Sr. System Designer II - Design Systems - Digital ...

Job Description We are hiring a Sr. System Designer II to drive the system architecture and strategic evolution across Yum!'s two foundational platforms: - Digital Ordering Design System - powering customer-facing commerce across web, mobile app, kiosk, and loyalty - Smart Ops Design System - supporting operator-facing tools including menu management, POS, KDS, and in-restaurant operational workflows This is a senior individual contributor role focused on design system architecture, scalable component strategy, token frameworks, governance, and multi-brand enablement. Unlike traditional product design roles, this position is centered on building and evolving design infrastructure, the shared foundations that enable product teams and brands to ship consistent, scalable, production-ready experiences globally. You will shape the system that supports millions of guest transactions and thousands of restaurant operators across brands including KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Habit Burger. Role Overview As a Sr. System Designer II, you will: • Architect and evolve enterprise-scale design systems across consumer and operator platforms • Define scalable component and token strategies across multiple brands and environments • Establish contribution, governance, and release models • Partner deeply with Engineering to ensure production-aligned system implementation • Enable brands onboarding to shared systems while supporting intentional differentiation • Leverage AI as an accelerator to improve system velocity, quality, and operational efficiency Responsibilities Responsibilities Design System Architecture & Platform Vision • Partner with Sr. System Designer, Head of Design and Design Leadership to define the long-term architectural strategy for both the Digital Ordering and Smart Ops design systems. • Establish composable component structures and foundational primitives that scale across web, mobile, kiosk, POS, and KDS environments. • Lead design token architecture (color, typography, spacing, density, motion, elevation, state logic) to support theming, localization, and multi-brand flexibility. • Ensure system consistency across consumer and operator experiences while accounting for different constraints and interaction models. • Align system decisions with engineering architecture and front-end implementation frameworks. Component & Interaction Systems Strategy • Architect reusable, modular components that support complex transactional and operational workflows. • Model system behavior including advanced state management, pricing logic, modifiers, availability, real-time updates, and error handling. • Identify redundancies and fragmentation; rationalize patterns across platforms. • Define scalable interaction standards that perform reliably in high-traffic, real-time environments. • Balance shared system integrity with brand-level differentiation through structured theming and variant frameworks. Governance & Contribution Model • Operationalize the end-to-end design system contribution process (intake, review, validation, documentation, release). • In partnership with peers, establish quality standards for component behavior, accessibility, and production readiness. • Partner with Engineering on versioning, release cycles, and adoption tracking. • Create documentation frameworks that clarify usage, edge cases, constraints, and behavioral logic. • Develop mechanisms to measure system health, adoption, and scalability. Brand and Product Onboarding & Enablement • Partner with brand and product teams onboarding into Digital Ordering and Smart Ops systems. • Provide architectural guidance on applying tokens, theming, and component variants. • Develop onboarding toolkits, playbooks, and scalable enablement resources. • Act as a strategic advisor ensuring brands leverage the system rather than diverge from it. • Drive alignment between global standards and brand expression. Engineering & Cross-Functional Partnership • Serve as a strategic design partner to Platform Engineering and Product leaders. • Influence roadmap prioritization to protect system integrity and long-term scalability. • Translate system-level decisions into engineering-ready specifications and behavioral documentation. • Facilitate architecture reviews and system design critiques. • Clearly articulate tradeoffs between system purity, implementation speed, and business needs. AI as a System Accelerator • Explore AI-assisted tooling for design token management, usage tracking, and governance automation. • Model responsible use of AI to improve speed and insight without compromising system quality. • Identify opportunities where AI can enhance both consumer and operator system workflows. Raising Design Systems Maturity • Establish and reinforce platform-first thinking across design teams. • Mentor designers in systems modeling, token architecture, and scalable interaction design. • Improve accessibility standards and inclusive design practices across system outputs. • Elevate organizational understanding of design systems as infrastructure. • Drive long-term system sustainability over short-term feature solutions. QualificationsQualifications • 9+ years of experience in system design, product design, UX architecture, or related fields. • Demonstrated expertise building or evolving enterprise-scale design systems. • Deep knowledge of component architecture, interaction modeling, and scalable UX frameworks. • Experience defining and managing design token systems. • Strong portfolio showcasing system-level thinking and platform architecture. • Proven experience partnering closely with Engineering on system implementation. • Experience supporting multiple brands or product teams within a shared infrastructure. • Strong communication skills with executive-level clarity and influence. Preferred Qualifications • Advanced proficiency in Figma (component libraries, variables, tokens, documentation). • Experience across both consumer-facing commerce and enterprise/operator systems. • Familiarity with front-end frameworks and component APIs. • Experience defining governance models for large-scale systems. • Background in high-volume, real-time transactional platforms. • Experience integrating AI into design workflows. • Strong grounding in accessibility and inclusive design standards. Salary range: $125,000 - $145,000 + bonus eligibility

Created: 2026-03-04