The Trade Desk
Principal Designer
$183K–$335K
New York · Principal · Full-time · Posted Oct 26, 2026
- Experience
- 10+ years in product or UX design; 4+ years leading high-impact design initiatives or strategic projects.
- Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Design, HCI, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience; Master’s preferred.
About the job
Own and evolve The Trade Desk’s Digital Playbook and design system, shaping a cohesive product and brand experience while modernizing design workflows, including through AI tools.
What you'll do
- Define and maintain the Digital Playbook, design foundations, and standards used across the platform.
- Lead hands-on design and partner with Product, Brand, Engineering, and other teams to evolve platform patterns and integrate brand expression.
- Develop AI-enabled design practices, support consistent AI experience patterns, and mentor designers on craft and systems thinking.
What they ask for
- 10+ years of product or UX design experience, including enterprise-grade or data-rich applications.
- 4+ years leading high-impact design initiatives or strategic projects across teams or product areas.
- Track record owning or evolving a design language, style guide, design system, or playbook adopted at scale.
- Strong visual and interaction design skills; hands-on fluency with AI design tools; strong command of Figma and modern prototyping tools.
Nice to have
- Familiarity with AI experience patterns for trust, explainability, and error handling; or with advertising technology, programmatic platforms, or campaign optimization tools.
- Published thought leadership, talks, or case studies on design systems, design modernization, or AI-enabled design practice.
Pay
$182,800 — $335,200 USD base salary
Tools
Figma
AI focus
Use AI tools for design exploration, prototyping, craft, and design-to-build handoff; establish repeatable AI-enabled workflows and help translate AI experience vision into cohesive, trustworthy product patterns.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative