Principal Design Manager

The Visual Studio (VS) Code team in the Developer Division is seeking a Principal Design Manager who will join our tight-knit, cross-disciplinary group, and also take on a key leadership role. As Principal Design Manager, you will lead and manage a dedicated team of designers focused on VS Code, guiding and mentoring them to deliver world-class experiences for a passionate community of developers. By combining your expertise with a deep understanding of user needs, you will empower your team to build the software of tomorrow. 

You will also be joining the Developer Division Design Studio, a group of highly talented and enthusiastic designers and UX engineers working on software development tools and technologies across Microsoft’s developer-focused portfolio. The design challenges the studio works on span AI integration, client applications, code editors, multiple programming languages, data science tools, source control and more. 

We operate in one of the most technical divisions at Microsoft, so our ideal candidate will have fluency and understanding of the developer journey, the tools they use, and the nuances of the developer community. Additionally, an understanding of and experience with basic web fundamentals will go a long way in this role –– this includes things such as semantic and accessible HTML, CSS variables, progressive enhancement, modern vanilla JavaScript, and web components. A curious, make-to-think mindset around AI and the evolution of digital product development is another area that this role will need to be comfortable in. 

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond. 

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

Required Qualifications:

• 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 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 equivalent experience.
• 3+ years people management experience.
• 3+ years of experience in VS Code, GitHub, and other development tools.
• 5+ years experience designing products in a technical product space.
• 6+ years or relevant experience in product design, a design consultancy, agency, or other environment where you’ve worked on multidisciplinary design teams. 

Other Requirements:

• Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements arerequired for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience creating interactive prototypes.
• Experience working in an engineering sprint-based environment.
• Fluency in basic web fundamentals (semantic and accessible HTML, CSS variables, progressive enhancement, modern vanilla JavaScript, and web components).
• Fluency in artificial intelligence, including agents and multi-component platforms (MCP) and a growth mindset to stay up to date on the latest advancements and best practices in the AI domain.

Product Design M5 - 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 September 24, 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.

• Lead and mentor a team of designers focused on improving the user experience of VS Code.
• Help guide the vision of AI-native experiences that closes the gap from idea to testable concepts.
• Collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders to define and execute product and design strategy.
• Drive the creation of interactive prototypes to validate design concepts and user flows.
• Ensure design consistency and accessibility across all features and extensions of VS Code.
• Advocate for the developer experience and bring user-centered design thinking to every stage of product development.
• Contribute to sprint planning and agile development cycles with a focus on delivering high-quality design outcomes.
• Leverage insights from user research and telemetry to inform design decisions and prioritize improvements.