Job description

Overview Join Microsoft as a Senior Visual Designer on the Windows Design Systems and Brand team and help define the visual foundation of Windows. You will lead key visual design and systems work that shapes how Windows experiences look, feel, move, and communicate across products and surfaces. You will establish visual direction and translate design principles into scalable components, patterns, tokens, Figma libraries, and implementation guidance. Working within a multidisciplinary team, you will partner with product designers, UX engineers, engineers, researchers, and brand partners to solve complex UI and interaction challenges while raising the quality and consistency of Windows experiences. This role requires exceptional visual craft, solid systems thinking, and the ability to influence across organizational boundaries. You will balance expressive creative direction with the accessibility, technical constraints, platform conventions, and durability required of a design system used at global scale. Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond. Responsibilities • Define and advance visual language territories for the future of Windows, translating exploration into clear principles and scalable system decisions. • Own significant design system workstreams from problem definition and visual exploration through implementation, documentation, and adoption. • Create and evolve visual and interaction foundations, including color, typography, iconography, motion, materials, layout, design tokens, components, and patterns; with exceptional craft across states, themes, densities, input methods, accessibility modes, and edge cases. • Translate product and user needs into scalable solutions that remain flexible across distinct Windows contexts. • Partner with UX engineering and engineering to define specifications, evaluate feasibility, review implementation, and hold shipped experiences to a high-quality bar. • Identify systemic product-quality gaps and develop reusable solutions supported by compelling presentations, prototypes, and narratives. • Strengthen the team’s visual design practice through mentorship, critique, documentation, shared standards, and thoughtful application of AI-assisted workflows and emerging interaction paradigms. Qualifications Required Qualifications: • Master's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 4+ years experience working in product or service design. • OR Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design, Product Design, Human Computer Interaction, User Experience, Interaction Design, or related field AND 5+ years experience working in product or service design. • OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems). Preferred Qualifications: • Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Interaction Design, Product Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field and 6+ years of professional design experience, or equivalent experience. • A portfolio demonstrating exceptional visual and UI craft across typography, color, composition, hierarchy, iconography, interaction states, and adaptive interface design. • Demonstrated ability to create or evolve visual design systems, translating visual direction or brand identity into scalable components, patterns, tokens, templates, and guidance across products or platforms. • Advanced Figma proficiency, including components, variables, shared libraries, and prototyping. • Proven partnership with engineering through specification, implementation, design QA, and resolution of visual or interaction-quality issues. • Ability to communicate design rationale, facilitate critique, reconcile competing requirements, and influence partners without direct authority. • Working knowledge of accessibility and inclusive design, including contrast, scaling, input modalities, localization, high-contrast modes, and assistive technologies. • 8+ years of professional experience in visual design, UI design, product design, or design systems. • A track record of establishing visual language for a platform, operating system, or multi-product ecosystem. • Leadership of a significant design system workstream from exploration through implementation and adoption. • Deep expertise in one or more visual disciplines, such as typography, color, iconography, motion, illustration, spatial design, or data visualization. • Background designing complex desktop or productivity environments across windows, input methods, display densities, themes, and accessibility modes. • Familiarity with design token architecture and the relationship between design libraries and production code. • Demonstrated impact through mentorship, critique, standards, documentation, or design education. • Knowledge of AI-assisted design workflows and emerging interaction paradigms. • Work on global products accounting for localization, internationalization, and culturally inclusive design. #W+DJOBS Product Design IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $119,800 - $234,700 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $160,200 - $261,000 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: careers.microsoft.com This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.

Requirements

Must-haves

Define and advance visual language territories for the future of Windows, translating exploration into clear principles and scalable system decisions.
Own significant design system workstreams from problem definition and visual exploration through implementation, documentation, and adoption.
Translate product and user needs into scalable solutions that remain flexible across distinct Windows contexts.
Partner with UX engineering and engineering to define specifications, evaluate feasibility, review implementation, and hold shipped experiences to a high-quality bar.
Identify systemic product-quality gaps and develop reusable solutions supported by compelling presentations, prototypes, and narratives.
Strengthen the team’s visual design practice through mentorship, critique, documentation, shared standards, and thoughtful application of AI-assisted workflows and emerging interaction paradigms.
OR equivalent experience (e.g., demonstrated experience working in product or service design or using design thinking to solve problems).
Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Interaction Design, Product Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field and 6+ years of professional design experience, or equivalent experience.
8+ years of professional experience in visual design, UI design, product design, or design systems.
Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Nice-to-haves

A portfolio demonstrating exceptional visual and UI craft across typography, color, composition, hierarchy, iconography, interaction states, and adaptive interface design.
Demonstrated ability to create or evolve visual design systems, translating visual direction or brand identity into scalable components, patterns, tokens, templates, and guidance across products or platforms.
Advanced Figma proficiency, including components, variables, shared libraries, and prototyping.
Proven partnership with engineering through specification, implementation, design QA, and resolution of visual or interaction-quality issues.
Ability to communicate design rationale, facilitate critique, reconcile competing requirements, and influence partners without direct authority.
Working knowledge of accessibility and inclusive design, including contrast, scaling, input modalities, localization, high-contrast modes, and assistive technologies.
A track record of establishing visual language for a platform, operating system, or multi-product ecosystem.
Leadership of a significant design system workstream from exploration through implementation and adoption.
Deep expertise in one or more visual disciplines, such as typography, color, iconography, motion, illustration, spatial design, or data visualization.
Background designing complex desktop or productivity environments across windows, input methods, display densities, themes, and accessibility modes.
Familiarity with design token architecture and the relationship between design libraries and production code.
Demonstrated impact through mentorship, critique, standards, documentation, or design education.

Application prep

Use the role’s language and application details while tailoring your materials.

Keywords to mirror

design systemsfigmaaccessibilitydesign systemai

Platform: eightfold
Effort: medium