Lead Product Designer, Search

We are looking for a senior design leader to be a driving force in creating world-class experiences that empower people to buy, sell, and rent homes with expert guidance—building clarity, confidence, and trust in every decision. As Lead Product Designer for the Core Search team, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of how users engage with one of the most critical parts of our consumer experience: Search.

This role partners closely with senior leaders in Product and Engineering to define and execute on a bold vision that transcends traditional search—turning it into a journey of discovery. You'll be responsible for establishing design direction and repeatable patterns across multiple teams within the search experience, while ensuring consistency, usability, and business alignment.

While not a direct people-manager role, this position requires strong mentorship and influence across product and design teams. This role reports to the Senior Manager, Product Design for Search & Discovery.

What will you do?

Responsibilities

Design Leadership & Execution

• Drive the design vision and execution for the core search experience, including map-based discovery, filtering systems, results architecture, and interactions that connect users to listings.
• Lead and maintain design quality across multiple squads by defining reusable patterns and ensuring consistency across consumer touchpoints.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, Research, and Data Science to translate complex user and business needs into elegant, usable solutions.
• Deliver scalable and intuitive design frameworks that support iteration and long-term growth of the product.
• Uphold a high bar for design craft, challenging work that does not meet expectations for usability, accessibility, and polish.
• Partner with user research to deeply understand customer behaviors, pain points, and mental models related to search and discovery.
• Drive strategic initiatives in search personalization, relevance, and results optimization with thoughtful design exploration and experimentation.

Mentorship & Influence

• Act as a thought leader and subject matter expert in search design, providing coaching and support to Product Designers working in or adjacent to search.
• Facilitate critiques, design reviews, and working sessions to elevate the quality of design thinking and outcomes.
• Clearly communicate design rationale and user impact to senior stakeholders in Product and Engineering.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Understand the needs of multiple product managers and engineering leads and deliver unified design direction that supports product strategy.
• Participate in strategic planning, roadmap definition, and high-level product direction with senior cross-functional partners.

What will you bring?
Requirements

• 10+ years working in the design industry
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• 3+ years in a product-led organization
• 3+ years providing design direction and mentoring to junior colleagues
• A strong visual aesthetic and design point of view, evidenced by a rich portfolio
• Experience delivering multiple projects simultaneously with cross-disciplinary teams
• Strong communication skills and ability to articulate design rationale in plain language
• Informed and strong opinions, loosely held
• Practitioner of user-centric and data-informed design
• Experience with consumer products or marketplaces preferred
• Champions a "We, Not Me" team-first mindset

Why This Role

At http://Realtor.com , Search is more than a tool—it's the gateway to home. We help 75M+ monthly users uncover possibilities, narrow choices, and gain confidence in their decisions. As our Lead Product Designer for Core Search, you will have the opportunity to meaningfully impact how people find a place where life unfolds.

How we Reward you:

Realtor.com®; is committed to investing in the health and wellbeing of our employees and their families. Our benefits programs include, but are not limited to:

• Inclusive and Competitive medical, Rx, dental, and vision coverage
• Family forming benefits
• 13 Paid Holidays
• Flexible Time Off
• 8 hours of paid Volunteer Time off
• Immediate eligibility into Company 401(k) plan with 3.5% company match
• Tuition Reimbursement program for degreed and non-degreed programs
• 1:1 personalized Financial Planning Sessions
• Student Debt Retirement Savings Match program
• Free snacks and refreshments in each office location