Design Program Manager - Vehicle OS

Description

Work Arrangement: This role is categorized as hybrid. This means the successful candidate is expected to report to the office three times per week or other frequency dictated by the business.

The Role

General Motors’ Human Interface Design organization creates the digital experiences that power our in-vehicle software, mobile apps, and branded web platforms. As a Design Operations Manager, you will shape the operating models, cross-functional rhythms, and delivery processes that enable our designers to work at scale. You will partner across product, engineering, marketing, brand, and design leadership to align priorities, accelerate decision-making, and ensure design intent is carried through to launch. You will also manage a small team of Producer and guide their performance for design production.

Design Operations Managers serve as strategic operators – linking design with product, engineering, program, and marketing teams while building systems that help teams deliver high-quality products with speed and confidence.

About the team:

The Design Ops Vehicle OS practice drives the end‑to‑end operational strategy and execution behind GM’s in‑vehicle digital design ecosystem. Partnering closely with Product Management, Program Management, and Engineering, the team translates user‑experience vision into high‑quality, cross‑platform deliverables while championing design excellence. Design Ops establishes and manages the workflows, governance structures, planning cadences, and communication channels needed to keep complex cross‑functional teams aligned and unblocked. They create clarity around scope, timing, dependencies, and review cycles so designers have the structure and support required to deliver intuitive, cohesive, and future‑forward in‑vehicle experiences. As the operational backbone of the Vehicle OS organization, this practice is essential to achieving scale, efficiency, consistency, and excellence across all design initiatives.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and evolve scalable workflows, operating models, and planning frameworks that improve predictability, velocity, and quality of design delivery.
• Facilitate alignment across design, product, engineering, and brand teams, ensuring shared understanding of priorities, dependencies, and decision points.
• Manage end-to-end delivery of key design initiatives, safeguarding design intent, accessibility, timelines and quality from concept through launch.
• Build communication artifacts—roadmaps, briefs, risks, and status updates—that improve visibility for cross-functional partners and senior leadership.
• Identify risks, blockers, and cross-team impacts early; drive resolution through influence, negotiation, and structured decision-making.
• Champion adoption of standardized tools, methodologies, and best practices that support multi-brand, multi-region design operations.

• Build, lead, and inspire a diverse team program managers at varying career stages, fostering growth and professional development across all levels.

Your Skills & Abilities (Required Qualifications)

• 9+ years of professional experience in design program management, design operations, UX program management, or supporting programs with design intent (software product design, HMI, service design, design systems).

• 2+ years of people management experience.
• Demonstrated ability to build strategic partnerships in highly matrixed environments, influencing leaders across design, product, engineering, and brand organizations.
• Experience leading end-to-end design delivery using structured methodologies (Agile/Lean) with cross-functional operating rhythms.
• An online portfolio or privately shared case studies demonstrating how you built operating models, drove alignment, and delivered measurable outcomes in quality, customer impact, or efficiency.
• Strong communication and storytelling skills, with ability to create executive-ready narratives and decision frameworks.
• Proficiency with design-related or software-related project management tools, such as Jira/Confluence, Asana/Smartsheet, Figma/FigJam, or Miro.
• Commitment to inclusive and accessible design.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic, and ambiguous environment.

What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

• 10+ years of professional experience supporting vehicle-related design programs.
• Multi-brand or multi-region design operations experience, including vendor or external partner management.
• Background in design system governance or integrated research-to-design-to-engineering workflows.
• Experience with OKRs, KPIs, or change management frameworks.
• Familiarity with automotive, transportation, or regulated product environments.

• PMP or Agile certification or relevant equivalent.

Sponsorship: GM DOES NOT PROVIDE IMMIGRATION-RELATED SPONSORSHIP FOR THIS ROLE. DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS ROLE IF YOU WILL NEED GM IMMIGRATION SPONSORSHIP (e.g., H-1B, TN, STEM OPT, etc.) NOW OR IN THE FUTURE.

About GM

Our vision is a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion and we embrace the responsibility to lead the change that will make our world better, safer and more equitable for all.

Why Join Us

We believe we all must make a choice every day – individually and collectively – to drive meaningful change through our words, our deeds and our culture. Every day, we want every employee to feel they belong to one General Motors team.

Total Rewards | Benefits Overview

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Non-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunities (U.S.)

General Motors is committed to being a workplace that is not only free of unlawful discrimination, but one that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. We strongly believe that providing an inclusive workplace creates an environment in which our employees can thrive and develop better products for our customers.

All employment decisions are made on a non-discriminatory basis without regard to sex, race, color, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, disability, pregnancy or maternity status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran or protected veteran, or any other similarly protected status in accordance with federal, state and local laws.

We encourage interested candidates to review the key responsibilities and qualifications for each role and apply for any positions that match their skills and capabilities. Applicants in the recruitment process may be required, where applicable, to successfully complete a role-related assessment(s) and/or a pre-employment screening prior to beginning employment. To learn more, visit How we Hire.

Accommodations

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