All roles

Career pathway

This document outlines the progression of design roles within slice, detailing how responsibilities expand across levels and disciplines. It serves for understanding expectations, growth stages, and the evolution of scope in both Product Design and Visual Design tracks.

Product Design

Visual Design

Associate Product Designer

Supports the design process and contributes to smaller tasks.

Associate Product Designer

Supports the design process and contributes to smaller tasks.

Product Designer

Owns end-to-end design solutions and executes them independently.

Product Designer

Owns end-to-end design solutions and executes them independently.

Senior Product Designer

Leads complex design problems and influences cross-functional decisions.

Senior Product Designer

Leads complex design problems and influences cross-functional decisions.

Lead Product Designer

Guides product-wide design direction and mentors multiple designers.

Lead Product Designer

Guides product-wide design direction and mentors multiple designers.

Staff Product Designer

Solves highly complex, ambiguous problems and sets standards for craft and systems.

Staff Product Designer

Solves highly complex, ambiguous problems and sets standards for craft and systems.

Principal Product Designer

Shapes product vision, org-level strategy, and influences company-wide design decisions.

Principal Product Designer

Shapes product vision, org-level strategy, and influences company-wide design decisions.

Manager

Manages a team of designers, ensures quality, and aligns execution with product goals.

Manager

Manages a team of designers, ensures quality, and aligns execution with product goals.

Senior Manager

Oversees multiple design teams or a large domain, drives cross-functional alignment, and elevates design practices.

Senior Manager

Oversees multiple design teams or a large domain, drives cross-functional alignment, and elevates design practices.

Assistant Vice President

Owns the entire design function’s strategy, scales teams, defines org vision, and partners with leadership to drive business impact.

Assistant Vice President

Owns the entire design function’s strategy, scales teams, defines org vision, and partners with leadership to drive business impact.

Product Design

Junior IC stage

Associate Product Designer

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Curiosity about user needs and feedback

  • Understanding user perspectives and their influence on design decisions

Design Ops

  • Understanding of design principles and fluency in design tools

  • Wire-framing, designing flows and creating prototypes the 'slice' way

  • Performing quality analysis of new feature builds with guidance

Research & Analytics

  • Researching and referencing the product landscape

  • Assisting in user research and documenting findings when required

Problem Solving

  • Identifying, defining and breaking down problem statements

  • Taking in multiple perspectives and suggesting practical solutions

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Openly receiving feedback and adjusting designs accordingly

  • Being self-aware and understanding how their interactions impact others

Communication

  • Clear written and verbal communication

  • Articulating design choices at a fundamental level

Ownership

  • Taking ownership of task execution in accordance with decided timelines

Business Inclination

  • Keenness to know business requirements and vision

  • Keenness to know product and market context

  • Asking relevant questions

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Product Designer

All in Associate Product Designer +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Designing features as per product briefs and business objectives

  • Understanding the slice design system and adherence to style guides

Design Ops

  • Designing clear, effective flows with strong visual hierarchy

  • Designing and analysing small and mid-scale builds by themselves

  • Designing screens that are DLS compliant, brand-consistent and presentable to the management

Research & Analytics

  • Staying up to date on industry trends

  • Fair knowledge of research methods and internal data points

  • Translating information into insights and design iterations

Problem Solving

  • Measuring the importance & severity of problem statements

  • Having multiple solution approaches and rationale for a recommendation

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Sharing updates and seeking input regularly from teammates

  • Decisioning based on briefs from internal and external stakeholders

  • Being flexible with scope changes

Communication

  • Proactive communication for effective completion of projects

  • Demonstrating dependability in team and stakeholder interactions

  • Consumable documentation for others to reference

Ownership

  • Making and committing to decisions

  • Prioritising end goals and project completion

Business Inclination

  • Demonstrating basic awareness of product goals and market context

  • Seeking out product data to analyse performance

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Senior Product Designer

All in Product Designer +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Building consensus amongst teammates on design decisions

  • Strong understanding of technical and business aspects

  • Articulating rationale balancing business goals and user needs

Design Ops

  • Designing holistic experiences, considering cross-product dependencies and edge cases

