Program Manager/Product Design Manager

We are seeking a contractor to act as the design system lead for the IOP UX team. This role is critical to the success of the Ohio Design System and our migration of all IOP websites to Contentful.

The contractor will report to IOP leadership and manage day-to-day design system operations, including design meetings and product roadmap priorities. The design system directly affects how usable our websites are — getting this right matters.

Duties include:

•Leading and Evolving the Design System: Manage Design Operations meetings and processes to oversee the addition and enhancement of the design system through a structured process. Manage the product roadmap.

•Establishing, Documenting, and Communicating: Define design guidelines, patterns, and standards. Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation.

•Managing Stakeholders: Collaborate with designers, developers, and executives to understand needs and drive alignment.

•Community Building: Foster a healthy design system community through feedback loops and regular communication

•Ensuring Accessibility and Inclusivity: Advocate for inclusive design practices, ensuring that the system adheres to accessibility standards and meets the needs of diverse users.

•Governance & Quality: Develop processes for component reviews, documentation standards, and quality assurance to ensure the system remains reliable

 Design System Lead, Product Manager, or similar
Deep understanding of design systems, component-based architecture, and design tokens
Experience collaborating effectively with design and engineering teams
Strong communication and cross-functional leadership skills; ability to influence without authority
Comfortable with ambiguity and driving clarity in complex, fast-moving environments
Track record of shipping products and learning from user feedback
Familiarity with design system tools (Figma, Storybook)
Background in UX/UI design, frontend engineering, or design leadership
Experience scaling design systems across multiple product teams