Freelance Surface Pattern Designer Jobs in Michigan

Job Description
The Role
General Motors' Human Interface Design organization creates the digital experiences that power our in-vehicle software, mobile apps, and branded web platforms.
As a Senior Design Producer on the Design System Governance team, you will lead socialization of operating models, governance rituals, and production workflows that enable designers and cross-functional teams to build coherent, scalable experiences across these surfaces. You will own cross-collaborative programs that connect Foundations, design system owners, and product teams to ensure that components, tokens, iconography, and guidelines are not only created and governed consistently, but are also discoverable, adopted, and measured in practice.
You will partner closely with design, product, engineering, brand, accessibility, and content leaders across vehicle operating system, web, and app teams to align roadmaps, manage dependencies, and ensure system changes land cleanly and predictably in product work. You will actively identify design-system needs and governance gaps, translate them into clear proposals and work streams, and drive decision-making that maintains consistency across brands, regions, and platforms.
In this role, you will apply proven producer and design operations practices on complex, multi-team initiatives, often working with considerable autonomy. You will help mature our governance model, define and refine production practices, and mentor other producers and team members in how to operate effectively within the system.
What You'll Do

• Lead scalable workflows and governance models that improve predictability, velocity, and quality of design delivery across web, mobile, and in-vehicle experiences, continuously evolving the intake and triage model for design system requests based on signal, data, and partner feedback.
• In partnership, own and run design system governance for GM's web, mobile, and vehicle operating system design systems-including intake, prioritization, decision forums, and release/readout communications-working with senior producers and design leadership to set agendas, drive decisions, and ensure clear outcomes.
• Partner with design system owners, Foundations, accessibility, content, and engineering to coordinate component and library releases, track deprecation and migration efforts, and ensure that documentation, guidelines, and patterns support consistent decision-making and implementation at scale.
• Proactively identify design-system needs and areas of inconsistency across products, brands, and regions; synthesize input from stakeholders, usage data, and product plans into clear problem statements, options, and recommendations for governance and leadership forums.
• Drive cross-collaborative production efforts that span multiple surfaces and teams, including defining milestones, aligning dependencies, managing integrated backlogs, and ensuring that system changes are sequenced and communicated in ways that minimize rework.
• Facilitate alignment across design, product, engineering, and brand partners by preparing materials, leading or co-leading working sessions, capturing outcomes and decisions, and driving follow-up actions to closure through clear owners, timelines, and status visibility.
• Define and maintain checklists, standards, and logistics for quality and release-readiness activities across design, engineering, accessibility, and content, ensuring that required reviews, sign-offs, and artifacts are completed before release for Foundations- and Governance-owned work.
• Build and maintain transparent tracking systems (for example, roadmaps, work boards, risk and decision logs, and intake dashboards) that provide clear views of priorities, capacity, and progress for stakeholders at different levels of the organization.
• Identify and surface risks, dependencies, and blockers early; drive structured resolution paths by organizing follow-ups, clarifying options, framing tradeoffs, and helping teams set realistic expectations grounded in capacity and sequencing.
• Shape and champion standardized tools, workflows, and templates that support multi-brand, multi-region design operations, including playbooks and reference materials that make it easier for teams to engage with and adopt the design system.
• Co-create and refine governance and operating rituals-such as grooming, prioritization forums, and cross-surface release reviews-ensuring they are outcome-oriented, scalable, and consistently understood by participating teams.
• Mentor and coach less experienced producers and design partners on effective production practices, governance engagement, and how to work successfully within and across design system teams.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

• Bachelor's degree in design, human-computer interaction, information systems, business, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 7+ years of experience in digital product design operations, production, program or project management, or a related role supporting software or experience design teams.
• Proven experience leading cross-functional initiatives (for example, design, product management, engineering, and brand) delivering digital experiences across web, mobile, or in-vehicle interfaces.
• Demonstrated ability to organize complex, multi-team work, maintain robust tracking systems, and create clear summaries, plans, and status updates tailored to audiences ranging from practitioners to leadership.
• Experience designing and facilitating effective governance and working sessions, including building agendas, framing options and tradeoffs, documenting outcomes and decisions, and ensuring follow-through.
• Strong familiarity with modern design and work-tracking tools (for example, collaborative design libraries, digital whiteboarding, agile work-management tools), and the ability to help teams use them consistently.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical, design, and operational details into clear, actionable language for diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to operate with a high degree of ownership in a hybrid environment and reliably report to a designated GM location on the schedule defined by the business.

What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

• Experience leading or heavily contributing to a design system, governance model, or shared component library that spans multiple products, brands, or platforms, ideally in a multi-brand or global context.
• Deep familiarity with accessibility standards and inclusive design practices, and demonstrated ability to ensure they are embedded in governance, production workflows, and implementation decisions.
• Prior experience in a senior design operations, producer, or program management role within a digital product, software, or creative organization, with accountability for cross-team delivery and outcomes.
• Demonstrated success in fostering collaboration and teamwork across disciplines and organizations, building strong relationships with partners at different levels, and influencing without direct authority.
• Proven track record of identifying process and governance gaps, proposing pragmatic improvements, piloting new ways of working, and scaling those that measurably reduce friction and rework.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, break down complex, cross-portfolio problems into clear steps and sequences, and take intelligent risks while maintaining a focus on quality, customer experience, and business outcomes.
• Evidence of strong character with integrity, accountability, and trust, and a consistent record of clear, confident communication in both written and verbal formats when engaging with senior stakeholders.

GM does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. Do not apply for this role if you will need GM immigration sponsorship now or in the future. This includes direct company sponsorship, entry of GM as the immigration employer of record on a government form, and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (e.g., H1-B, OPT, STEM OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc).This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the selected candidate is expected to report to a specific location at least 3 times a week {or other frequency dictated by their manager}.The selected candidate will be required to travel <25% for this role.This job is not eligible for relocation benefits. Any relocation costs would be the responsibility of the selected candidate.
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