Principal Design Lead

We’re looking for a strategic design leader to shape the future of AI-powered experiences as a Principal Design Lead. This is a leadership position on the Scale AI Solutioning (SAS) team that will leverage user experience research, product design, and narrative storytelling to build proven and inspiring AI transformation assets for Microsoft sellers and customers to deliver value at speed and scale.  

You will lead organizational excellence and collaboration across multidisciplinary teams, champion inclusive and insight-led design, and represent the studio at all organizational levels.By playing a pivotal role in critical decision-making and operational clarity, you’ll ensure priorities are aligned and resources are optimized for impact.

Your leadership will shape the studio’s design initiatives, foster a culture of storytelling that inspires stakeholders, and maintain transparency and efficiency across all projects. 

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 8+ years experience working in product or service design
  • OR Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 6+ years experience working in product or service design
  • OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems)
• 4+ years of experience in visual design, UX/UI design, systems design, and research with a deep understanding of craft and quality. 
• 3+ years of experience as a design lead, including leading the end-to-end design of at least one product, application, or service from concept to launch
• 2+ years of experience in storytelling and narrative design with an ability to pitch and land new approaches and ideas. 
• 2+ years of experience directing, leading,and delivering high quality, storytelling assets such as pitch decks, videos, brand and content strategy, and various communication assets. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 12+ years experience working in product or service design
  • OR Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 8+ years experience working in product or service design
  • OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems)
• 6+ years experience shipping products, services, or games and/or delivering to customers as a result of an end-to-end design process
• Experience designing and developing AI and AI-powered user experiences

• Experience with V0–V1 product development, including incubation and early-stage design

• Experience leading and managing conversationsto drive alignment and gain buy-in with customers, executives, and senior leadership

• Experience defining and setting product and experience vision, including designing and delivering compelling live demos and experiential presentations

Product Design IC5 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $139,900 - $274,800 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $188,000 - $304,200 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

Microsoft will accept applications for the role until October 9, 2025.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.  We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.

Leadership & Strategy

• You will lead and evolve the product design and UX research strategy across AI transformation assets while directing and architecting systems and frameworks that unify design, research, and storytelling across teams.

• You will Influence product strategy through synthesis of user insights, business needs, and technical goals while partnering with engineering, program managers, and business leaders to deliver cohesive, customer-centric experiences.

• You will lead collaboration with creative team members and cross discipline teammates to define products, features, stories, and experiences. 

• You will collaborate with leadership and your team to deliver product design results while also providing guidance to product designers and creating clarity for stakeholders.

• You will guide communication with cross-disciplinary teams across all stages of design and development. You will also tell a compelling, convincing product story to a variety of audiences that influences buy-in from key stakeholders.

• Evangelize design excellence and inclusive innovation across the organization.

Product Design & Research Execution

• Oversee end-to-end product design from concept to delivery, ensuring emotional and functional resonance.

• Drive prototyping initiatives and validate design hypotheses through iterative testing.

• Direct ideation for complex products requiring holistic systems thinking and strategic constraint navigation.

• Guide research teams in applying generative, evaluative, and mixed methodologies to inform product direction.

• Ensure alignment with design systems, accessibility standards, and brand guidelines.

• Create alignment on schedules and plan definitions, including dependency tracking across teams.

Narrative & Storytelling

• Craft compelling narratives that communicate vision, inspire excitement, and drive stakeholder and executive buy-in.

• Coach teams on storytelling techniques to amplify impact across discipline and team leadership.

• Lead communication workstreams that foster clarity, alignment, and executive engagement.