  • Subject matter expertise of user flows, UI architecture and UI design

  • Designing and analysing large-scale builds by themselves

Research & Analytics

  • Using the knowledge of industry and existing products for decisioning

  • Leading research processes and incorporating insights into designs

  • Understanding qualitative and quantitative reasonings to help make product decisions

Problem Solving

  • Tackling ambiguous problems

  • Demonstrating measurable impact in shipped features

  • Foreseeing long-term problem statements that can arise due to current decisions

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Taking initiative to bring discussions to closure and align stakeholders

  • Taking a stand for design decisions when needed with reasoning

  • Managing feedback from multiple functions, resolving conflicting needs

Communication

  • Identifying future needs and ensuring stakeholders are informed in advance

  • Explaining design concepts to diverse audiences, presenting to leadership

Ownership

  • Taking end-to-end ownership of their projects and participating strategically in other tasks

  • Leading decisions for their charter and having rationale behind them

Business Inclination

  • Interpreting product data

  • Suggesting design changes based on business metrics and objectives

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Senior IC track

Lead Product Designer

All in Senior Product Designer +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Understanding of our product ecosystem

  • Active contribution in shaping design strategy in their vertical and finding opportunities to enhance other areas

Design Ops

  • Establishing and upholding design standards

  • Comfortably managing technical and UX complexity

  • Balancing velocity with craft excellence in delivery

Research & Analytics

  • Analysing trends and competitors, anticipating industry shifts in design execution

  • Embedding research into the team’s workflow

Problem Solving

  • Synthesising complex problem statements and structuring them for teammates

  • Leading the discourse to identify the most appropriate solution for a problem statement

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Leading and influencing cross-functional teams

  • Mentoring other designers, raising the team's bar for design craft

  • Mediating conflicts diplomatically, modelling resilience during setbacks

Communication

  • Leading communication with key stakeholders and the leadership

  • Ensuring solutions are understood in the most effective manner

Ownership

  • Owning design quality and direction across a portfolio of initiatives

  • Awareness of organisational goals and strategic direction

  • Setting priorities, ensuring critical deliverables are met on time

Business Inclination

  • Influencing product strategy via business-relevant design decisions

  • Framing design outcomes in terms of user perception and measurable business impact

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Staff Product Designer

All in Lead Product Designer +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Acting as a thought partner to the product and business

  • Translating business objectives and emerging trends into long-term design directions

Design Ops

  • Overseeing design spanning multiple products or touch-points

  • Refining design processes and systems for efficiency and impact

  • Ensuring outcomes meet both short and long-term org goals

Research & Analytics

  • Defining frameworks and bringing in new and relevant research practices

  • Propagating emerging design practices, strategic experimentation

Problem Solving

  • Tackling problem statements that have impact across the product ecosystem

  • Finding clarity in high ambiguity, proposing bold, scalable solutions

  • Negotiating design trade-offs at scale

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Initiating and leading team-wide design initiatives

  • Supporting the growth of designers and their craft across teams

  • Navigating high-level conflicts and managing relationships

Communication

  • Presenting to the leadership effectively and getting closure quickly

  • Creating high level frameworks and ensuring org-wide adherence

Ownership

  • Influencing and enhancing team-wide quality, consistency and efficiency

  • Switching between roles and procedures to facilitate org priorities

Business Inclination

  • Taking part in roadmap planning to help prioritise projects based on business goals

  • Incorporating business metrics and strategic context into resource allocation

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Principal Product Designer

All in Staff Product Designer +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Driving design vision for the entire product ecosystem and influencing org-wide product strategy

  • Shaping internal design culture and strategy

Design Ops

  • Evolving organisational design systems, processes and standards to scale across products

  • Leading the adoption of new design paradigms, methods and tools across the org

Research & Analytics

  • Anticipating macro-level industry shifts and shaping the org’s design strategies accordingly

Problem Solving

  • Anticipating second and third-order effects of design decisions at ecosystem scale

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Acting as a design authority and mentor for multiple teams without direct reporting lines

  • Aligning cross-functional strategies with product/engineering leadership

  • Mediating complex, multi-team trade-offs while safeguarding user experience

Communication

  • Evangelising design strategy to executive stakeholders

  • Speaking at forums and publishing thought leadership

Ownership

  • Taking stewardship of the overall design quality and vision for the org

  • Influencing company-level design investments and roadmaps

  • Being a cultural role model for design excellence and accountability

Business Inclination

  • Driving design maturity to create competitive advantage

  • Translating business growth strategies into design org imperatives

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Manager Track

Manager Product Design

All in Senior Product Designer +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Understanding of our product ecosystem

