Senior Product Designer

Careem is building the Everything App for the greater Middle East — making it easy to move around, order food and groceries, manage payments, and more. Our purpose is simple: to simplify and improve people’s lives and build an awesome organisation that inspires.
Since 2012, Careem has enabled earnings for over 2.5 million Captains, simplified the lives of more than 70 million customers, and built a platform where the region’s best talent and entrepreneurs thrive. We operate in 70+ cities across 10 countries, from Morocco to Pakistan.

We’re now entering our next chapter — one powered by AI. We’re looking for AI talent: curious problem-solvers who know how to apply AI to build tools, automate workflows, and create real impact. Whether it’s streamlining operations, enhancing customer experience, or reimagining internal systems — we want people who can make Careem work smarter and move faster.

About the Team

The Product Designer II - Design System at Careem is responsible for the development, implementation, and governance of the company's design system. This role ensures consistency, scalability, and user-centered experiences across all digital platforms. The Product Designer II - Design System will collaborate with cross-functional teams to define, maintain, and evolve design standards, guidelines, and components. This role requires expertise in design systems, stakeholder management, and strategic alignment with business objectives, while fostering innovation and mentorship.

About the Role

Design System Evolution

• Oversee the development and iterative refinement of Careem's design system, ensuring alignment with business goals and user requirements.

• Establish and enforce scalable design standards, guidelines, and best practices to enhance consistency and user experience across all digital platforms.

• Provide expert guidance on design decisions within Careem's product ecosystem, influencing product strategy.

• Articulate and advocate for the value proposition of the design system, promoting efficiency, consistency, and quality throughout the organization.

Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement

• Partner with product management, engineering, and design teams to integrate design solutions with broader business strategies.

• Manage stakeholder relationships, including executive leadership, to ensure clear communication, alignment on priorities, and transparency.

• Lead design guilds to gather cross-product input and shape a viable, scalable design system.

• Process and synthesize high volumes of feedback to refine system components and maintain alignment with stakeholder needs.

Component Ownership and System Implementation

• Manage the full lifecycle of design system components, from conception to deployment and iteration, ensuring optimization for scalability and usability.

• Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation for the design system, ensuring accessibility for product managers, designers, and engineers.

• Collaborate with engineering teams to translate design patterns into deployable components, ensuring technical feasibility and high-quality implementation.

• Champion accessibility best practices (WCAG) and collaborate with the digital accessibility team to ensure an inclusive design system.

Strategic Product and Project Management

• Align with product teams on the design system backlog and roadmap, balancing immediate functionality with long-term scalability.

• Facilitate decision-making to define the scope and timeline of implementation.

• Proactively identify and drive system improvement initiatives that deliver high-impact outcomes for Careem.

Driving Innovation and Continuous Improvement

• Monitor industry trends and introduce new patterns, tools, and design approaches.

• Conduct regular design reviews and critique sessions to ensure the design system's quality, consistency, and utility.

• Foster an innovative mindset, pushing design boundaries while adhering to established standards.

Mentorship and Team Development

• Follow the visual direction for Careem, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.

• Mentor team members and other designers, offering guidance on complex design challenges and skill development.

• Inspire and motivate the team by setting a clear vision for design initiatives and supporting strategic alignment.

Communication and System Advocacy

• Serve as the primary advocate for the design system within Careem, communicating its purpose and benefits to diverse audiences.

• Gather feedback from design, product, and engineering teams for continuous system improvement.

• Synthesize stakeholder insights into actionable system enhancements, ensuring alignment with business objectives.

Quality, Precision, and Thought Leadership

• Ensure design work reflects high accuracy, with comprehensive consideration and documentation of edge cases and potential risks.

• Promote simplification and unification of design patterns to manage complexity, justifying necessary exceptions.

• Develop high-fidelity prototypes to facilitate informed business decisions.

Cross-Functional Influence and Strategic Vision

• Represent the Design organization at Careem, advocating for design system initiatives and influencing executive-level decision-making.

• Align design system processes with Careem's overarching vision, driving organizational change and promoting innovation.

• Utilize data, storytelling, and visual design skills to build consensus and inspire stakeholders at all levels.

What we’ll provide you

We offer colleagues the opportunity to drive impact in the region while they learn and grow. As a full time Careem colleague, you will be able to:

• Work and learn from great minds by joining a community of inspiring colleagues.

• Put your passion to work in a purposeful organisation dedicated to creating impact in a region with a lot of untapped potential.

• Explore new opportunities to learn and grow every day.

• Work 4 days a week in office & 1 day from home, and remotely from any country in the world for 30 days a year with unlimited vacation days per year. (If you are in an individual contributor role in tech, you will have 2 office days a week and 3 to work from home.)

• Access to healthcare benefits and fitness reimbursements for health activities including gym, health club, and training classes.