Product Design Manager

Company: Retool Inc.
Location: San Francisco
Posted on: May 3, 2025

Job Description:

Nearly every company in the world runs on custom software: Gartner estimates that up to 50% of all code is written for internal use. This is the operational software for refunding orders, underwriting loans, onboarding employees, analyzing transactions, and providing customer support. But most companies don't have adequate resources to properly invest in these tools, leading to a lot of old and clunky internal software or, even worse, users still stuck in manual and spreadsheet flows.At Retool, we're on a mission to bring good software to everyone. We're building a new type of development platform that combines the benefits of traditional software development with a drag-and-drop UI editor and AI, making it dramatically faster to build internal tools. We believe that the future of software development lies in abstracting away the tedious and repetitive tasks developers waste time on, while creating reusable components that act as a force multiplier for future developers and projects. The result is not just productivity, but good software by default. And that's a mission worth striving for.Today, our customers span from small startups building their first operational tools to Fortune 500 companies building mission-critical apps for thousands of users across their business. Interested in joining us? Let us know!At Retool, we're building a fundamentally better way to develop software. We believe in empowering technical builders with a new kind of development environment-one that makes it dramatically easier and faster to create mission-critical internal tools.Retool designers make decisions that will affect millions of people, from the developers creating software to the employees who operate it every day. Instead of designing just one product, we're effectively designing unique software products for thousands of companies across many different verticals.This also presents a unique design challenge. Because it's possible to build nearly anything in Retool, we don't have absolute control over how our users experience the product. We're constantly seeking just the right balance between convention and configuration, between technical expressiveness and conceptual simplicity.WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of product designers, providing guidance and fostering a high-performance, user-centered culture
• Own and drive the complete product design lifecycle of major features, setting a high bar for craft and execution
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional partners in product, engineering, success, sales, and marketing to align on priorities, uncover customer insights, and shape product strategy
• Conduct user research and synthesize findings to guide design decisions and validate solutions
• Define and evolve Retool's design system, ensuring consistency and scalability across the platform
• Provide direct feedback, coaching, and structured career development to designers on your team
• Champion and establish best practices for user-centered design, usability, and accessibility across Retool
• Partner with leadership to build and scale the design function, influencing how design is valued and integrated into our broader product development processYOU MIGHT WORK
  • Design Team & Culture - Build and scale a high-performing design team by hiring top-tier talent, developing processes that enable great design, and fostering an inclusive and collaborative team environment
  • Adoption - Accelerate the adoption of Retool by shortening time-to-value, inspiring new customers, and encouraging network effects
  • Design Systems - Define the system that not only powers Retool's UI but also enables customers to create cohesive internal toolsTHE SKILLSET YOU'LL BRING
    • Have 5+ years of experience in product design, with at least 2 years managing or mentoring designers
    • Have a strong portfolio demonstrating generalist design skills and experience driving the product design lifecycle from end-to-end
    • Are excited about breaking down technically complex problems into intuitive abstractions, balancing power and simplicity
    • Love thinking systematically about hard problems with a lot of tradeoffs-then going deep on getting the details right through rapid, continual iteration
    • Have experience designing developer-centric products, creative software, and/or enterprise internal tools
    • Are customer-obsessed and excited to spend time with users to understand their needs and pain points
    • Are an excellent communicator (and consider writing a fundamental design skill)
    • Have experience working closely with engineers and product teams in fast-paced environments
    • Thrive in ambiguity, can independently prioritize work based on user needs and business goals, and take responsibility to drive product ideas forward
    • Have a strong bias toward action and a focus on driving impact, not just outputFor candidates based in San Francisco, the pay range(s) for this role is listed below and represents base salary range for non-commissionable roles or on-target earnings (OTE) for commissionable roles. This salary range may be inclusive of several career levels at Retool and will be narrowed during the interview process based on a number of factors such as (but not limited to), scope and responsibilities, the candidate's experience and qualifications, and location.Additional compensation in the form(s) of equity, and/or commission/bonuses are dependent on the position offered. Retool provides a comprehensive benefit plan, including medical, dental, vision, and 401(k). Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.$188,400 - $293,300 USDRetool offers generous benefits to all employees and hybrid work location. For more information, please visit the benefits and perks section of our careers page!Retool is currently set up to employ all roles in the US and specific roles in the UK. To find roles that can be employed in the UK, please refer to our careers page and review the indicated locations.
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Keywords: Retool Inc., San Rafael , Product Design Manager, Executive , San Francisco, California