Design manager with 10 years in product design, the last 4 managing a team of 7 designers for a B2B HR platform. Rebuilt the team's hiring and career framework, cutting regretted attrition to zero over 2 years. Combines people leadership with hands-on critique and close planning with product and engineering partners.
Experience
Design Manager, Peoplegrid (Boston, MA)
Mar 2022 – Present
Manage 7 product designers and 1 researcher across payroll, benefits and time tracking
Introduced a career ladder and calibration process; zero regretted attrition since 2024
Hired 4 designers with a structured portfolio review and work sample
Set team OKRs tied to activation and support-ticket goals, hitting 5 of 6 in 2025
Design: B2B product design, design systems, research practice
Tools: Figma, Lattice, Jira, Productboard
How to write a Design Manager resume
A strong Design Manager resume shows the problems you framed, the decisions you drove, and the user or business outcomes they produced. Show the organization you ran (team size, budget, revenue) and the business results you are accountable for.
Sections, in order
Summary
Experience
Projects
Skills
Education
Length: Two pages are common for leadership roles; keep the first page strong enough to stand alone.
Summary: Lead with your leadership scope and the business outcomes you are known for.
Skills to feature
User research
Product strategy
Prototyping
Figma
Design systems
Usability testing
Roadmapping
Experimentation (A/B testing)
Stakeholder management
Accessibility
Example bullet points
Redesigned onboarding from 9 steps to 4, lifting week-one activation from 31% to 44%
Built a 120-component design system adopted by 5 squads, halving UI build time for new features
Ran 40 user interviews and a pricing test that informed a packaging change worth $1.2M ARR
Tips from recruiters
Put a portfolio link in the header; for product roles, link a case study or launch write-up instead.
Describe your role in shared outcomes precisely ("led", "co-owned", "contributed").
Keep visuals for the portfolio: a clean, readable resume signals design judgement better than decoration.
Recommended templates
Modern (ATS-friendly): Clean single column with accent headings and rules
Timeline (ATS-friendly): Clean accent layout with a dated career timeline
Vanguard (ATS-friendly): Bold display name, accent-led headings with line rules
Design Manager resume FAQ
What should a Design Manager resume include?
A Design Manager resume should show the problems you framed, the decisions you drove, and the user or business outcomes they produced. Use these sections in this order: Summary, Experience, Projects, Skills and Education. Show the organization you ran (team size, budget, revenue) and the business results you are accountable for.
What is the best resume template for a Design Manager?
Modern, Timeline and Vanguard work well for Design Manager roles. They are single-column with standard headings, so applicant tracking systems (ATS) parse them reliably.
How long should a Design Manager resume be?
Two pages are common for leadership roles; keep the first page strong enough to stand alone.
Which skills should a Design Manager put on a resume?
Prioritize the skills named in the job posting. Common ones for Design Manager roles are User research, Product strategy, Prototyping, Figma, Design systems and Usability testing.
How do I write strong Design Manager resume bullet points?
Start with an action verb, say what you did, and end with a measurable result such as activation, conversion and retention. For example: "Redesigned onboarding from 9 steps to 4, lifting week-one activation from 31% to 44%."