Staff Design Program Manager, Design Foundations & AI Transformation

About the Role

At Lyft, our purpose is to serve and connect. We aim to achieve this by cultivating a work environment where all team members belong and have the opportunity to thrive.

Lyft is seeking a Staff Design Program Manager for the Design Foundations & AI Transformation organization. Design Foundations is the infrastructure layer of Lyft's design organization — the systems, standards, and processes that every product team depends on. This role sits at the center of that work, owning program management across Design Systems, Content Design, illustration, iconography, and AI tooling.

This role also leads program management for the AI Taskforce and AI Education workstreams — initiatives aimed at transforming how Design+ practitioners work at Lyft through AI tools and infrastructure.

Design Program Managers are strategic partners with design leads, leading and driving the design work forward everyday. You will work across teams to shepherd and manage the delivery of design and customer experiences to completion. You’re a strong strategic thinker, you can execute the small tasks well, and you take a creative approach to operational challenges. You’re savvy at connecting the dots, and being a trusted partner to cross functional peers at Lyft. You’ll be a leader within the design organization and an advocate for the Design+ team and the design process.

Responsibilities

• Own roadmap and execution for Design Systems, illustration, iconography, and AI projects end-to-end
• Drive program management for the AI Taskforce — coordinating across Education, Content Design, and Infrastructure Partnership tracks
• Shape and document workflows and processes that make the team faster and more effective
• Partner with designers, engineers, illustrators, and PMs to scope work, set timelines, and manage delivery
• Build and maintain visibility into project health, team utilization, and priorities for design leadership
• Lead planning and prioritization across cross-functional teams — balancing competing inputs without losing sight of the goal
• Facilitate design reviews, retros, and planning sessions
• Bring AI fluency to program management work — use tools like Figma, Jira, and AI assistants to accelerate your own workflow, and help the team adopt new tools effectively

Experience

• 5+ years in design program management, product design, or a relevant design industry role
• 1+ years working with Design Systems
• Demonstrated ability to drive complex, cross-functional programs with multiple stakeholders and workstreams
• Comfort with ambiguity — you can take a loosely defined problem, build a plan, and move without heavy oversight
• Strong written and verbal communication; you know how to give direction clearly and tailor it to the audience
• Hands-on familiarity with AI tools and a genuine interest in how they change the way design teams work
• Experience with Figma, Jira, and GitHub a plus
• Attention to detail and organizational rigor; you don't let things fall through the cracks
• Resilience — design orgs are dynamic, priorities shift, and this role requires someone who stays grounded