Lead Product Designer, Growth

Role overview

Lead Product Designer, Growth will own design of the core product experience across the member journey for Web, iOS, and Android. The role sits on the Growth Team within Product & Design, reporting to the Sr. Manager of Product Design, and plays a central part in the company’s growth strategy.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end product design and set design direction for Rakuten’s core member experience (from problem framing through shipped product).
• Create foundational UX patterns and interaction standards that scale and improve design craft.
• Drive research and competitive analysis to identify pain points and validate solutions.
• Shape squad-level vision; influence product direction through clear presentations and stakeholder buy-in.
• Collaborate with product managers, engineers, and UX writers; communicate design rationale and make pragmatic engineering tradeoffs.
• Navigate complex multi-team stakeholder dynamics to maintain alignment and momentum.
• Contribute to design culture via critiques, knowledge sharing, and raising the bar across the org.
• Use AI tools (including Claude Code) to build interactive prototypes early and reduce reliance on engineering cycles.
• Apply AI-assisted workflows across research synthesis, ideation, and iteration.

Requirements (minimum qualifications)

• 6+ years designing digital products for Web and iOS/Android in close partnership with Product and Engineering.
• Portfolio showing end-to-end product design with clear evidence of process, decision-making, and measurable outcomes.
• Experience setting design direction for large product areas and driving cross-functional alignment.
• Ability to establish design frameworks for complex problems at scale.
• Degree in a relevant field (HCI, UI/UX, Graphic Design, or related).

Nice-to-haves

• Familiarity with modern, tool-forward AI workflows for design, research synthesis, and rapid prototyping.