Product Design Lead, Marketplace

Product Design Lead, Marketplace About Propel Propel is on a mission to build technology that strengthens the social safety net. We’re a passionate team of ~100 Propellers who envision a future where every American has the tools and resources they need to thrive. Position Overview We’re looking for a Marketplace Design Lead to own and elevate the end-to-end Marketplace product experience at Propel, reporting into our VP of Design. This person will set a clear design strategy and long-term vision for Marketplace, while also staying close to execution as a player/coach. Marketplace is a critical surface area for Propel — it’s where we help millions of low-income Americans discover and access products and services that can meaningfully improve their lives. This role will partner closely with senior leaders across Business, Product, Engineering, and Brand to build a Marketplace that feels personalized, opinionated, and high-trust, while driving measurable outcomes across engagement and revenue. What you’ll do: - Own the end-to-end Marketplace user experience — from discovery and strategy through detailed execution — shipping high-quality, accessible product experiences. - Define and drive Marketplace design strategy and vision, aligning cross-functional partners on what “great” looks like in the short-term and long-term. - Build a Marketplace that feels personalized and opinionated, helping users quickly find the right offers with clarity and confidence — not just browse a generic catalog. - Design for trust, clarity, and decision-making, ensuring Marketplace experiences are credible, easy to understand, and built for real-world constraints. - Partner deeply with Product, Engineering, and Data to define goals, prioritize the roadmap, run experiments, and iterate quickly based on performance and user insights. - Scale Marketplace into new verticals and categories, including Propel-branded products and services, while keeping the experience coherent and consistent. - Raise the bar on craft and quality, through strong design direction, critique, and hands-on contributions to key flows and experiences. - Help shape the Marketplace design team over time, including identifying skill gaps, supporting hiring, and setting a strong operating rhythm for execution. What you need: - 10+ years of product design experience, including ownership of complex product areas from strategy through launch - Strong track record designing consumer experiences centered on discovery and browsing (e.g., marketplaces, commerce, travel, media, content-heavy products, etc.) - Proven ability to set a clear product/design vision and translate it into shippable work in fast-moving, ambiguous environments - Excellent judgment balancing user needs, business goals, and long-term trust - High craft bar — strong interaction design, visual polish, and attention to detail that raises the quality of what ships - Strong cross-functional leadership skills — you can operate as a senior partner to Product and Engineering, align stakeholders, and move decisions forward - Clear, compelling communicator — you can tell the story, make tradeoffs understandable, and bring teams along - High ownership and autonomy — you operate like an owner, look around corners, and make smart local decisions Big plus: - People management experience (leading small teams, player/coach roles) - Comfort prototyping and vibe coding with emerging design and AI tools At Propel, you'll enjoy: - Meaningful work and a strong shared sense of mission - Remote-friendly work environment with a dog-friendly office in Downtown Brooklyn. The team meets in-person for optional retreats. - 20 Days of PTO - 4% 401K match - $10k lifetime spend towards Carrot Fertility - Excellent Medical, Dental and Vision options - A strong equity package that reflects the leveling and anticipated impact of this role - Propel builds compensation bands referencing the 75th percentile of compensation fo ... (truncated, view full listing at source)