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Design Thinking Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Poshmark, Inc

Director of Product Design

Redwood City, CA · On-site

$201K - $323K/yr

Partner strategically with engineering to ensure great understanding & execution of our design thinking Team Leadership & Development * Lead, mentor, and scale a high-performing design organization ...

HappyRobot Inc

Product Design Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$140K - $250K/yr

Advocate for user needs and apply design thinking to technical challenges. Must Have * 3+ years experience in product design for SaaS or digital products. * Strong portfolio demonstrating UX depth ...

Abbott

Associate Director, Product Design

Alameda, CA

$175K - $215K/yr

Strong understanding of agile development, design thinking, and user research * Excellent communication, storytelling, and stakeholder management skills. Learn more about our health and wellness ...

Abbott

Associate Director, Product Design

Alameda, CA · On-site

$175K - $215K/yr

Strong understanding of agile development, design thinking, and user research * Excellent communication, storytelling, and stakeholder management skills. Learn more about our health and wellness ...

Apple

Associate Creative Director, Design

Culver City, CA · On-site

$149K - $279K/yr

Deep understanding of design thinking and brand systems, and how to apply them within large-scale organizations. * A history of leading video and photo shoots from casting through to color correction ...

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All JobsDesign Thinking JobsDesign Thinking Jobs in California

Design Thinking information

See California salary details

$52.8K

$114.5K

$147.5K

How much do design thinking jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 22, 2026, the average yearly pay for design thinking in California is $114,496.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $115,000.00 and $115,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a design thinking?

A Design Thinking job involves applying human-centered design principles to solve complex problems creatively and collaboratively. Professionals in this role use empathy, ideation, prototyping, and iterative testing to develop innovative solutions in various industries. They often work in roles such as UX designers, product managers, or innovation strategists, helping organizations create user-friendly products or services. These roles require strong problem-solving, collaboration, and customer research skills.

What are typical daily responsibilities for someone working in a design thinking role?

In a Design Thinking role, your daily responsibilities may involve facilitating workshops, conducting user research, and synthesizing insights to define problems clearly. You’ll often collaborate closely with cross-functional teams—including product managers, engineers, and marketing staff—to ideate and prototype potential solutions. Preparing and presenting findings or prototypes to stakeholders and iterating on feedback are also common tasks. This hands-on, interactive environment encourages continuous learning and creative problem solving while keeping the user's needs at the center of every project.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in a design thinking position, and why are they important?

To thrive in a Design Thinking role, you need a solid understanding of user-centered design principles, problem-solving abilities, and often a background in design, business, or related fields. Familiarity with prototyping software (such as Figma or Sketch), collaborative tools (like Miro or MURAL), and, in some cases, Design Thinking certification can be advantageous. Exceptional communication, facilitation, and empathy help professionals engage stakeholders and foster creative collaboration. These skills are essential for effectively guiding teams through innovation processes and delivering human-centered solutions.

What careers use design thinking?

Design thinking is used in a variety of careers including product design, user experience (UX) design, innovation consulting, and service design. Professionals in these fields apply human-centered problem-solving methods to develop creative solutions, often utilizing tools like prototyping and user research to improve products, services, and processes.

What are the most commonly searched types of Design Thinking jobs in California?

The most popular types of Design Thinking jobs in California are:

What are popular job titles related to Design Thinking jobs in California?

For Design Thinking jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Design Thinking jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Design Thinking jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Design Thinking jobs?

Cities in California with the most Design Thinking job openings:

Design Thinking jobs near you
Infographic showing various Design Thinking job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 91% Full Time, 6% Part Time, and 3% Contract. Highlights an 82% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 13% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $114,496 per year, or $55 per hour.

