Design System Lead, AOL

AOL is a global media and technology company, representing the best of premium content and innovative platforms. Originally known as America Online, we once connected over 35 million people to the internet, becoming a cultural icon and business behemoth. We recognized digital as the future of media and set out to build a network to enable our company—and our users and partners—to capitalize on this new world. We've always had the drive and innovative thinking to mobilize the future. Now, we have the tools, the reach, and the resources to make this future a reality. We just need YOU!

This is a primarily remote position, but is REQUIRED to be based in the Northern Virginia/DC area, California, or New York to be able to align with teams in office as needed.

No one product or team works on its own. We consider the entire ecosystem when creating new features, content, immersive experiences and platforms. When all of our products and teams work in unison to serve customer needs and pain points, we bring more value to their lives and our own. Each Yahoo plays a part in our success.

Job Overview: As the Design Systems Lead, you will be responsible for establishing and maintaining a comprehensive design system that aligns with our product strategy and design goals. You will work closely with product designers, developers, and other stakeholders to create scalable design components that enable us to build better faster while promoting consistency across the entire AOL ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design System Development: Lead the creation and evolution of our design system, including design patterns, UI components, and guidelines that ensure a unified user experience across all products.

• Collaboration: Partner with design leads, product managers and UX researchers to understand user needs and translate them into design solutions that are practical and aesthetically pleasing. Initiate conversations and coordinate efforts with engineering to enable them to translate system components and specifications into code.

• Documentation: Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation for the design system, including usage guidelines, best practices, and component libraries to facilitate easy adoption across teams.

• Design Quality: Ensure the design system is applied consistently across products by conducting regular audits and providing feedback to design and development teams.

• Training and Advocacy: Educate and advocate for the design system within the organization, providing training sessions and resources to empower teams to use the design system effectively.

• User-Centered Design: Champion user-centered design principles, ensuring that our design solutions are grounded in research and feedback.

• Continuous Improvement: Stay current with industry trends and emerging technologies, continuously evolving the design system to meet the needs of our users and the business.

About You

You're likely to succeed in this role, if you are someone who:

• Enjoys bringing order to complexity.

• Approaches design with an eye for craft and detail.

• Delivers consistent, polished and balanced layouts, through typography, color and visual hierarchy.

• Solves user problems in creative ways that go beyond obvious, expected solutions.

• Presents designs clearly and confidently to facilitate useful feedback while shifting approach based on the audience and desired outcome.

• Takes initiative and accountability for timelines, deliverables and outcomes.

• Contributes to the design community both inside your company and beyond. 

• Desires and takes action to grow professional skills.

 

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in digital product design for web and mobile software

• Design systems experience

• Portfolio that demonstrates expertise in visual design, interaction design, prototyping and product thinking.

• High-level proficiency in all aspects of Figma and up to date on Figma’s possibilities.

• Skills such as illustration, photography, animation, data visualization, conducting user interviews, front-end programming or data science are a plus!

Yahoo is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to,