Principal UX Designer Job at The Trade Desk in Irvine

Overview Join to apply for the Principal UX Designer role at The Trade Desk .

The Trade Desk is changing the way global brands and their agencies advertise to audiences around the world. We offer a media buying platform that helps brands deliver a more insightful and relevant ad experience for consumers, and we value inclusive spaces where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work every day.

At The Trade Desk, great design is powerful and intuitive — blending clarity, intelligence, and elegance to help users make faster, more confident decisions. We’re looking for a Principal Product Designer who combines strategic insight, exceptional craft, and a deep understanding of human behavior and business context. You’ll lead design for core areas of Kokai, our next-generation platform, turning complexity into clarity and aligning cross-functional teams on a shared vision of excellence.

You’ll operate at the highest level of individual contribution while partnering closely with Product, Engineering, and Research leadership to elevate design quality across the platform and guide teams toward experiences that meet user and business needs.

What You’ll Do

Champion design excellence informed by user behavior, psychology, and business outcomes; identify shared UX opportunities, align on standards, and raise the bar for craft, coherence, and usability across the platform.

Collaborate with other UX leads to design simple, intuitive experiences for deeply complex workflows, setting a standard for usability in enterprise-grade tools.

Translate data-heavy systems into experiences that feel light and structured; help expert users prioritize, act confidently, and stay in flow.

Apply strong product sense and understanding of business levers to ensure design decisions are user-centered and strategically aligned.

Drive quality and consistency across key product areas while owning and executing design strategy for critical Kokai pillars.

Partner with Product and Engineering to shape roadmaps, define requirements, and advocate for user-centered, insight-driven decisions.

Coach and influence other designers through critiques, systems thinking, and storytelling; model best-in-class design practices and raise the bar across the team.

Contribute to Harbor, the unified design system, to push quality and consistency across surfaces and components.

Lead by example through design critiques, mentorship, and collaboration to foster a culture of continuous improvement and shared ownership of quality.

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Design, HCI, Computer Science, or related field — or equivalent practical experience (Master’s preferred).

10+ years of experience in product design or UX, including work on enterprise-grade or data-rich applications.

4+ years of experience leading high-impact design initiatives across teams or product areas.

Proven experience working in cross-functional teams, influencing outcomes through collaboration, systems thinking, and storytelling.

Strong visual and interaction design skills with a portfolio demonstrating craft, clarity, and user-centered problem solving; include a viewable link with your resume.

Proficiency in Figma and the ability to prototype at multiple fidelity levels to communicate and validate ideas.

Experience partnering with executive stakeholders and contributing to product vision and roadmap through design leadership.

Track record of translating complex user needs and business goals into scalable, elegant solutions.

Familiarity with advertising technology, programmatic platforms, and campaign optimization tools is a plus.

Other Information

The Trade Desk does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firm recruiters. We are an equal opportunity employer and make employment decisions based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate on race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected by law.

[LA JOBS ONLY] The Trade Desk will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in accordance with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring (Ordinance No. 184652). [SF JOBS ONLY] We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. Residents in CO, CA, IL, NY, WA, and Washington DC : base compensation ranges are provided as a guideline and may vary based on experience, knowledge, skills, abilities, and location. The package may include stock-based compensation, other incentives, and comprehensive benefits including health coverage, retirement, disability, life insurance, and paid time off. The Trade Desk also offers the Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Base Salary range for this role : $166,200—$304,700 USD. This is a summary and not a guarantee of compensation.

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