There's a lot of buzz lately about Super IC roles in Product Design — and for good reason.
If you're a Senior, Lead, Staff, or Principal Product Designer, this could be your moment.
More teams are hiring high-impact ICs (Individual Contributors) who want to:
- Stay hands-on
- Solve complex design challenges
- Influence product strategy
- Lead without managing people
This shift is great news for folks who love the craft and want to make a big impact without going the management route.
But here's the catch: these roles don't always show up on big job boards.
So how do you find them?
Try this search trick:
Paste this into Google or LinkedIn search:
("Senior Product Designer" OR "Lead Product Designer" OR "Principal Product Designer" OR "Staff Product Designer")
("we're hiring" OR "now hiring" OR "join our team" OR "job opening" OR "careers")
This search digs up job posts and team announcements that aren't always listed on traditional boards. Think hidden gems buried in blogs, career pages, and social posts.
Want to go deeper? Follow Garron Engstrom — he's been sharing great nuggets around Super IC roles and career paths in design. Worth a follow.
Carl is a Talent Sourcer Building Design, Product & Engineering Teams at Meta. Carl is also a Mentor at Mento Design Academy. Before recruiting, he was a product designer working with many tech startups to design mobile apps. Carl is also the co-founder of a Meetup called Global UXD where he helps connect designers with each other and create new opportunities. Having completed Thinkful and DesignLab bootcamps before becoming a recruiter, he's an expert at helping designers land their first design roles. Find Carl on carlwheatly.com and LinkedIn.