Principal Product Designer, Design Systems

QUICK SUMMARY Bring multi-product, cohesive experiences to life and make them the most trusted among homeowners. Principal level. 7+ yrs required. WHO WE ARE Kin makes life simpler, more affordable, and better for homeowners — especially in the places where climate risks, rising costs, and outdated systems make it harder. We start with smarter homeowners insurance and expand to everything homeowners need to thrive. Using data, technology, and thoughtful human support, we’re building products that are clear, fair, and help homeowners feel confident — so homeowners aren’t left behind when they need help most. Founded in 2016, Kin is a remote-first employer with Kinfolk across more than 35 states. We serve customers in 14 states (and counting). Our disciplined growth, strong customer satisfaction, and focus on long-term sustainability fosters outstanding growth, attracts marquee investors, and earns recognition and accolades, including: - Built In Chicago's Best Places to Work, Midsize Companies (2021-2026) - Forbes' America's Best Startup Employers (2026) - Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies - Forbes’ Fintech 50 (2023-2026) - Great Places to Work Certified (May 2024-May 2027) Most importantly, we’re building Kin to be a place where people do meaningful work with real impact — for our customers, our communities, and each other. We're excited to tell you more about how you can contribute to our rapid growth, strong unit economics, profitability, and excellent customer ratings. To learn more about how we work and what we’re building, visit kin.com http://kin.com and see how we work https://www.linkedin.com/company/kin-insurance/life/kin/. THE OPPORTUNITY Kin's long-term vision is to become the most trusted platform for homeownership -- a connected ecosystem of insurance, financing, home intelligence, and services that feels like one product, not a collection of handoffs. Every new thing we build has to feel like Kin. The Principal Product Designer role exists to make that possible. In the past six months, Kin has launched auto insurance, flood insurance, property tax protests, home financing, and more. Every one of those products has to feel cohesive. Right now, our design system is a collection of disconnected branches that limits what the team can build and consumes hours that should go toward craft and personality. This role exists to solve that. You'll own the token layer, establish Figma-to-code parity, define the contribution model, and make the system the easiest path to a consistent experience — across everything we build next. This is a principal-level IC role. You'll work across a federated, domain-based org and drive adoption through influence. The work you do here has direct implications for how Kin scales — and as AI makes it cheap to ship something that just works, the way our products feel to use is increasingly the thing that sets us apart. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES - Using AI tools (e.g., Claude Code, Cursor), audit existing component libraries and live product experiences — mapping gaps, drift, and inconsistencies — to generate a data-backed plan to unify and streamline the system. - Own and drive Kin's token architecture across color, typography, spacing, and motion, structured as primitive, semantic, and component tokens, as the single source of truth for design and code. - Experience designing token systems that scale across different contexts -- internal tools, customer-facing apps, or multi-brand surfaces -- with an architecture that can flex without fragmenting. - Establish and maintain Figma-to-code parity, partnering with engineering on the pipeline from design tokens to implemented, documented components. - Introduce new components and patterns thoughtfully as Kin moves into new product domains, ensuring the system grows with intention rather than sprawl. - Define the contribution model and governance — versioning, changelogs, intake, and quality bars — and implement automated guardrails that let teams extend the system without fragmentation. - Build the single source of truth that replaces disparate tools as the canonical reference for Kin's design patterns. - Advocate for accessibility in components so teams inherit it by default, using automated testing and AI-assisted audits to proactively identify compliance gaps. - Partner across Product, Engineering, and embedded domain designers to make the system the easiest path to a cohesive, on-brand experience across every surface. SUCCESS IN THIS ROLE In your first 6–12 months at Kin, success is less about checking boxes and more about the impact you create. You’ll use your skills and judgment to take ownership of meaningful work, improve how we operate, and help move Kin’s mission forward. Along the way, you’ll deliver outcomes that make a real difference for both Kinfolk and the homeowners we serve. By the end of your first year, you should feel confident in your role, trusted as an owner, and proud of the progress you’ve helped make. - AI and people can both generate Kin-consistent visual design from one source of truth, with the token layer as its foundation. - Engineering and design are aligned on a shared token structure, with a clear rollout approach for updating shared components without breaking downstream consumers. - The contribution and governance model is documented, adopted, and holding — teams know how to request from and extend the system without routing around it. - New product surfaces launching at Kin inherit consistency by default, rather than requiring design rework to bring them into compliance.   