# Garron Engstrom > Building AI products at Meta Location: Mill Valley, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/garron I’m passionate about The Super IC career path. A Super IC is defined as a senior+ level (“Staff”, “Lead”, “Principal”, “Distinguished”, “Director”) Individual Contributor (IC) designer who has no interest in transitioning to a manager role. Most Super IC’s feel the need to move into management in order to progress in their career. This transition creates job dissatisfaction and burnout for designers and lost productivity and lower retention for companies. Historically management was the only way to grow in your career. While this has been changing in recent years due to a push for efficiency and the flattening of org structures, companies still don’t invest in the Super IC career track. They don’t set a proper career trajectory with clear expectations and equal compensation to management peers. Outside of work there is a lack of community and sense of isolation for Super ICs. I understand this problem on a deep, personal level. I switched to management and didn’t enjoy it. Switching back to a Super IC role made me happier and more fulfilled in my work. Because of my experience I’m on a mission to evangelize the rise of the Super IC. I envision a world where every product designer can grow in their career without needing to switch to management. Follow along as I attempt the normalize the career growth of Super ICs. ## Work Experience ### Director, Product Design @ Meta Jan 2024 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Directing pixels, not people ### Design Lead, Social Impact @ Meta Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Product Design Manager, Social Impact @ Meta Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Product Designer, Social Impact @ Meta Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area Enabled communities to stay resilient through emergencies with Facebook Crisis Response. Helped people connect with local nonprofits to volunteer in their community. Empowered people to spread the word about missing children with Facebook AMBER Alerts. Helped people find accurate information and offer and request help from their local communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. ### Product Designer, Video @ Meta Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area Helped fan communities on Facebook meaningfully engage around the things they love. ### Product Designer, Ads @ Meta Jan 2016 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area Built products to better serve the 5M+ small and medium businesses that rely on Facebook ads. ### Advisory Board Member, Cognitive Science @ UC San Diego Jan 2025 – Present ### Senior Interaction Designer, TurboTax @ Intuit Jan 2014 – Jan 2016 | San Diego, California Helped people unlock, on average, the single biggest paycheck of the year through a beautifully designed tax experience. ### Interaction Designer, TurboTax @ Intuit Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | San Diego, CA ### Interaction Designer @ Mitchell International Jan 2011 – Jan 2013 | San Diego, CA Defined the user experience as the Solution Lead for Mitchell WorkCenter, an end-to-end auto insurance claims workflow tool that receives >45 million page hits per month. Demonstrated organizational and interpersonal skills by serving as the UX solution lead for 13 agile scrum teams. Captured and incorporated the voice of the customer through contextual inquiry, usability studies, diary studies, market research, guerrilla usability and technical assistance call and page-hit analysis to evaluate and improve designs. Observed over 40 users comprising 10 user roles, developed 3 user personas and executed over 15 usability tests. Led the internationalization effort for the UX team and developed Internationalization Design Guidelines. Bridged the gap between User Experience and Development by designing and building front-end interfaces whenever possible ### User Experience Intern @ Mitchell International Jan 2011 – Jan 2011 | San Diego, CA Assisted in the creation of innovative and compelling user interface concepts via wireframes and interactive prototypes. ## Education ### Bachelor of Science in Cognitive Science, Specialization in Human-Computer Interaction UC San Diego ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/garronengstrom - Portfolio: http://www.garronengstrom.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/garron JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/garron/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13