VP of Design

About GameChanger:

We believe in the life-changing impact youth sports have on and off the field because they encourage leadership, teamwork, responsibility, and confidence—important life lessons that have the power to propel our youth toward meaningful futures. We recognize that without coaches, parents, and volunteers, organized youth sports could not exist. By building the first and best place to experience the youth sports moments important to our community, we are helping families elevate the next generation through youth sports.

So if you love sports and their community-building potential, or building cool products is your sport, GameChanger is the team for you. We are a remote-first, dynamic tech company based in New York City, and we are solving some of the biggest challenges in youth sports today.

The Position:

GameChanger is looking for a VP of Design to lead design as a company-level discipline and shape how millions of coaches, parents, athletes, and fans experience youth sports. You will own the vision, strategy, and quality of product design and user research across our mobile and web experiences.

Reporting directly to our Chief Product and Technology Officer, you will serve on the product leadership team and lead a team of product design managers, designers, and research partners. You will partner closely with leaders across Product, Engineering, Commercial, Strategy, and Data to shape product direction, bring customer insight into company decisions, and connect design with business outcomes.

You will set an ambitious design vision, strengthen the quality and consistency of our experiences, and build a design practice that supports GameChanger’s continued growth. Your work will help make our products intuitive, engaging, and valuable to the communities we serve.

This role combines executive leadership with close engagement in the work. You will champion design across the company, develop our design leaders, and provide the guidance, critique, and hands-on examples that help the team produce exceptional work. You will help make discovery, research, and design central to how GameChanger decides what to build.

What Success Looks Like

- A clear design vision guides the team’s priorities and strengthens the quality and consistency of the GameChanger experience.
- Design and Product operate as strong partners, with customer research, discovery, and prototyping informing product decisions from the start.
- The team demonstrates a higher and more consistent standard of craft, supported by regular coaching, capable design leaders, and a trusted design system.
- Design’s contribution to customer experience, product innovation, and business performance is visible and understood across the organization.

What You’ll Do:

- Set the design direction - Define and communicate a design vision aligned with company strategy. Represent design on the product leadership team and explain design priorities, tradeoffs, and impact to executives and the board.
- Shape customer-centered experiences - Guide the evolution of our mobile and web experiences around customer needs. Partner with Product and Engineering to turn insights into intuitive experiences that drive innovation and differentiation.
- Elevate product quality - Set clear standards for interaction design, visual design, motion, copy, and accessibility. Lead regular critiques, stay close to the work, and sketch or prototype when the team needs direction on a complex problem.
- Build a cohesive design system - Own and evolve the design system and shared design language across iOS, Android, and web to improve consistency, support strong craft, and help teams work effectively.
- Lead and develop the organization - Coach product design managers, grow designers into leaders, and recruit talent as the team evolves. Build a culture of clear expectations, constructive feedback, collaboration, and strong craft.
- Embed research and discovery - Establish regular engagement with coaches, parents, athletes, and fans. Partner with Product and Engineering to bring research, discovery, and prototyping into problem framing and roadmap decisions.
- Champion design across the business - Build relationships with Product, Engineering, Commercial, Strategy, and Data leaders. Advocate for design in company decisions and connect customer experience with activation, engagement, retention, and revenue.
- Strengthen how the team works - Improve design practices, tooling, and collaboration as the organization grows. Use modern prototyping and AI-assisted workflows thoughtfully to help the team explore ideas, learn faster, and deliver high-quality work.

Who You Are:

- 10+ years designing consumer mobile and web experiences and 6+ years leading design organizations, including experience as the most senior design leader in a company or major business unit.
- A design leader who has built or transformed a design practice in a growing technology company. You understand how to add structure and develop a team while priorities, products, and ways of working continue to evolve.
- A strong practitioner with current expertise in user experience, interaction and visual design, design systems, research, and prototyping. You can explain what makes an experience effective, demonstrate a better approach, and use modern design and AI-assisted tools.
- An experienced manager of design leaders who provides regular coaching, clear direction, and constructive critique. You know when to get into the details and when to give your team room to lead.
- A persuasive advocate for design who builds relationships, influences senior peers, and communicates clearly with executives and boards. You have shaped product strategy alongside Product and Engineering leaders and can connect design decisions with customer and business outcomes.
- A portfolio that demonstrates strong craft, measurable impact, and the organizations and practices you built behind the work. You are motivated by GameChanger’s mission and curious about the needs of youth sports communities.

Perks:

- Work from our well-furnished, modern office in Manhattan, NY.
- Unlimited vacation policy.
- Paid volunteer opportunities.
- Technology stipend - $4,000 every 2 years after your start to make sure you have the latest and greatest technology.
- WFH stipend - $500 annually to make your WFH situation comfortable.
- Monthly physical, mental, wellness & learning stipend offered through Holisticly.
- Monthly lifestyle stipend offered through Fringe.
- Full health benefits - medical, dental, vision, prescription, FSA, HRA, HSA, and coverage for family/dependents.
- Retirement savings - Traditional and Roth 401K plans are offered through Vanguard, with an immediate company match.
- Life insurance - basic life, supplemental life, and dependent life.
- Disability leave - short-term disability and long-term disability.
- Company paid parental leave - up to 20 weeks for birthing parents and up to 12 weeks for non-birthing parents.
- Family building benefits offered through Progyny.
- DICK'S Sporting Goods and their family of brands teammate discount.

The target salary range for this position is between $260,000 and $280,000. This is part of a total compensation package that includes incentive, equity, and benefits for eligible roles. Individual pay may vary from the target range and is determined by several factors including experience, internal pay equity, and other relevant business considerations. We constantly review all teammate pay to ensure a great compensation package that is fair and equal across the board.

* DICK'S Sporting Goods has company-wide practices to monitor and protect the company from significant compliance and monetary implications as it pertains to employer state tax liabilities. Due to said guidelines put in place, we are unable to hire in AK, DE, HI, IA, LA, MS, MT, OK, and SC.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity in our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

Our Interview Process & AI

We recognize that AI has become a common part of everyday life and professional work, and its use continues to evolve rapidly. Our perspective on AI in the hiring process will evolve as well. At this time, we ask that candidates please refrain from using AI tools during interviews and assessments, as we want to see your authentic self. We will clearly indicate if and when AI use is acceptable in the process. If you have any questions or need accommodations, we're here to help. Thanks for helping us keep the process fair and secure for everyone!

IMPORTANT NOTICE: All official recruitment communications from GameChanger will come from an email address ending in @ gc.com or [email protected]. If you receive communication from any other domain, please be cautious, as it is likely fraudulent.

Compensation

$260K – $280K • Offers Equity • Offers Bonus