Principal Program Manager, Design Operations

The Principal Design Operations Program Manager will help our Experience Design (XD) team within the Product Design and Manufacturing Solutions (PDMS) organization operate more effectively by driving and managing programs to enhance team health, improve design efficiency and process, and increase design alignment across teams and with business partners.

Our ideal candidate will be a systems thinker who is an excellent communicator and collaborator. They should be equally skilled in both managing established programs, which require strong organization, communication, and task management skills, and in identifying opportunities for improvement, applying design thinking to create successful solutions. It’s a position that requires scalability, from strategic thinking to detailed tactical implementation.

A successful candidate should also be comfortable diving into complexity, navigating ambiguity and adapting to changing priorities. Sound judgement is essential – knowing what challenges to invest in and what challenges to deprioritize. Confidence and excellent relationship and networking skills are also critical as this role requires working across teams to connect dots and enhance collaboration and effectiveness.

This is a remote position open to candidates in US / Canada (PST / MST).

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  Own and/or manage programs and initiatives that improve design team success (team health, design efficiency, and/or design impact).  This includes:

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    Establishing the program goals, strategy, operating model, and governance, navigating ambiguity and aligning stakeholders

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    Executing program tactics, from goal and scope setting to conclusion, within defined schedule, budget, and quality parameters. Identifying issues and driving them to resolution

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    Identifying connections to other programs, teams, and partners and engaging key stakeholders to align program goals for mutual success

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    Planning and facilitating meetings, creating key communications, and keeping team and program on track with commitments

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  Design and lead design sprints to accelerate design of user-facing products and of internal programs and services

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  Coach and support design team members, in achievement of design adjacent tasks such as work prioritization, level-of-effort estimating, asset management, and knowledge sharing

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  Design and implement new ways of working that further DesignOps effectiveness and goals, using design thinking methods, and collaborating with team members and key stakeholders

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  Aid DesignOps scalability through designing, documenting, and sharing best practices and resources

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  Help champion the growth of DesignOps, working with other teams within Autodesk to align, share and support the growth of the discipline across the company

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent experience

• 4+ years design program management experience within a software environment, ideally at a software company (versus agency)

• Familiarity with user-centered design practices, UX tools and techniques, and software development methods, primarily Agile

• Strong track record in above requirements, particularly in standing up and managing programs and completing significant initiatives successfully and in leading design sprints / workshops

• Excellent project management skills

• Fluency with the SDLC and working with cross-functional teams to improve it, especially the design team’s role

• Solid foundation in AI and experience helping designers improve their AI fluency. Up-to-date in latest AI features/tools for designers

• Demonstrated strong writing, reporting, and documentation skills (examples may be required)

• Strong verbal and presentation skills

• Ability to travel when needed, likely 10% or less

Welcome to Autodesk! Amazing things are created every day with our software – from the greenest buildings and cleanest cars to the smartest factories and biggest hit movies. We help innovators turn their ideas into reality, transforming not only how things are made, but what can be made.

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At Autodesk, we're building a diverse workplace and an inclusive culture to give more people the chance to imagine, design, and make a better world. Autodesk is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic. We also consider for employment all qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.

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