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The role of a senior product designer can make or break the success of a particular product, which is why this role requires a high level of skill and experience before one can qualify. Moreover, a senior product designer also serves as a leader for the product design team, which means they must be able to make the best decisions based on their client's and their team's needs.

The typical work duties of a senior product designer typically revolve around meeting with clients to identify their needs, communicating the project specifications to the product design team, and conceptualizing and refining product designs. Moreover, they are also responsible for addressing client concerns, as well as making necessary changes to the product as they see fit.

The typical requirement for this role is a bachelor's degree in a field of design that is relevant to your intended industry. And since this is a senior position, substantial experience as a product designer is a must.

When it comes to salary, you can expect to earn an average of $111,000 per year as a senior product designer.

What Does a Senior Product Designer Do

There are certain skills that many senior product designers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed listening skills, math skills and mechanical skills.

Learn more about what a Senior Product Designer does

How To Become a Senior Product Designer

If you're interested in becoming a senior product designer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 60.0% of senior product designers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.2% of senior product designers have master's degrees. Even though most senior product designers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Senior Product Designer

Career Path For a Senior Product Designer

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of lead designer you might progress to a role such as art director eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title vice president product development.

Senior Product Designer

Average Salary for a Senior Product Designer

Senior Product Designers in America make an average salary of $120,587 per year or $58 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $165,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $87,000 per year.
Average Senior Product Designer Salary
$120,587 Yearly
$57.97 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Senior Product Designer

The role of a senior product designer includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general senior product designer responsibilities:

  • Actively participate in ideation exercises to push the boundaries of what we build
  • Deliver work based on a lean ux build-measure-learn process apply strategic thinking to design
  • Responsible for design and release of vehicle sub-systems

There are several types of senior product designer, including:

Project Engineer

Role:

A project engineer is responsible for the planning and implementation of a project. In collaboration with the management of the enterprise, they review proposals and come up with project goals. They break down the process and create a viable schedule, and then coordinate and monitor the work.

The project, as such, sounds vague because it depends on the industry they work for. In any case, they go on regular meetings with clients to make sure the the evolution of the work matches their vision. It is their responsibility to carry out the work within the budget or to propose adjustments to it if they see fit.

The project engineer will analyze the performance of their team and present progress reports to stakeholders to make sure everyone is at the top of their game.
  • Average Salary: $75,050
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Mechanical Designer

Role:

Are you a tech-savvy person who loves innovation and designing new things? If your true creative passion lies in the space shared by science, technology, and geeking out in DIY products, then a career as a mechanical designer may be a perfect fit for you. In general, a mechanical designer (sometimes referred to as a mechanical engineer) is a member of an engineering team who creates technical designs for mechanical devices and equipment. Starting a career as a mechanical designer offers you an opportunity to design new products and engineering solutions that help the world and fulfill your intellectual curiosity, all while enjoying lucrative wages and growing job prospects. Other than this, the role of a mechanical designer offers you diverse career opportunities. Whether you want to join a software development company, do freelance work, or plan to set up your own business after graduation, mechanical designer has become one of the most fulfilling and best-paid career choices.

While working as a mechanical designer, usually, you'll be at the forefront of all manufacturing industries, developing new technology, creating new tools, products, and systems to solve the world's problems. During your work, you might get the ability to collaborate with experienced mentors, young engineers, and other professionals to create and improve manufacturing systems or processes. Like most engineering jobs, to become a mechanical designer, you'll need a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related field. In addition to this, getting an associate's degree in mechanical design and additional technical certification may help build your resume. But all these certifications are purely optional. Working as a mechanical designer, you may work in numerous automotive, machinery manufacturing, architectural, engineering, or related service industries. Usually, you'll perform your job in an office setting, but you may occasionally visit worksites where a problem or a piece of equipment needs your attention. Most of the time, you'll work for full-time business hours, you may be required to work extra hours to meet project deadlines. Flexible working, such as work from home or short-term contracts, is another fantastic perk of a mechanical designer job.

Now, how much do you earn as a mechanical designer? Generally, the average annual salary for a mechanical designer is $60,594, which helps support your family and plan a stable financial future. As a mechanical designer, you may also get additional employee benefits, such as a company car, a pension, health insurance, and in some cases, sponsorship for future study and a Master's course. Another big perk of becoming a mechanical designer is the lucrative employment rate, which may expect to increase by 4% over the next decade, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Moreover, with more work experience and staying abreast of advances in technology, you may get the best job prospects in the mechanical designer field.

