Principal Designer - AI

Job Description

We help the world run better
At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

Principal Design Engineer (AI)

Expected Travel: 50% (global)

Location: MUST BE LOCATED IN the Bay Area (Palo Alto, CA or San Francisco, CA office)

What you’ll do:

The position plays a critical role in both shaping and delivering innovative solutions. This role blends hands-on design excellence with the ability to engage directly with customers to uncover needs, spark ideas, and co-create transformative outcomes. It’s ideal for a seasoned design professional who thrives at the intersection of strategy and execution, equally comfortable crafting exceptional experiences and guiding stakeholders through collaborative processes.

What you bring:

You combine a rich background in design with a natural ability to connect deeply with customers and teams alike. Your curiosity drives you to explore user needs beyond the obvious, and your facilitation skills help unlock collective creativity during workshops and discovery sessions. You’re comfortable navigating ambiguity and shifting priorities, always keeping a clear focus on delivering meaningful and responsible experiences. Your communication is both clear and compelling, enabling you to translate complex ideas into stories that resonate across diverse audiences. Equipped with a strong toolkit of design and prototyping methods, you can move swiftly from concept to iteration, balancing innovation with practical impact

Expectations and tasks:

• Lead the creation of scalable, human-centered solutions that address both user needs and business goals.

• Plan, moderate, and synthesize discovery sessions with customers to uncover needs, challenges, and opportunities.

• Design and lead workshops that inspire collaboration, align stakeholders, and generate actionable insights.

• Translate concepts into prototypes, iterating quickly based on feedback from customers, users, and internal stakeholders.

• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Data Scientists, and Research teams to ensure solutions are feasible, ethical, and aligned with objectives.

• Present work and ideas in ways that inspire action and communicate vision clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Recommend and implement ways to improve design processes, collaboration methods, and workshop practices.

About You:

• 10+ years in experience, product, or service design, with a strong portfolio demonstrating both strategic and hands-on work. Please include portfolio link in your application (ideally on your resume/CV)

• Mastery of planning and facilitation of workshops, design sprints, and customer discovery sessions.

• Deep understanding of user-centered methodologies, systems thinking, and design research practices.

• Exceptional verbal, written, and visual communication abilities, including the ability to distill complex concepts into clear narratives.

• Skilled at working across disciplines and geographies, building strong relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.

• Proficiency in design and prototyping tools with the ability to bring ideas to life quickly.

• Comfort in navigating ambiguity and adjusting to shifting priorities while maintaining momentum toward outcomes.

• Commitment to designing solutions that are accessible, responsible, and impactful.

• Ability to travel internationally ~50%

About the Team:

We’re a diverse, global group of designers, strategists, and innovators who share a passion for creating meaningful experiences at SAP. Our team thrives on collaboration, curiosity, and a healthy dose of humor. We value different perspectives, embrace experimentation, and support each other in pushing creative boundaries. Whether we’re working together in person or connecting across time zones, we believe great ideas can come from anywhere and we make sure to have fun bringing them to life.

Bring out your best
SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion
SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: Careers@sap.com.

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability.

Compensation Range Transparency: SAP believes the value of pay transparency contributes towards an honest and supportive culture and is a significant step toward demonstrating SAP’s commitment to pay equity. SAP provides the annualized compensation range inclusive of base salary and variable incentive target for the career level applicable to the posted role. The targeted combined range for this position is 192500 - 327100(USD) USD. The actual amount to be offered to the successful candidate will be within that range, dependent upon the key aspects of each case which may include education, skills, experience, scope of the role, location, etc. as determined through the selection process. Any SAP variable incentive includes a targeted dollar amount and any actual payout amount is dependent on company and personal performance. Please reference this link for a summary of SAP benefits and eligibility requirements: SAP North America Benefits.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Requisition ID: 433563 | Work Area: Software-User Experience | Expected Travel: 0 - 50% | Career Status: Professional | Employment Type: Regular Full Time | Additional Locations: #LI-Hybrid