Principal Product Designer, Core

About the role

This role involves taking ownership of the design for key product experiences at Chess.com, a leading global platform for chess. The Principal Product Designer will work with product managers, engineers, and leadership to define problems and develop effective solutions. This includes designing polished and intuitive interfaces for both web and mobile platforms, leveraging the company's existing design system.

A significant part of the work involves presenting design proposals clearly, articulating decisions based on user insights and design principles. The designer will also build interactive prototypes to test ideas quickly, utilizing agentic tools for efficiency. This position requires guiding projects from their initial concept through to implementation, ensuring that the final product aligns with the design vision.

Success in this role means consistently driving systemic design improvements and elevating the overall craft within the design team. The Principal Product Designer is expected to lead design critiques and mentor other designers, contributing to a high standard of design quality across the organization. This position requires a strong sense of ownership and responsibility for the design outcomes.

The salary for this position ranges from $92,000 to $149,500 USD.

Skills that matter here

• UI design: This role requires mastery of UI design fundamentals to create polished and intuitive interfaces for web and mobile.
• UX design: The designer will apply expertise in user experience design to shape core product experiences and ensure intuitive user flows.
• Figma: Figma will be used to design interfaces and build interactive prototypes, potentially with agentic tools like Figma Make.
• prototyping: The role involves building interactive prototypes to quickly test and validate design ideas.
• design systems: The designer will utilize Chess.com’s existing design system to create consistent and scalable interfaces.

Who this role suits

• A designer with a decade or more of experience in consumer-facing products or games.
• Someone who can clearly communicate design decisions and influence stakeholders across various teams.
• An individual who takes pride in their craft and actively seeks to improve design standards and mentor others.
• A professional adept at using agentic tools to enhance their design and prototyping workflow.

From the employer

• Own the design of core Chess.com product experiences
• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Copywriters, and leadership to help define the problem and build effective product experiences together
• Design polished, intuitive interfaces for web and mobile using Chess.com’s design system
• Present your design proposals and clearly articulate your decisions, backing them up with contextual rationale, heuristics, and user insights where possible
• Build interactive prototypes to share and quickly test ideas using agentic tools like Cursor, Claude Code, and Figma Make
• Own your projects from initial concept through to implementation and help ensure design-to-code alignment throughout the process
• Identify and drive systemic design improvements
• Lead design critique, mentor other designers, and consistently raise the craft bar across the whole team

• 10+ years designing consumer-facing products or games
• A portfolio of your best design work that demonstrates an expertise of interface and user experience design
• Mastery of UI design fundamentals including typography, color, layout, visual hierarchy, alignment, contrast, and interactivity
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to influence decisions across Product, Engineering, and leadership
• A track record of teaching and applying these standards at a team level
• Leveraging agentic tools like Cursor, Claude Code, and Figma Make in your design process
• A sense of ownership, pride, and responsibility for your craft

• Remote work
• Full-time employment
• Salary range: $92,000 – $149,500 USD