Director, Product Design – Vrbo
At Expedia Group, we help travelers explore the world, one journey at a time. As a global travel company powered by passionate people, trusted partnerships, and leading technology, we connect travelers, partners, and advertisers through our consumer brands, B2B network, and travel advertising business.
Here, you'll do meaningful work that helps millions of people discover, book, and experience travel with more ease, confidence, and joy. Our five Behaviors-Traveler First, Think Big, Operate with Excellence, Ownership Mindset, and Succeed Together-help foster a supportive environment where people can grow their careers and have the flexibility, benefits, and support to do their best work. Join us and build for travelers everywhere.
Introduction to the Team
The Traveler Business Team builds and drives growth for our global consumer businesses—Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo. This division creates compelling and differentiated traveler value for each brand by setting the strategic vision, operating strategy, and plan. Responsibilities include investment allocation and prioritization, P&L accountability, and leading cross-functional teams across Expedia Group, all aligned to a shared scorecard.
About the Role
As a Director, Product Design - Vrbo, you are a design, practice, and thought leader who leads from the work as much as from strategy. You bring together vision, execution, and craft—translating Expedia Group’s brand strategy into coherent, high-quality product experiences across surfaces and platforms.
This role is ideal for a leader who still loves being close to the work. You will operate as a true player-coach, staying connected to the details, guiding teams through critical design decisions, and stepping in when needed to elevate outcomes. You set the bar for design craft and systems thinking while shaping an organization where bold ideas, hands-on execution, and rigorous delivery coexist.
In this role, you will:
Lead and shape end-to-end traveler experiences across Vrbo’s shopping, discovery, and booking journeys, raising the quality bar for the brand while staying actively involved in key moments of the design process.
Define and drive an organization-level experience vision and strategy, aligning teams around customer needs, business outcomes, and measurable success metrics.
Operate as a player-coach, balancing strategic leadership with hands-on involvement—partnering with teams on problem framing, reviewing work in progress, and helping unblock complex design and product challenges.
Lead, coach, and develop senior managers and lead-level ICs, modeling a hands-on leadership style by engaging directly in the work, providing actionable feedback, and elevating craft across the organization.
Influence strategic roadmap discussions, framing problems clearly, synthesizing qualitative and quantitative insights, and connecting customer experience opportunities to business impact.
Ensure excellence in craft and execution, personally raising the quality bar by diving into critical workflows, reviewing details, and guiding teams toward best-in-class interaction and visual design outcomes.
Evolve and scale design systems and shared frameworks, ensuring consistency, speed, and coherence across products, including AI-driven experiences.
Partner across functions and divisions to identify opportunities and guide adoption of scalable AI/ML-enabled solutions.
Foster a culture of human-centered design, critique, and storytelling, using compelling narratives and artifacts to connect vision, strategy, and execution, while enabling teams to effectively leverage AI-driven tools and workflows.
Minimum Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Design, HCI, User Experience, or related field (or equivalent experience).
5–10+ years of experience in product design or related disciplines, including leadership of large-scale teams.
Proven ability to define and drive organization-level customer experience strategy.
Demonstrated ability to operate as a player-coach, balancing leadership with direct engagement in design work.
Strong communication skills across design, research, and content strategy practices.
Experience integrating customer insights, data, and AI-driven systems into design solutions.
Preferred Qualifications:
Track record of executing a large-scale customer experience vision.
Experience building and scaling design systems.
Success coaching senior leaders while maintaining craft quality.
Expertise in storytelling and stakeholder influence.
Experience leading AI/ML-enabled product design efforts.
Passion for craft, with a history of personally influencing design outcomes through hands-on involvement, not just direction-setting.
Expedia Group is proud to offer a wide range of benefits to support employees and their families, including medical/dental/vision, paid time off, and an Employee Assistance Program. To fuel each employee’s passion for travel, we offer a wellness & travel reimbursement, travel discounts, and an International Airlines Travel Agent (IATAN) membership. View our full list of benefits.
The total cash range for this position in West Hollywood is $224,000.00 to $313,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $358,500.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role.The total cash range for this position in New York is $242,000.00 to $338,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $387,000.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role. The total cash range for this position in Chicago is $208,000.00 to $291,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $333,000.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role. The total cash range for this position in Seattle is $224,000.00 to $313,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $358,500.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role. The total cash range for this position in San Francisco is $242,000.00 to $338,500.00. Employees in this role have the potential to increase their pay up to $387,000.00, which is the top of the range, based on ongoing, demonstrated, and sustained performance in the role.Starting pay for this role will vary based on multiple factors, including location, available budget, and an individual’s knowledge, skills, and experience. Pay ranges may be modified in the future.
Benefits and perks
Expedia Group offers benefits and perks designed to support employees and their families, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid time off, an Employee Assistance Program, wellness and travel reimbursement, travel discounts, and International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN) membership. Learn more about life at Expedia Group at https://careers.expediggroup.com/life.
Accommodation requests
Expedia Group is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruiting experience. If you need an accommodation or adjustment due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please submit a request at https://expedia.service-now.com/askeg?id=job_accommodation.
About Expedia Group
Expedia Group includes three flagship consumer brands - Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo - along with a leading B2B travel business and travel advertising offerings. Across our brands and business, we help travelers explore the world with confidence and ease.
Important notice
Employment opportunities and job offers at Expedia Group will always come from Expedia Group's Talent Acquisition and hiring teams. Never share sensitive personal information unless you are confident of the recipient. Expedia Group does not extend job offers via email or messaging tools to individuals with whom we have not made prior contact. Our email domain is @expediagroup.com. The official place to find and apply for roles is https://careers.expediagroup.com/jobs/.
Equal Opportunity
Expedia is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. This employer participates in E-Verify. The employer will provide the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with information from each new employee's I-9 to confirm work authorization.