FLEX Director of Design Operations, Design Systems

Marriott International · Bethesda

JOB SUMMARY

We are seeking a strategic, collaborative, and forward-thinking FLEX Director of Design Operations, Design Systems to lead the evolution of the Marriott Associate Design System (MADS), our enterprise-wide foundation for building intuitive, accessible, consistent, and scalable digital experiences for Marriott.

As the FLEX Director of Design Operations, Design Systems, you will lead the vision, strategy, roadmap, governance, adoption, and operational model for MADS. You will treat the design system as an enterprise product and capability; connecting the needs of product teams with reusable design and engineering solutions that improve quality and accelerate delivery across Marriott’s internal digital ecosystem.

This role serves as a key bridge between Design and Design System Engineering, working in close partnership with engineering leadership to jointly evolve the system from strategy through production. Together, design and engineering will align roadmaps, evolve component architecture, maintain design-to-code parity, and ensure MADS solutions are accessible, technically scalable, and designed for reuse.

The FLEX Director of Design Operations, Design Systems will also lead DesignOps for MADS, establishing scalable processes for work intake, prioritization, capacity and resource planning, governance, contribution, documentation, and delivery. This leader will maintain visibility into demand across the organization and help determine where design system investment can solve recurring product needs at scale.

This is both a strategic leadership and hands-on design leadership role. The FLEX Director of Design Operations, Design Systems will guide design system designers, provide design direction and critique, and help translate complex enterprise needs into scalable patterns, components, standards, and experiences.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Education and Experience

Required

Bachelor's degree in UX Design, Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Product Design, Design Systems, Design Operations, or a related field; or equivalent professional experience.
8+ years of experience in digital product design, design systems, UX strategy, DesignOps, or related disciplines, including leadership of complex enterprise-scale initiatives.
Experience leading, owning, or significantly contributing to an enterprise design system or digital platform, including roadmap development, governance, adoption, and cross-functional collaboration with design and engineering teams.

Preferred

Deep expertise in design systems, including component libraries, design tokens, documentation, governance models, accessibility standards, and design-to-development workflows utilizing tools such as Figma, Storybook, GitHub, Jira, and Confluence.
Experience establishing DesignOps practices, including intake, prioritization, capacity planning, contribution models, workflow optimization, and organizational enablement at scale.
Experience leveraging emerging technologies and AI-enabled tools to improve design system adoption, documentation, quality, accessibility, designer and developer workflows, or operational efficiency.

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES

Defines and evolves the vision, strategy, governance model, and multi-quarter roadmap for the Marriott Associate Design System (MADS).
Leads the design and evolution of design system foundations, components, patterns, standards, documentation, and supporting tools.
Partners closely with Design System Engineering to align roadmaps, prioritize investments, and maintain design-to-code parity across system assets.
Establishes governance, contribution, release, versioning, migration, and deprecation processes that support scalable system growth.
Leads DesignOps practices for MADS, including intake management, prioritization, resource planning, workflow optimization, and delivery oversight.
Manages the design system backlog and balances immediate product needs with long-term platform investments and technical sustainability.
Provides design leadership, direction, coaching, and critique to designers and cross-functional teams to ensure high-quality, scalable solutions.
Evaluates product and business needs to identify opportunities where reusable system solutions can improve consistency, efficiency, and experience quality.
Develops and maintains processes, templates, documentation, and playbooks that improve adoption and effective use of MADS.
Facilitates design reviews, governance discussions, office hours, and contribution reviews to support system adoption and continuous improvement.
Ensures accessibility, inclusive design, usability, and quality standards are embedded within reusable design system assets and practices.
Collaborates with Product, Engineering, Accessibility, Architecture, and other stakeholders to align priorities and drive enterprise-wide adoption.
Defines and tracks key performance indicators related to adoption, reuse, system health, accessibility, operational effectiveness, and business impact.
Uses qualitative and quantitative insights to identify improvement opportunities and inform roadmap and operational decisions.
Drives organizational change management, communication, training, and enablement efforts associated with new standards, system enhancements, and migrations.
Represents MADS strategy, priorities, value, and outcomes to senior leadership and key stakeholders across the organization.

At Marriott International, we are dedicated to being an equal opportunity employer, welcoming all and providing access to opportunity. We actively foster an environment where the unique backgrounds of our associates are valued and celebrated. Our greatest strength lies in the rich blend of culture, talent, and experiences of our associates.  We are committed to non-discrimination on any protected basis, including disability, veteran status, or other basis protected by applicable law.

All locations offer 401(k) plan, stock purchase plan, discounts at Marriott properties, commuter benefits, employee assistance plan, and childcare discounts. Benefits are subject to terms and conditions, which may include rules regarding eligibility, enrollment, waiting period, contribution, benefit limits, election changes, benefit exclusions, and others. Click here to learn more.

Full-time positions also offer coverage for medical, dental, vision, health care flexible spending account, dependent care flexible spending account, life insurance, disability insurance, accident insurance, adoption expense reimbursements, and paid parental leave.

Washington Applicants Only: Employees will accrue paid sick leave, 0.0384 PTO balance for every hour worked and be eligible to receive minimum of 9 holidays annually.

Marriott Headquarters (HQ) supports a hybrid work environment that helps associates Be Connected. HQ based roles are generally hybrid and require regular in-office presence at the assigned location, including for candidates who live within commuting distance of HQ for a role listed as remote. Remote roles will be clearly identified in the job posting.

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