Head of Product Design, Retail

About Lightspeed

Powering the businesses that are the backbone of the global economy, Lightspeed's one‑stop commerce platform helps merchants innovate to simplify, scale, and provide exceptional customer experiences. Our cloud commerce solution transforms and unifies online and physical operations, multichannel sales, expansion to new locations, global payments, financial solutions, and connection to supplier networks.

Founded in Montréal, Canada in 2005, Lightspeed is dual‑listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: LSPD) and Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: LSPD). With teams across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, the company serves retail, hospitality, and golf businesses in over 100 countries.

Lightspeed is building communities through commerce, and we need people from all backgrounds and lived experiences to do that. We were founded in 2005 in Montreal's gay village; our original members were part of the LGBTQ+ community. Inclusion has been a core value from the beginning, and we strive to provide a workplace where everyone belongs.

Role Overview

Lightspeed Retail is seeking an experienced and visionary Head of Design to lead our product design organization. This pivotal role will define and execute the design strategy across our entire suite of retail products, ensuring a cohesive, intuitive, and delightful user experience. You will build, mentor, and inspire a world‑class team of product designers, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and user‑centricity.

Eligible candidates must be based in eastern Canada or the United States.

Responsibilities

• Global Design Leadership & Vision – Lead, mentor, and empower a diverse team of product designers across North America, EMEA, and APAC. Define and champion the overall design vision and strategy for Lightspeed Retail products, ensuring alignment with business objectives and user needs, including AI‑driven features.
• Empowering Autonomous Teams – Foster an environment where designers embedded in highly autonomous product teams (“squads”) can collaborate effectively through both synchronous and asynchronous methods, driving design quality and efficiency.
• User Experience Excellence – Oversee the end‑to‑end design process, from research and ideation to prototyping, testing, and implementation, ensuring an exceptional user experience across all touchpoints.
• Strategic Cross‑Functional Partnership – Serve as an equal partner to senior leaders in Product and Engineering, influencing product strategy and collaborating deeply to build innovative products that customers love and are willing to invest in, including those leveraging AI.
• Cultivating a Culture of Innovation – Instill and amplify a culture of innovation within the Design team and across the organization, actively identifying and celebrating groundbreaking ideas—especially those that explore the frontiers of AI in user experience.
• Partner with Design System – Facilitate healthy contribution to the Design System, ensuring its growth accommodates new interaction patterns and components required for AI‑driven experiences, in close partnership with Engineering.
• User Research & Insights – Advocate for and drive user research initiatives to deeply understand customer needs, behaviors, and pain points, translating insights into actionable design improvements.
• Building Organizational Trust & Advocacy – Develop strong, trusted relationships across the entire organization, leveraging your influence and industry connections to advocate for the design team and champion the value of design thinking, particularly in the context of intelligent systems.

Requirements

• Extensive Product Design Expertise, Mentorship & Holistic Thinking – 12+ years of practical, in‑house product and/or consumer‑facing UX/UI and visual design experience, with a minimum of 7 years in a people‑management role on a Design team. Ability to work across all digital, AI‑powered, and, where applicable, physical manifestations of what we design.
• Enterprise Advocacy & Influence – Experience influencing technology‑driven sectors; passion for mentoring executives, product managers, and engineers to deliver truly user‑centered solutions, particularly as they integrate and leverage AI.
• Acute Empathy & Self‑Awareness – Deep understanding of human behavior and needs, coupled with profound empathy for both customers (and their relationship with AI) and your team’s goals.
• Evolutionary Technology Perspective – Forward‑thinking perspective on technology, product development, and design practices, with specific understanding of the evolving landscape and implications of Artificial Intelligence.
• Applied Service Design – Demonstrated experience with service design practices and a commitment to continuously evolving your design process to encompass end‑to‑end user journeys that may include AI interactions.
• Exceptional Communication & Visualization – Outstanding communication and data visualization skills; ability to eloquently articulate design decisions, bring internal stakeholders on your design journey, and concisely support recommendations, especially when explaining complex AI interactions and their impact.
• Technical Design Proficiency – Expert proficiency in Figma, strong understanding of Storybook, and ability to quickly adapt to and leverage new tools and technologies relevant to modern product design and AI integration.
• Portfolio – Strong portfolio demonstrating exceptional UX/UI design skills, strategic thinking, and successful product launches.
• Education – Bachelor’s degree in Design, Human‑Computer Interaction, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred.

Benefits

• Flexible work environment that empowers you to do your best work
• Culture that celebrates performance
• Opportunity to make an impact in a team that’s big enough for career growth but lean enough for your voice to be heard
• Career‑defining opportunities

Additional benefits

• Flexible paid time off and remote work policies
• Equity options – this is your company too
• Contributions to your pension plan – your future matters
• Training opportunities to grow your skills and career
• Health and wellness credit so you feel your best
• Time off to volunteer and give back to your community
• Interest groups, employee‑led networks, social committees, and sponsored sports teams
• Computer purchase program to get your personal MacBook
• Enhanced parental leave to support growing families

Compensation

We carefully consider a wide range of factors when determining compensation, including skillset, qualifications, experience, and market data. The base salary for this position is expected to be in the range of $225,000 – $300,000 USD, depending on the candidate’s location.

The role may be eligible for discretionary short‑term and long‑term incentives. Lightspeed also provides a variety of employee benefits, including medical, dental, wellness, life and disability insurance, 401(k) plan and match, paid parental leave top‑up, and paid time off.

Note: Salary information applies to candidates hired to perform work within the United States and may vary based on actual location. Salaries for part‑time roles will be prorated based on the agreed‑upon number of hours.

Additional Information

• Equal Opportunity Employer – Lightspeed is committed to creating an inclusive and barrier‑free workplace. We welcome applications from people with disabilities; accommodations are available on request for all stages of the selection process.
• Agency Notice – Lightspeed does not accept unsolicited agency resumes. If we have not directly engaged your company in writing to supply candidates for a specific vacancy, Lightspeed will not be responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.
• Application – We know people are more than what’s on their CV. If you’re unsure you have the right profile, hit the “Apply” button and give it a try!

Next Steps

Obviously, this has to be mutually beneficial: we want you to step into a role you love, and we want to offer you a place you’re proud to come to every day. For a glimpse into our world, check out our career page.

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