# Brian Santiago

> Design Leader @ Apollo

Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/briansantiago

People-first Product Design Manager with experience in leading design teams and as an IC in hyper-growth startups and leading at large 400+ person design organizations. Proven track record in managing end-to-end design processes, fostering cross-functional collaboration, driving user-centered design practices, and ensuring high-quality design craft. Skilled in building for large data sets, championing user experiences, data-informed design strategies, and successfully building and shipping 0 to 1 experiences.

## Work Experience
### Head of Design @ Apollo GraphQL
Jan 2025 – Present
Leading product design, brand design, documentation, and developer education

### Senior Product Design Manager @ Apollo GraphQL
Jan 2025 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States

### Experience Design Manager @ Atlassian
Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | San Francisco Bay Area
• Delivered enterprise-grade UI and API features for projects such as Atlassian’s Identity Platform and Data Loss Prevention programs.
• Led, hired, and mentored teams of product and content designers, focusing on professional growth and achieving promotions.
• Assessed and identified staffing and headcount needs, successfully recruiting and hiring designers to meet project requirements.
• Collaborated with product and engineering teams to align on strategy, prioritize initiatives, and ensure timely product development.
• Facilitated Design Studios, Design Sprints, team brainstorming, and ideation sessions to define product directions.
• Directed user research and usability testing to ensure product excellence and resolve user experience issues.
• Improved operational processes to enhance design quality and efficiency.
• Ensured cross-team alignment and secured senior leadership support for successful product delivery.

### Manager, Product Design @ Fastly
Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area
• Managed and hired a team of product designers focused on developer tools for security, content delivery, and admin experiences.
• Advocated for a user-centered design culture and design-thinking methodologies organization-wide.
• Presented design strategies to senior leadership, securing support for key initiatives and communicating the value of design.
• Established design practices, ensuring consistency and high-quality outputs.
• Introduced weekly reporting to enhance departmental visibility and accountability.

### Senior Product Designer @ Fastly
Jan 2018 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area

### Product Designer @ Fastly
Jan 2016 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area

### Design Mentor @ Designlab
Jan 2019 – Jan 2021

### Designer @ C.H. Robinson
Jan 2013 – Jan 2016 | Chicago, Illinois, United States

### Designer @ C.H. Robinson
Jan 2005 – Jan 2013 | Chicago, Illinois, United States


## Education
### Bachelor of Arts - BA in Psychology
Coe College


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/brian-santiago-28010716b

---
Source: https://flows.cv/briansantiago
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/briansantiago/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-13