Product Designer, Contract (Senior - Design Director)

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Product Designer, Contract (Senior - Design Director) based in the United States.

This is a freelance product design opportunity for experienced designers who thrive on solving complex digital problems and creating polished, useful experiences.
You’ll contribute to projects spanning digital products, responsive web experiences, design systems, and customer- or athlete-facing journeys.
Depending on your experience, you may independently own a major design workstream or provide hands-on creative leadership across a team.
You’ll work closely with designers, strategists, technologists, producers, engineers, and client stakeholders in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.
The role combines strong visual craft with UX thinking, systems design, accessibility, and practical delivery considerations.
Senior-level contributors are expected to work independently, while Design Directors will additionally shape direction, mentor designers, and guide senior client relationships.
This is a remote contract engagement with opportunities to contribute to ambitious, high-impact digital experiences.

Accountabilities

• Design thoughtful, high-quality digital product experiences across desktop, mobile, and responsive environments.
• Translate user journeys, product requirements, strategic inputs, and creative direction into intuitive flows, interfaces, interactions, and prototypes.
• Develop, evolve, and document scalable component-based design systems, including reusable patterns, specifications, and assets.
• Apply design systems consistently across templates and digital surfaces while identifying gaps, inconsistencies, and opportunities for improvement.
• Balance user needs, brand expression, technical feasibility, accessibility requirements, and delivery constraints when making design decisions.
• Collaborate closely with designers, strategists, technologists, producers, engineers, and client teams throughout the design and delivery process.
• Present work clearly in internal and client reviews, explaining design rationale and connecting decisions to user and business objectives.
• Partner with engineering teams during implementation to maintain design quality and ensure the intended experience is accurately delivered.
• Independently manage scoped design workstreams, maintaining momentum, quality, communication, and alignment throughout an engagement.
• For Design Director-level assignments, establish a high creative and design-quality bar, guide workstream direction, mentor designers, and build trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders.
• Contribute constructively to team critiques, design exploration, and continuous improvement of design practices and systems.

Requirements

• Significant professional experience designing digital products, services, platforms, or complex responsive web experiences.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating excellent visual craft, thoughtful UX, systems thinking, and the ability to transform complex problems or journeys into cohesive digital experiences.
• Deep proficiency in Figma, including components, variables, libraries, prototyping, and structured documentation.
• Demonstrated experience creating, scaling, and maintaining practical design systems that enable teams to work efficiently and consistently.
• Ability to work from foundational strategy, information architecture, product requirements, or an established creative direction and translate these inputs into connected experiences.
• Strong understanding of accessibility and inclusive design principles across devices, interfaces, and user contexts.
• Ability to work independently, take ownership of a defined workstream, manage priorities, and communicate proactively in fast-moving engagements.
• Strong collaboration skills and experience working effectively with multidisciplinary teams and clients.
• Excellent presentation and communication skills, with the ability to explain design decisions clearly to both design and non-design audiences.
• For Design Director-level opportunities, demonstrated experience providing hands-on creative leadership, mentoring designers, setting design direction, and confidently guiding senior client stakeholders.

Benefits

• Expected contract compensation of $61–$120 per hour.
• Contract compensation adjusted based on location, experi…