Staff Product Designer, Design Innovation

Pinterest

San Francisco, CA • On-site, Remote

Full-time

Re-posted 12 days ago

Job description

About Pinterest:
Millions of people around the world come to our platform to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities and plan for memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, we're on a mission to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that starts with the people behind the product.
Discover a career where you ignite innovation for millions, transform passion into growth opportunities, celebrate each other's unique experiences and embrace the flexibility to do your best work. Creating a career you love? It's Possible.
At Pinterest, AI isn't just a feature, it's a powerful partner that augments our creativity and amplifies our impact, and we're looking for candidates who are excited to be a part of that. To get a complete picture of your experience and abilities, we'll explore your foundational skills and how you collaborate with AI.
Through our interview process, what matters most is that you can always explain your approach, showing us not just what you know, but how you think. You can read more about our AI interview philosophy and how we use AI in our recruiting process here.
Pinterest is looking for a methodical and thoughtful Staff Product Designer to join the Design Innovation team. You'll help evolve our product design language and craft intuitive, coherent, and delightful experiences across surfaces. You'll collaborate closely with product, engineering, research, and data science partners to shape end-to-end experiences that feel uniquely Pinterest, raise the quality bar, and explore new opportunities for innovation, including AI-powered experiences. You have a knack for visual detail as much as holistic systems thinking. You're a problem solver whose designs reflect a deep understanding of user needs and business context. You're comfortable working in an iterative, experimental environment and using AI tools to accelerate your workflow while maintaining strong critical thinking, judgment, and ownership of outcomes.
What you'll do:
  • Design product experiences-systematically, interactively, and visually-with a high bar for craft and consistency across the Pinterest product ecosystem.
  • Partner with Design Innovation teammates and cross-functional partners to evolve our product design language and bring it to life in key product surfaces and features.
  • Uphold and Elevate Craft: Conduct quality audits, review flows and handoffs, and directly contribute hands-on design when needed-always advocating for the highest standards.
  • Prototype & Technologize: Rapidly visualize, prototype, validate new ideas; translate abstract solutions into practical, scalable patterns using Figma, code, AI, or whatever is needed to inspire clarity/adoption.
  • Collaborate closely with engineering, product management, and research to develop impactful, user-centric, and data-informed solutions; work with engineers throughout implementation to ensure high-quality execution.
  • Incorporate insights from qualitative and quantitative research, experiments, and marketplace/AI trends to refine design directions and identify new opportunities for innovation.
  • Contribute to design reviews and critique, helping to uphold and inspire a high level of design execution and inclusive, accessible experiences across the team.
  • Mentor & Scale Impact: Inspire and guide other designers in craft, systemic thinking, and best practices through critique, guidance, and sharing your expertise across teams.
  • Communicate & Influence: Clearly articulate your design thinking, rationale, and vision-presenting work to teams, leaders, and executives, and rallying consensus.

What we're looking for:
  • 8+ years of experience in product design, with strong visual and interaction design skills demonstrated in a portfolio of shipped or in-progress work.
  • Track record in staff/principal-level roles, influencing horizontally, upholding design craft quality, and partnering cross-functionally-ideally in large-scale consumer or platform environments.
  • Expert-level motion and visual design skills, with a deep understanding of principles and their impact on usability, comprehension, and overall experience quality - using animation and transitions to enhance clarity, convey emotion, and drive user engagement.
  • Ability to design within and extend a design system, balancing consistency with thoughtful innovation across surfaces and platforms.
  • Design technologist mindset: Comfortable experimenting with Figma prototypes, AI, and (optionally) front-end code; curious and opinionated about technical feasibility, accessibility, and how we can streamline design workflows and processes through systems and tools.
  • Strong product thinking and systems mindset: you can connect craft decisions to user outcomes, product strategy, and measurable impact.
  • Excellent communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to clearly articulate design decisions, tradeoffs, synthesize ambiguity into actionable design problems and unite teams through clarity, documentation, and collaboration.
  • High attention to detail and a sense of ownership over the quality and cohesion of the product experience, including accessibility and inclusive design considerations.
  • Collaborative, low-ego working style with a growth mindset; passion for ongoing learning, experimentation, and mentoring others, giving and receiving feedback & contributing to team culture.
  • Bachelor's degree in design, a related field or equivalent experience.
  • Bonus Points For
    • Experience leading platform-wide or multi-product design system initiatives.
    • Familiarity with personalization, large consumer apps, or rapid scale environments.
    • Contributions to public design systems, open-source libraries, or industry talks/writing.
    • Join us to shape the platform and patterns that power inspiration for millions-raising the bar for design quality, system integrity, and Pinterest's positive potential.

In-Office Requirement Statement:
  • We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day-to-day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role.
  • This role will need to be in the office for in-person collaboration 1-2 times every 6-months, and therefore can be situated anywhere in the country.

Relocation Statement:
  • This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model.

#LI-REMOTE
#LI-JD3
At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise.
Information regarding the culture at Pinterest and benefits available for this position can be found here.
US based applicants only
$158,765-$326,870 USD
Our Commitment to Inclusion:
Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete this form for support.
By submitting this application, I certify that all information submitted in my application and throughout the hiring process is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that any false statement, omission, or misrepresentation may disqualify me from employment consideration or result in termination if discovered after hire.

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