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Principal Design Manager
Job Location:
Job Location:
Los Angeles, CA - USA
Monthly Salary:
$ 250000 - 290000
Monthly Salary:
Posted:
21 August 2026 (Yesterday)
Posted:
Application Deadline:
18 November 2026
Application Deadline:
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Vacancies:
Department:
Job Summary
The Role
We are looking for a Principal Design Manager to lead and grow a team of senior individual-contributor designers shaping how creators discover organize and share content through Linktree. This is a player-coach role: youll manage coach and develop a small team of senior designers while staying hands-on with design yourself personally owning some of the hardest or most ambiguous problems.
Youll set design vision and craft standards for your area partner closely with Product Engineering and Marketing and be accountable for both the quality of your teams work and your own. As the team scales this role is on a path to grow into a broader leadership remit over time. As a member of the Design leadership team youll help define how Linktree scales design as the company grows.
Why This Role Matters
A consumer product at this scale is made or broken by design. The hard part isnt adding another pair of hands; its the leadership to raise the whole teams ceiling coaching senior designers holding the craft bar and turning scattered effort into shipped coherent product. This role exists to be that multiplier: a player-coach close enough to the work to model the standard and generous enough to grow the people who carry it.
What Youll Own
- Lead coach and develop a team of senior individual-contributor designers.
- Stay hands-on as a player-coach personally owning and shipping design work on the highest-leverage or most ambiguous problems.
- Set design vision and craft direction for your area ensuring quality and consistency across your teams work.
- Partner with Product Engineering and Marketing leaders to align design with business priorities.
- Own hiring and team composition for your area adapting as the business and the team scale.
- Establish and evolve craft standards critique practices and design operating rhythms for the team.
- Represent design in cross-functional forums translating design work into business impact.
- Balance individual craft contribution with management modelling the standard you expect of the team.
Who Were Looking For
- 10 years of design experience including experience managing and growing individual contributors (managing managers is a plus not a requirement).
- A genuine player-coach still hands-on and excellent at the craft and energized by both doing the work and developing others.
- Proven track record of shipping high-quality design within a consumer product or creator / marketplace platform.
- Demonstrated ability to hire coach develop and retain strong individual-contributor designers especially at the senior level.
- Strong craft judgment and the ability to give and model high-leverage feedback.
- Experience partnering with Product Engineering and Marketing leaders.
- Ability to translate ambiguous business problems into a clear design direction.
- Comfort balancing personal craft work with team leadership and good judgment on when to do versus delegate.
- Excellent written and verbal communication.
- A growth mindset toward AI-accelerated design tools and how they change workflows.
Why Join Linktree
- Be part of a rapidly growing company thats shaping the future of how people connect online.
- Contribute to a product that impacts millions of users worldwide driving innovation in digital experiences.
- Shape the user experience for one of the most popular platforms globally impacting millions of users.
- Be part of a collaborative and inclusive culture that values diversity and innovation.
- Enjoy competitive compensation flexible work arrangements and robust professional development opportunities.
Linktree is committed to providing a fair and competitive compensation package including cash equity and benefits. The base salary offered for this role is targeted at $250000 - $290000 for roles based in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Final offers depend on multiple factors including location experience expertise and role scope and may vary from the range listed.
P.S. If you dont tick every box in this listing please dont rule yourself out. We take pride in inclusion and hiring incredible human beings with great potential over ticking boxes so if this role resonates with you hit that apply button!
Our Story
Were on a mission to empower anyone to curate grow and monetize their digital universe. We created the link in bio category and were just getting started. From creators artists and entrepreneurs to global brands were redefining how people connect with their communities showcase their content and promote products all in one link.
Today a community of 70 million use Linktree including icons like Adidas TikTok the UN Environmental Program The NFL Manchester United World Central Kitchen Sabrina Carpenter Olivia Rodrigo and Selena Gomez. With 48000 new accounts created every day Linktree is the fastest-growing leader in our space.
Weve teamed up with some of the worlds biggest platforms including TikTok Snap YouTube GoFundMe Spotify Google Stripe Reddit Laylo and Kajabi to unify Linkers digital spaces and we partner with retail brands Amazon Nike Nordstrom Target Sephora Vuori and more to share products they love.
Were a tight-knit passionate team building best-in-class tools that make online presence simple powerful and yours. If youre excited by the idea of shaping a new category setting the standard and making space for everyone to be seen and succeed wed love to meet you.
Where and How We Work
Were a global diverse team spread across continents with offices in London Los Angeles Melbourne and San Francisco. We work together flexibly and you can choose the setup that works best for you: fully remote or a hybrid mix of office and home.
We offer autonomy in how you structure your days and weeks. While were mindful of time zones and occasionally collaborate outside the typical 95 we lean into async work to keep things flowing. Our culture is family-friendly and Zoom-casual where kids pets and delivery drivers are welcome.
How well help you thrive
Our approach to benefits considers the whole person and the unique contributions they bring to Linktree. We want the experience at Linktree to be one that enables people to truly thrive so we can Go Further Together (one of our values). Some ways we support you:
- An annual wellbeing allowance to use on things like (but not limited to) fitness memberships development courses childcare travel charitable donations pet insurance home office set-up - the choice is yours!
- 100% coverage (and 80% for your dependents) of your monthly premiums for medical dental vision disability and life insurance for US-based employees.
- Employer contribution towards your retirement.
- Generous time off for vacation holidays parental leave volunteer time and other categories.
- Employee stock option program - we want each and every employee to share in the companys success.
At Linktree we believe in promoting a culture that celebrates unique backgrounds talents and experiences and were proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are creating an inclusive workplace where every individual feels valued respected and has equal opportunities to thrive. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment where all team members have a sense of belonging. Linktree welcomes all people regardless of sex gender identity race ethnicity disability pregnancy age or other lived experience. If you require accommodations to fully participate in our opportunities please dont hesitate to reach us at your needs are important to us.
Required Experience:
Manager
