At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the design system, migrate architecture, and establish AI-driven design practices.
- Company: Anaconda, a forward-thinking tech company shaping the future of data science and AI.
- Benefits: Flexible hours, remote work, wellness stipend, and comprehensive health insurance.
- Other info: Join a culture that values diversity, clarity, and employee wellbeing.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a high-performance environment with a collaborative team.
- Qualifications: 12+ years in product design, experience with design systems, and engineering fluency.
The predicted salary is between 63000 - 77000 £ per year.
Summary
Anaconda's Design organization now owns our design system end to end, from Figma libraries and design tokens through to the code components engineers ship.
We're mid-flight on a migration of our component architecture to a modern stack, converging two product surfaces into one platform, and defining how a design practice works in an agentic AI world.
As our Principal Product Designer, you'll own the design system as a product: its architecture, its governance, and its evolution across converging surfaces.
You'll partner directly with engineering to land the migration, then build the AI-forward design practice on top of it: the patterns, tooling, and workflows for designing agentic product experiences.
This is a senior IC role reporting to the VP of Design, operating with wide autonomy in a deliberately flat, senior team.
What You'll Do
- Own the design system end to end: design tokens, component libraries, documentation, and the code components engineers consume, across two converging product surfaces.
- Lead the migration of our component architecture to a modern stack (shadcn/ui, Storybook), partnering with engineering to re-baseline scope and ship a complete, production-quality tranche.
- Define the governance that outlives any individual: versioning, contribution model, release process, and explicit exit criteria for design handoff that both design and engineering sign.
- Establish Anaconda's AI-forward design practice: patterns, guidelines, and tooling for agentic product surfaces, and ship the first product experiences that use them.
- Work in design and code: prototype in the production stack and review component implementations.
- Raise the bar across a senior design team through influence: critique, pairing, and visible craft.
- Use AI-assisted tools, including Claude Code, reviewing and validating AI generated output before it ships.
Your Impact Will Be Measured Through
- Completion and adoption of the component architecture migration across both product surfaces.
- Reduction in design-to-engineering handoff time and rework, measured against explicit exit criteria.
- Cross-team adoption of design system governance: versioned releases, contribution model, and shared definition of done.
- AI-forward design patterns shipped in production surfaces and reused across the platform.
What You Need
- 12+ years of product design experience, including several years owning a design system at scale, tokens, component architecture, and governance, not only consumption.
- Engineering fluency: comfortable working in Type Script/React component codebases and Storybook, and applied in technical architecture discussions.
- Proven experience leading a design system migration or re-platform in a production environment, including scoping what ships and what parks.
- Demonstrated experience designing AI-driven or agentic product experiences.
- Experience using AI assisted tools, such as Claude Code, as part of a professional workflow, including reviewing and validating AI generated output before it ships.
- A track record of leading through influence in flat or ambiguous structures, defining the operating model rather than executing within one.
What Will Make You Stand Out
- You've taken a design system through a framework migration at enterprise scale and can walk us through what you kept, cut, and parked — and why.
- Contributions to open-source design systems or component libraries, with public work you can show.
- Experience designing for developer tools, data science, or technical audiences.
- You've built design tooling or automation — internal tools, Figma plugins, or AI-assisted design workflows — that other designers adopted.
- Experience working across converging or multi-product platforms where the design system was the connective tissue.
- A clear point of view on how AI is reshaping design practice, shaped by hands-on work designing agentic experiences.
- You embody our values: "Curious by Default", "Build Together", "Own It", and "Lead with Guts and Heart", and our behaviors: Clarity, Care and Candor.
- You care deeply about fostering an environment where people of all backgrounds and experiences can flourish.
Why You'll Like Working Here
- You'll thrive in a high-performance environment where results are recognized and rewarded
- Your work directly contributes to shaping the future of data science, machine learning, and AI in the enterprise.
- You'll work alongside a collaborative team that values diverse, thoughtful discussion, clarity and candor.
- You'll be supported by a culture that puts employees first - with flexible hours, a fully remote setup, and a genuine commitment to your wellbeing and growth.
The applicants will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the role is filled.
- In addition to base salary, we offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes:
- Flexible Vacation Policy
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- Income Protection Insurance
- Paid Parental Leave
- Monthly Wellness Stipend
- Mental Health Resources
An Equal Opportunity Employer.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
Anaconda, Inc. (“We”, “Us”) are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.
This Privacy Notice sets out the basis on which the personal data collected from you, or that you provide to Us, will be processed by Us in connection with Our recruitment processes.
By clicking “Submit Application”, you acknowledge you have read our and that Anaconda can retain your application data for up to 1-year, unless otherwise stated.
For the purpose of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) ”) and the version of the GDPR retained in UK law (the “UK GDPR”) the Data Controller is Vanessa Macilwaine.
Anaconda is an EEO/AA employer M/F/V/D.
Principal Product Designer, Design Systems & AI employer: Anaconda
Anaconda is an exceptional employer, offering a fully remote setup that prioritises employee wellbeing and growth. With a flexible vacation policy and comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, employees are supported in achieving a healthy work-life balance while contributing to transformative projects in AI and data science. Join a high-performance culture where your efforts directly impact the future of technology across large enterprises in the EMEA region.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Principal Product Designer, Design Systems & AI
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Anaconda or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Anaconda.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Anaconda.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Anaconda that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Principal Product Designer, Design Systems & AI
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Anaconda.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Anaconda and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Anaconda
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Anaconda uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.