Manager Product Design

Job Title: Manager Product Design

Location: Hybrid (Austin, TX)

At BusPatrol, we’re on a mission to make school transportation safer for children and communities. As a leader in AI-powered safety solutions, we bring cutting-edge technology—AI, machine learning, and IoT—to school buses across North America. We’re the most trusted stop-arm safety program globally, delivering transparency and safety at scale. In short, this is purpose driven work that measurably changes behavior in the communities we serve.

The Opportunity: If you’re a design leader who thrives at the intersection of AI, edge computing, and mobile connectivity, this is your opportunity to shape the future of automated safety technology. We are seeking an experienced Manager of Product Design to lead our team of 2 embedded Designers across our Product Teams, while still contributing hands‑on to high‑impact design initiatives. Our ideal candidate can drive a unifying and up-leveling our experiences while delivering unmatched business outcomes. This will involve driving a cohesive visual design language across our Products suite, partnering with Marketing and Branding and acting as a player coach to dive deep on design work.

Reporting to the Director of Product and Design, you’ll partner with the Research and Product teams to support the roadmap for BusPatrol’s complex set of stakeholders and users across our AI driven experiences, striking a balance in the complex space of building trust, serving delightful experiences and meeting measurable business outcomes.

• Drive a culture of rapid, iterative design thinking process using a variety of tools as appropriate, partnering with top notch researchers, fostering Design driven evaluative research, low and high fidelity design and prototyping

• Align BusPatrol’s Product suite under a cohesive and unified visual design language through our Design System.

• Understand design for high trust AI supported experiences and when not to use AI.

• Grow a design organization founded on continuous improvement outcomes.

• Understand and link in KPI impact driven outcomes to design efforts · Drive speed to market.

Key Outcomes:

This role is critical to driving user centric, intuitive applications for both our internal and external stakeholders (target users). Success in 12 months for this role include:

• Drive delightful user experiences that deliver exceptional outcomes, especially in new products including internal cabin safety monitoring for our Transportation Directors persona.

• Ensure intuitive, high trust applications of Ai in the unique business to government space

• Foster a generative culture of psychological safety within the design team and build design as a practice and skillset across the company

• Unify our design language through thoughtful, iterative improvements centering on the Design System · Prepare us to be ready for new use cases and verticals.

Responsibilities

User Experience Strategy:

• Define and champion the user experience strategy for BusPatrol products, ensuring alignment with business goals and user needs.

• Thoughtfully partner with Research to distribute research efforts to ensure rapid, high quality happens research often

Design Leadership:

• Lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing team of UX/UI designers.

• Provide constructive feedback, guidance, and support to designers at all levels.

• Foster a collaborative and inclusive design culture within the team and across departments.

• Advocate for user-centered design principles throughout the product development lifecycle.

Design Execution:

• Define and maintain design systems and style guides to ensure consistency and efficiency across products.

• Participate in design critiques and provide valuable feedback to the team.

• Ensure the quality and consistency of design deliverables, including wireframes, mockups, and prototypes.

• Collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders to bring products to market successfully.

Communication & Collaboration:

• Effectively communicate design decisions and rationale to stakeholders at all levels.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with cross-functional teams, including engineering, marketing, and sales.

• Represent BusPatrol at industry events and conferences.

Innovation & Improvement:

• Continuously research and explore new design trends and technologies.

• Identify and implement opportunities to improve the user experience and product usability.

• Drive innovation and experimentation within the design team.

What You Bring:

• Proven Experience: 7+ years of experience in UX/UI design, with at least 3 years in a leadership role.

• Strong Design Skills: Demonstrated expertise in user research, information architecture, interaction design, and visual design.

• Passion for User Experience: Deep passion for creating exceptional user experiences and a strong understanding of user-centered design principles.

• Leadership & Mentorship: Proven ability to lead and mentor a team of designers, providing guidance and support in their professional development.

• Experience in working in an agile framework

• Communication & Collaboration: Excellent written and verbal communication, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to build and maintain effective relationships with cross-functional teams.

• Technical Proficiency: Strong understanding of design tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite) and prototyping tools.

• Analytical & Problem-Solving Skills: Ability to analyze data, identify user needs, and develop creative solutions to complex design challenges.

• Industry Knowledge: Experience working in the [relevant industry, e.g., transportation, technology] industry is a plus.

• Ability to travel to domestically each quarter (typically 10%-15% travel)

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, or a related field. A master’s degree is a plus.

Why Join Our Team?

• If you are a builder of new teams, capability and solutions this is right up your alley!

• Smaller company = more impact, faster.

• Private equity backed.

• Purpose-Driven Work that protects kids and communities.

• Innovative work in an AI company.

• A distinctive culture that helps you become the next best version of you while: “doing well by doing good.”

• Competitive Package: Enjoy a competitive salary, incentives, and benefits in a rapid growth company.

• Travel: up to 20%

How We Work:

At BusPatrol, we uphold four core pillars:

• Safety: We prioritize safety in every decision we make.

• Connection: We foster strong relationships and opportunities for growth.

• Excellence: We strive for quality and innovation in all that we do.

• Impact: We measure success by fulfilling our mission and delivering results.

What We Offer

BusPatrol employees get:

• A competitive salary and benefits package

• Comprehensive personal time off, including volunteering and birthday days off

• An opportunity to help build a company dedicated to children’s safety

• The chance to join an innovative and dedicated team, focused on leading edge technology

• The ability to contribute to purpose driven work that makes a difference in the lives of real people every day.

Additional Details

BusPatrol’s school bus safety programs are violator-funded, meaning that those who break the law pay for the technology that protects children. We build solid partnerships in the communities in which we operate which, coupled with our innovative business model, leads to sustainable efforts to change driver behaviors.

We are looking for a valued member of the BusPatrol team to assist us in our quest to improve children’s safety. This is an important role for us and a great opportunity for the right candidate. Our environment is inclusive, diverse, ignited, built on integrity, and deeply committed.

The US salary range for this position is provided in this posting. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your Talent Partner can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location and skill level during the hiring process.

Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, and/or commission (if applicable) or benefits.