Design Operations New York 2025

Kate Stern is the Head of Design Operations at Meta and Instagram, where she’s been instrumental in growing and shaping the DesignOps discipline, focusing on areas such as culture, tools, career development and recruiting. During her nearly 16 years at the company, Kate has played a pivotal role in driving the evolution of design operations and fostering a culture of innovation.

Throughout her career, Kate has developed a unique blend of expertise that spans design process optimization, team management and cross-functional collaboration. She’s widely known for her ability to balance creative vision with operational efficiency, ensuring that Meta and Instagram’s design teams deliver high-quality work that advances ambitious company goals.