WHAT YOU’LL BRING - A track record of taking a design system from audit through architecture to adoption — you treat the system as a product, not a deliverable. - Significant visual and product design experience, commonly 7+ years, with a meaningful stretch focused specifically on design systems work. - Deep fluency in token architecture (primitive / semantic / component) and mastery of Figma as a systems tool — variables, libraries, and modes. - Proven ability to leverage AI tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code) to accelerate manual tasks, automate documentation, and speed up the design-to-code feedback loop. - The ability to influence without authority — you set direction and bring partners along across a federated org without relying on positional power. - Comfort operating in ambiguity and 0-to-1 spaces, where the structure doesn't exist yet and you're the one building it. Bonus if you have: - Experience in insurance, fintech, or other complex, regulated, high-consideration product domains. - Familiarity with the design-to-code toolchain — Storybook/Chromatic, a token transformer like Style Dictionary, and how tokens land in a real front-end stack (Angular, Rails, etc.). - Comfort reading or contributing to component code. HOW WE HIRE We believe a great hiring experience should be clear, respectful, and human. We’ll accept applications for this position until July 24, 2026. While our recruiting team uses AI tools for efficiency, resumes are still screened by Kin’s in-house recruiters, and candidate evaluations and hiring decisions are made by recruiters and hiring teams. Rest assured, real people make real decisions. The hiring process and timeline for each role will vary, depending on the position. However, here are some things you can expect from us: - Prompt updates and feedback following interviews - Interviews with recruiters, hiring managers, and members of teams - Skills assessment relevant to the position, if applicable - Genuine, thoughtful human interaction at every step HOW WE SUPPORT YOU We offer a comprehensive, competitive benefits program, allowing you to choose the benefits that are best for you and your family, starting on the first day of the month following your start date. Core Benefits - Competitive salary and company equity through Restricted Stock Units (RSUs), granted as part of our standard compensation package and based on role and level - This role is eligible to earn additional compensation annually through participation in our Kin Leadership Incentive Plan - 401(k) with company match up to 4% of eligible earnings - Multiple medical plan options, plus dental and vision coverage - Company-funded HSA contributions (based on medical plan selection) - Company-paid life insurance and short-term disability - Employee referral bonuses Health & Wellbeing - A variety of supplemental benefit options, including long-term disability, critical illness, accident, legal, and pet insurance - Access to mental health support and confidential counseling resources - Flexible PTO for exempt employees (most employees take 15–20 days per year), plus 8 company-observed holidays - Paid parental leave, including up to 14 weeks at 100% pay for birthing parents and 8 weeks at 100% pay for non-birthing parents Growth & Development - Career mobility and internal growth opportunities across the organization - Professional development budgets for certifications, conferences, and learning available, subject to management approval HOW WE WORK We don’t just hire for skills. We hire for alignment. Kinfolk bring diverse perspectives, but we’re united by a shared set of values that shape how we work and how we show up for each other and our customers. Run through walls, together - Every one of us is responsible for creating the culture we want to work in. High performance. Low drama. Always respectful. We assume the best in each other and challenge ideas, not intentions. We show up, work hard, and play to each other's strengths — because that’s how great teams win. Raise the bar. Drop the ego - Attitudes are contagious. Every one of us is responsible for creating the culture we want to work in. High performance. Low drama. Always respectful. Like professional sports teams, we win by working in sync. We show up, work hard, and play to each other’s strengths. Act like an owner - We are owners, fully accountable for achieving Kin’s mission. That requires positive, proactive, big-picture thinking well beyond our job descriptions. Ask questions, Take ownership. Do the right thing, even when it‘s hard. Because when Kin thrives, so do you. And so do our customers. Operate lean. Deliver more - We build efficiency into everything we do. Each dollar we save gets reinvested to deliver more to our customers: better pricing, more products, and new innovations. We work smarter by relentlessly prioritizing and using technology, including AI, to multiply our impact. Lean is about focus, not deprivation. Lean isn't a limitation — it's our competitive advantage. Keep asking ‘What if?’ - We value curiosity. To make insurance better for our customers, we experiment. We embrace insights. And we base decisions on data rather than assumptions. We see setbacks as opportunities for growth and are always learning and improving. Both individually and as a company. WHERE WE WORK We are a remote-first company with offices in Chicago, IL and St. Petersburg, FL where teams can come together for collaboration. For Sales Agents and Customer Service Agents: These roles sit in any of the following 30 states: AL, AZ, CO, FL, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MT, NC, NE, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, and WI. For all other positions, these roles can sit in any of the following 40 states: AL, AR, AZ, CA (exempt only), CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, NE, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, and WI. Please only apply if you are able to live and work full-time in one of the states listed above. For remote technical positions located in Canada, we are only able to hire individuals who reside in Ontario. Applicants must be able to live and work full-time in Ontario to be considered. State locations and specifics are subject to change as our hiring requirements shift. EEOC STATEMENT Kin is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We don't just accept difference – we honor it, nurture it, and celebrate it. We don’t discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Kin welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. If you require accommodation, please contact us by sending an email to careers@kin.com