  • Average Salary: $62,541
  • Degree: Associate Degree

Lead Designer

Role:

Firstly, lead designers consult with clients to determine their needs and define design specifications. They work with the design team to plan and implement visual designs and concepts as required by clients. Periodically, they inform clients about the status of the project, including design recommendations and adjustments. Generally, they create prototypes, features, and specifications for the clients. Their duties include overseeing various design projects, research and analysis, and assessing the performance of implemented designing strategies. Also, they maintain the quality and the creativity of design projects.

Applicants are required to have a bachelor's degree in design or a related field. You must have a great design portfolio to showcase your creativity. You must also have experience in a similar role. Key skills include analytical, attention to detail, negotiation, communication, and persuasion skills. Lead designers make an average salary of $88,812 per annum. This ranges between $51,000 to $154,000.

  • Average Salary: $110,001
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Senior Product Designer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active senior product designer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where senior product designers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Senior Product Designer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California5,103$136,685
2Texas3,738$111,986
3Florida2,388$96,227
4Virginia2,125$107,687
5Pennsylvania2,074$100,739
6Georgia1,966$97,676
7North Carolina1,772$95,280
8New York1,552$114,257
9Ohio1,416$90,401
10Colorado1,361$112,741
11Minnesota1,335$90,036
12Arizona1,215$113,260
13Washington1,174$130,859
14Michigan1,167$94,841
15Maryland1,067$125,945
16Wisconsin1,056$98,506
17Massachusetts945$111,829
18Illinois911$101,136
19Indiana767$117,832
20Tennessee733$102,663
21Missouri694$102,639
22Oregon615$122,612
23South Carolina545$106,431
24Alabama471$115,348
25New Jersey470$115,386
26Iowa430$117,590
27Kansas400$89,865
28Kentucky390$97,339
29New Hampshire379$110,653
30Arkansas378$85,916
31Nevada338$102,736
32Nebraska321$89,927
33Utah313$105,844
34New Mexico275$119,597
35Connecticut273$107,607
36Oklahoma266$108,121
37Louisiana250$114,184
38Vermont227$102,520
39Maine202$116,639
40West Virginia160$113,203
41Mississippi152$97,132
42South Dakota134$95,202
43North Dakota127$89,701
44Alaska118$114,168
45Hawaii104$87,950
46Delaware100$120,267
47Rhode Island98$118,400
48Wyoming96$104,490
49Idaho89$120,817
50Montana63$99,383

Senior Product Designer Education

Senior Product Designer Majors

Senior Product Designer Degrees

Bachelors

60.0 %

Associate

28.2 %

Masters

7.2 %

Top Colleges for Senior Product Designers

1. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,465

Enrollment

6,483

2. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

3. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

4. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

5. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

6. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

7. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

8. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

9. Iowa State University of Science and Technology

Ames, IA • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,988

Enrollment

29,248

10. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Top Skills For a Senior Product Designer

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 32.3% of senior product designers listed sketch on their resume, but soft skills such as listening skills and math skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Product Designer Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Senior Product Designer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Senior Product Designer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Senior Product Designer diversity

Senior Product Designer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
81%
Female
Female
19%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among senior product designers, 18.6% of them are women, while 81.4% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among senior product designers is White, which makes up 72.1% of all senior product designers.

  • The most common foreign language among senior product designers is Spanish at 17.4%.

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Best States For a Senior Product Designer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior product designer. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, Maryland, and Oregon. Senior product designers make the most in California with an average salary of $136,685. Whereas in Washington and Maryland, they would average $130,859 and $125,945, respectively. While senior product designers would only make an average of $122,612 in Oregon, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Senior Product Designer Jobs: 1,174
Highest 10% Earn:
$183,000
Location Quotient:
1.08

2. California

Total Senior Product Designer Jobs: 5,103
Highest 10% Earn:
$193,000
Location Quotient:
1.17

3. Oregon

Total Senior Product Designer Jobs: 615
Highest 10% Earn:
$172,000
Location Quotient:
0.99
Full List Of Best States For Senior Product Designers

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Top Senior Product Designer Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ senior product designers and discovered their number of senior product designer opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Masco was the best, especially with an average salary of $85,747. Motion Recruitment Partners follows up with an average salary of $132,940, and then comes Intuit with an average of $124,267. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a senior product designer. The employers include VMware, Veeva Systems, and Northwestern Mutual

Most Common Employers For Senior Product Designer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Instacart$151,641$72.908
2Microsoft$141,125$67.8511
3Etsy$139,435$67.0413
4Motion Recruitment$132,940$63.9147
5Uber Technologies$132,037$63.4828
6VMware$128,016$61.5528
7Salesforce$126,429$60.7831
8Recurly$126,320$60.7311
9LinkedIn$124,850$60.0221
10Splunk$124,556$59.8819

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