal.com

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Belonging at PayPal:

Our employees are central to advancing our mission, and we strive to create an environment where everyone can do their best work with a sense of purpose and belonging. Belonging at PayPal means creating a workplace with a sense of acceptance and security where all employees feel included and valued. We are proud to have a diverse workforce reflective of the merchants, consumers, and communities that we serve, and we continue to take tangible actions to cultivate inclusivity and belonging at PayPal.

Any general requests for consideration of your skills, please Join our Talent Community

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We know the confidence gap and imposter syndrome can get in the way of meeting spectacular candidates. Please don’t hesitate to apply.

About Us

PayPal is on a mission to revolutionize commerce globally. We’re driving our company, industry, and society forward with vision and velocity. With our commitment to excellence, innovation, and talent, the possibilities are limitless.

Learn more at PayPal.com/Jobs

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