Design Strategist Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Who is FranConnect?

FranConnect is the leading franchise and multi-unit management software provider. For 20 years, the FranConnect platform has served as the sales, operations, and marketing backbone for over 1500 brands worldwide. Nine of the Franchise Times Top 10 Fastest-Growing franchise businesses rely on FranConnect to drive growth, improve profitability, and streamline operational performance. FranConnect customers span all sizes, growth phases, and industries and they grow 44% faster on average than the broader franchising market. Backed by private-equity investor Serent Capital, FranConnect is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, with global offices in Australia, India, Colombia and Canada. For more information on FranConnect, visit www.franconnect.com.

Why Join Us

At FranConnect, we believe that great companies are built on great cultures. Our team is passionate, collaborative, and driven by a shared mission: to empower franchise and multi-location businesses with the tools they need to thrive. We foster an environment where innovation, transparency, and continuous learning are at the core of everything we do. Employee growth and well-being matter to us, and we take pride in cultivating a workplace where every voice is heard, ideas are valued, and contributions make a real impact.

Joining FranConnect means being part of a company that not only values its people but also plays a crucial role in shaping the future of franchising and multi-location businesses. If you’re looking for a place where you can grow, contribute meaningfully, and be part of something bigger, we’d love to have you on our team.

About the Role

As the Director of Product Design, you will be responsible for the future of franchise management, driving new initiatives, and setting a high standard for excellence across the design organization. You will collaborate with a multi-disciplinary set of stakeholders and leadership. You will have the responsibility to help mature the Design Organization. This includes coordinating designers across product pillars to align the broader company product suite and acting as a mentor to various designers in the organization.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

• Strategically propel, craft, and safeguard the company's Product Design team’s vision, steering the product design strategy and roadmap.
• Build an AI-native design practice, integrating AI across discovery, prototyping, and delivery to accelerate iteration and scale impact across squads.
• Serve as a mentor and catalyst for growth, guiding a team of skilled Product Designers towards excellence.
• Champion collaboration and innovation within our design team, enhancing workflow integration throughout the organization.
• Govern the development of a comprehensive design system, establishing scalable and uniform design principles.
• Stay ahead of the curve by monitoring and adopting cutting-edge design trends, tools, and methodologies, affirming FranConnect's leadership in design.
• Forge meaningful connections with key stakeholders, leveraging customer and partner insights to refine product design.
• Harness data and insights to shape and align the product roadmap with business objectives, ensuring strategic focus.
• Join forces with engineering leadership to envision, design, and deliver user-centric products that underscore value.
• Excel in a dynamic and adaptive work setting, tackling the design challenges of a diverse product portfolio.
• Engage with Customer Success and Go-to-Market teams, drawing on feedback to meet and exceed product design requirements.
• Attract, nurture, and retain a high-caliber team, fostering a culture of performance and innovation.
• Possess a keen ability to balance visionary thinking with meticulous attention to detail.
• Evangelize product design throughout the org and with customers.
• Receive constructive feedback for the purposes of iterating and improving the product.
• Other duties as assigned to drive the product and teams forward.

• Experience working in B2B SaaS is required.
• Demonstrated experience applying AI tools to the design process and building/scaling a design system that unifies experience across a multi-product platform to enable squads to effectively execute.
• 7+ years of hands-on experience as a Product Designer or in a similar design role.
• 5+ years of proven experience in a leadership role, specifically as a Design Director or Manager a plus.
• Experience at a high-growth SaaS/tech company, working with a product stack that is complex and multi-modular, is required as part of your prior professional work experience.
• You have a strong portfolio of work you've led, designed, and shipped.
• Strong business insight and judgment with a team-first, collaborative and inclusive working style.
• Excellent verbal, written and presentation communication skills with the ability to communicate sophisticated technical issues effectively and concisely to executives, team members and other stakeholders.
• Professional stature and gravitas to collaborate with and influence executives, leaders and team members with credibility and confidence.
• High professional standards and expectations for self and others.
• Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science or equally relevant degree or an equivalent combination of education and applicable work experience.

Compensation Overview

• Target Base Salary Range: $185,000 - $195,000 USD
• Variable Bonus: 10%

The compensation details listed represents a good-faith target range for this role. Actual pay at time of offer may vary based on a combination of factors including business needs, experience, skills, education, or location.

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