UX Design Manager - Xcode & AI Developer Tools
Apple
Software Engineering, Product, Design, Data Science
Cupertino, CA, USA
USD 198,300-342,800 / year + Equity
Posted on May 17, 2026
The Developer Experience Human Interface Design team conceptualizes and designs the user experience for Apple's developer tools. You will lead a team designing for Xcode and other tools used by millions of developers around the world to build, test, and ship software for Apple platforms. You'll work at the frontier of one of the most significant shifts in how software is authored, empowering developers to do the best work of their lives by leveraging artificial intelligence and large language models.
We're looking for a design leader who is both a product thinker and a people builder — someone who can set a compelling vision, shape high-craft work, and create the conditions for a team to thrive. AI is changing what developer tools can do, and we want a leader who is actively engaged with that shift, bringing clarity and direction on how to leverage capabilities that are rapidly taking shape. This role requires range. You'll carry your own design work while guiding projects across multiple domain areas, give substantive expert feedback while knowing when to draw on others' expertise, and build deep trust with your team while navigating the organizational complexity of shipping at scale. We're looking for someone who can communicate and influence across disciplines and levels — who understands what motivates different people and knows how to make design's perspective land.
- Lead and grow a small team of designers, providing creative direction grounded in your own expertise and mentorship that helps each person develop and deliver.
- Lead a team through a period of rapid change — building the design strategies, processes, and culture needed to navigate an industry that is shifting faster than any roadmap can predict.
- Carry your own design work on key projects while guiding direction across the broader team.
- Give substantive design feedback rooted in expertise — not just facilitation — deliver the difficult conversations when needed, and know when to draw on specialists on your team.
- Understand what motivates each designer on your team, pair people with work and partners where they can do their best, and drive their performance and career development over time.
- Build trusted partnerships with engineering managers and cross-functional leaders, navigating organizational complexity to get projects what they need to move forward.
- Communicate and influence across disciplines and levels, helping designers on your team advocate for user-focused outcomes while balancing real constraints.
- Experienced in a highly technical domain.
- Actively engaged with AI dev tools and excited by what they make possible.
- Drives product vision that unites technical requirements with user focus.
- Ability to build strong partnerships, influence across organizations, and lead a team to deliver high quality outcomes.
- Portfolio demonstrating product design leadership, creative problem solving, and high quality visual design.
- 5+ years of industry experience as a UX designer, Human Computer Interaction designer, or related role.
- 2+ years of design management experience.