Senior Product Designer, Digital - 12-month Contract

Company Description

Indigo is a physical and digital place inspired by and filled with books, ideas, beautifully designed lifestyle products, and the creative people who help make it all happen. We believe in real books, living life fully and generously, being kind to each other and to the environment, and that stories – big and little – connect us. Indigo is our customer’s happy place – for joyful moments of discovery and to connect with people who share their passion for reading, their belief in ideas, and their commitment to making the world a better and more beautiful place.

OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Our Mission is to inspire reading and enrich the lives of booklovers. As such, we believe in the power of people and their stories. We aim to attract top talent, nurture the potential of our employees, and create space for everyone to thrive. Our Guiding Principles are the few key ideas that are meant to influence everything we do, every day.

• We Will Hire, Inspire, Promote and Retain the Best – A’s Hire A’s.
• We Will Be Customer Centric.
• We Will Be Data Driven – System Thinking – Entrepreneurial.
• We are Committed to True and Shared Value Creation.
• We Will Be Human-Centered and AI Enabled.
• We are Committed to Caring About Each Other, Our Communities, Our Environment.

Job Description

An application must include a portfolio.

MISSION

The Senior Product Designer is a hands-on designer with strong product thinking, sharp visual craft, and the habit of letting data settle debates. You'll design across Indigo's website, app, and in-store kiosks, working with Product, eCommerce, Retail, and Engineering to turn customer and business challenges into production-ready experiences and improve them through testing, research, and performance data.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Discovery & Strategy

• Lead design from problem to launch - Work with Product to frame the problem, explore approaches, craft the detail, and stay with the work through implementation.
• Find ways to improve the customer experience - Surface gaps, friction, and unmet needs, and recommend fixes worth building.
• Let evidence sharpen the work - Partner with Product and eCommerce to set hypotheses and shape experiments, then draw on customer feedback, usability testing, and results to decide and refine.

Execution

• Carry projects end to end - Serve as the primary designer from kickoff to launch, scaling from quick fixes to larger initiatives, while drawing on the design team for critique along the way.
• Design hands-on - Deliver pixel-perfect designs with expert-level Figma craft, from lightweight redlines on small fixes to full specs on larger builds
• Lead the design review - Bring stakeholders through your thinking, defend your decisions under scrutiny, and steer the conversation toward clear next steps.
• Ship alongside Engineering - Partner with developers, speaking their language enough to work through technical constraints and trade-offs together.

People

• Build strong relationships - Align partners across teams on the problem, drive decisions, and deliver one coherent customer experience.
• Raise the bar on the team’s work - Hold a clear point of view on quality, give useful feedback, and set standards that stick.
• Strengthen an open, constructive design culture - Show up for critique, invite other perspectives, and give and take direct feedback.

Cultural

• Model Indigo’s beliefs and represent the brand well in everything you do
• Celebrate diversity of thought and keep an open mindset
• Foster a culture of continual learning, where taking risks is safe
• Embrace, champion and influence change across your team and the organization

SCOPE

Reports to: Director, Digital Product Design

Manager once Removed (MOR): Chief Customer Officer

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Internal:

• Product Management
• IT Development
• Online Merchandising
• Marketing
• Creative Studio

Qualifications

Work Experience / Education / Certifications

• 5+ years in product, UX, or digital design, with a portfolio that shows visual craft, interaction detail, clear problem-solving, and shipped work.
• Depth in consumer-facing digital products, ideally eCommerce, finance, or another transactional environment.
• A track record of leading design from problem definition through launch and iteration, including complex requirements, states, and edge cases.
• Post-secondary education in product, interaction, user experience, or visual design, human-computer interaction, or a related field — or equivalent practical experience.

Competencies / Skills / Attributes

• Expert Figma skills - auto layout, components, variants, variables, shared libraries
• Strong visual and interaction craft - an obsessive eye for pixel-perfect typography, spacing, and hierarchy.
• Design systems experience - comfort using, building and extending components in Figma.
• Responsive web and mobile fluency - breakpoints, component behaviour, interaction states, error handling, and edge cases.
• Sound product judgment, balancing customer needs, business goals, technical constraints, and delivery timelines.
• A practical approach to research and usability testing - Knowing when you need more evidence and which method answers the question.
• Strong presentation and facilitation skills, explaining design decisions, handling feedback, and bringing stakeholders to alignment.
• A collaborative approach with Product and Engineering, including supporting implementation and working through technical constraints.
• Self-direction and organization, running several streams of work, setting priorities, and moving projects with limited oversight.
• Working knowledge of HTML and CSS, enough to talk with developers, review implementation, and recognize common front-end constraints.
• Accessibility know-how - WCAG, keyboard interaction, focus states, semantic structure, colour contrast, and screen readers.
• Comfort with AI-assisted design and development tools such as Figma AI or Cursor, to move faster on exploration, prototyping, documentation, and production work.

Nice to have

• Designing and prototyping purposeful motion, transitions, and micro-interactions.
• Front-end development skills in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or Liquid, including shipping changes through a version-controlled workflow.
• Analytics fluency with tools such as Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity to investigate customer behaviour, find friction, and measure design changes.
• Working knowledge of Shopify theme structure — templates, sections, blocks, metafields, metaobjects, and the constraints of platform-based design.

Additional Information

Indigo uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist with certain aspects of the hiring process, such as screening and assessments. These tools support our team but do not replace human judgment. We are committed to using AI responsibly, fairly, and in compliance with applicable employment and anti-discrimination laws. We regularly review these tools to help prevent bias or discrimination.

At Indigo, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility are core to our values. We integrate these principles into our training, policies, and hiring practices and continuously evolve to reflect the needs of the communities we serve. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and lived experiences, including but not limited to individuals who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour), members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and persons with disabilities. If you require an accommodation during the recruitment process, please contact Human Resources at talent@indigo.ca.

We respect your privacy throughout the recruitment process. Our Candidate Privacy Notice explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you apply for a role with Indigo, and the choices available to you.

This posting is for a current opportunity within Indigo.