Zendesk are hiring a
Senior Manager, Product Design
Job Description
Zendesk builds beautifully simple software that improves customer and employee experiences. It’s what we’re known for—and we intend to stay ahead by out-innovating ourselves. Our product design team thrives on rapid prototyping, bold experimentation, and an obsession with understanding our customers.
About the role:
We’re looking for a Senior Manager, Product Design to lead the design vision for Product-Led Growth (PLG) at Zendesk—a business-critical initiative shaping how customers discover, try, and buy our products. This is a high-visibility role at the center of fast-moving, high-stakes work.
You’ll lead a talented team working at startup speed inside a scaled business. That means making quick, confident calls in ambiguous situations, keeping quality high without slowing down, and creating clarity for your team when the path isn’t obvious.
You’ll collaborate closely with the Online Business cross-functional leadership team—strong, deeply engaged stakeholders with ambitious expectations for design. Success in this role means building trust with senior partners, balancing stakeholder needs with what’s right for customers and the design team, and influencing strategy through design. You’ll also regularly present to executives, turning complex problems into compelling narratives that drive alignment and action.
This role requires a leader who can inspire, coach, and hold a team to a high performance bar—helping designers not only do the best work of their careers, but do it fast, and in the right direction.
You’ll report to the Senior Director, Product Design in the US.
What you’ll do:
- Own the design strategy for the online customer journey—conversion, monetization, self-serve setup, and beyond
- Drive speed, agility, and focus in a high-ambiguity, high-expectation environment
- Build strong, trust-based relationships with cross-functional leadership to align on priorities and strategy
- Grow, coach, and hold designers accountable to performance standards that match business needs
- Present confidently to senior executives, telling stories that create alignment and inspire action
- Create space for critique, iteration, and experimentation while keeping delivery on track
- Define and evolve processes that keep a fast-moving team delivering at a high bar
- Recruit, hire, and onboard top design talent
What you’ll bring:
- Portfolio or case studies that demonstrate your leadership in product design—showing how you’ve set vision, empowered teams, and delivered measurable business results at speed
- Proven ability to navigate strong, opinionated stakeholders while keeping the team aligned to strategy
- Executive presence and exceptional storytelling skills for influencing at the highest levels
- A track record of performance management—coaching for growth and addressing issues quickly
- Comfort with ambiguity and the ability to create clarity and momentum in uncertain situations
- Experience in PLG, funnel optimization, or monetization is strongly preferred
EEO Statement
Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
By submitting your application, you agree that Zendesk may collect your personal data for recruiting, global organization planning, and related purposes. Zendesk's Candidate Privacy Notice explains what personal information Zendesk may process, where Zendesk may process your personal information, its purposes for processing your personal information, and the rights you can exercise over Zendesk’s use of your personal information.
The US annualized base salary range for this position is $185,000.00-$277,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.
Hybrid:
In this role, our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection, collaboration, learning, and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.
The intelligent heart of customer experience
Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.
Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate, and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.
Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here. Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.