  • Translating product strategy into design objectives for their team

  • Driving alignment between team-level goals and broader org goals

Design Ops

  • Managing team-level processes, efficiency and consistency

  • Ensuring adherence to design systems, accessibility and quality standards

  • Balancing velocity with craft excellence in delivery

Research & Analytics

  • Identifying opportunities for research that influence near-term product outcomes

  • Embedding research methods into their team’s workflows

Problem Solving

  • Helping their team scope and refine problem statements

  • Coaching designers on evaluating trade-offs between business, user and technical constraints

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Managing a small team of designers, their performance and growth

  • Facilitating collaboration between design, product and engineering at the pod level

Communication

  • Representing the team’s design work to cross-functional stakeholders

  • Providing clear, actionable feedback and design rationale in internal reviews

Ownership

  • Taking responsibility for the quality and of their team’s design output

  • Ensuring projects are delivered according to to scope and timeline

  • Modelling accountability in decision and commitment making

Business Inclination

  • Influencing product strategy via business-relevant design decisions

  • Understanding business context relevant to the team’s product area

  • Casading business objectives and understanding to team members

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Senior Manager Product Design

All in Manager Product Design +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Acting as a thought partner to the product and business

  • Shaping internal design culture and strategy

  • Advising on structure, scaling and processes for growing design teams

Design Ops

  • Leading design spanning multiple products or touch-points

  • Driving consistency, accessibility, and quality standards across teams

  • Building leadership capabilities within their design org

Research & Analytics

  • Defining frameworks and bringing in new and relevant research practices

  • Propagating emerging design practices, strategic experimentation

Problem Solving

  • Tackling problem statements that have impact across the product ecosystem

  • Finding clarity in high ambiguity, proposing bold, scalable solutions

  • Negotiating design trade-offs at scale

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Initiating and leading team-wide design initiatives

  • Supporting the growth of designers and their craft across teams

  • Navigating high-level conflicts and managing relationships

Communication

  • Presenting to the leadership effectively and getting closure quickly

  • Creating efficient processes for design, hand-off, QA and documentation, ensuring team adherence

Ownership

  • Influencing and enhancing team-wide quality, consistency and efficiency

  • Taking responsibilty of the quality and delivery of multiple design pods

  • Switching between roles and procedures to facilitate org priorities

Business Inclination

  • Taking part in roadmap planning to help prioritise projects based on business goals

  • Incorporating business metrics and strategic context into resource allocation

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Assistant Vice President Product Design

All in Senior Manager Product Design +

Technical skills
Strategy

  • Partnering with product and business leadership to advocate org-level product and design strategy

  • Establishing long-term design vision that supports business, product and user needs

Design Ops

  • Establishing and running org-wide meet ups and interactions

  • Advocating consistency, accessibility, and quality across the design org

  • Managing org-wide team building and resource allocation

Research & Analytics

  • Operationalising metrics to track design impact

  • Using insights to inform long-horizon brand and product bets

  • Advocating ethical, inclusive, and forward-looking design practices

Problem Solving

  • Guiding teams to solve cross-product challenges

  • Anticipating second and third-order effects of design decisions at ecosystem scale

Soft skills
Collaboration & Leadership

  • Managing managers and senior ICs, creating a multi-layer design org

  • Aligning cross-functional strategies with product/engineering leadership

  • Fostering team-wide interaction, collaboration and morale

Communication

  • Evangelising design strategy to executive stakeholders

  • Advocating for design at the C-suite level

Ownership

  • Owning design outcomes across all product lines and pods

  • Defining KRs, metrics and operational fraemworks for the design org

Business Inclination

  • Driving design maturity to create competitive advantage

  • Translating business growth strategies into design organisation imperatives

  • Tracking the business and user impact of the team’s design work

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Skill 1

• Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

Translating product strategy into design objectives for their immediate team

✦

slice design handbook

✦

made with ❤️ and ☕️

✦

slice design handbook

✦

made with ❤️ and ☕️

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