Open to design leadership and principal roles
PRODUCT AND EXPERIENCE DESIGN LEADERAI NATIVE BUILDER

Sam LombardoI lead design teams, and I build AI products with my own hands.

17+ years of design leadership, from Universal's Volcano Bay and Epic Universe to a seven-platform enterprise SaaS ecosystem serving 10,000+ users. I've built design organizations with managers reporting to me, and most recently I built ClarityOS myself in Cursor and Claude Code, growing it to 380+ paying subscribers. It now runs on its own, and I'm ready to lead a team again. When things are complex, people hesitate. When things are clear, they move.

View case studies
Sam Lombardo, Director of Product Design and AI-Native Product Builder
SJL monogram
At a Glance
Role TargetDesign leadership (Director, Senior Director, VP) or Principal Designer
ExperienceSenior / Executive Level
AvailabilityOpen to remote opportunities, available now
Core StrengthsDesign Team Building, Experience Design, AI Native Product, Design Systems
LocationEastern Time Zone, open to relocation
17+ Years
Design Leadership
75+
Design Professionals Led Across My Career
10,000+
Users Across a Seven-Platform Enterprise SaaS Ecosystem
380+
Paying Subscribers, ClarityOS, Built Solo
Featured Work

Selected case studies.

Building ClarityOS: Designing an AI-Native Product Ecosystem
AI-Native Systems Architecture • 0-to-1 Launch

Building ClarityOS: Designing an AI-Native Product Ecosystem

Designed and built an AI-powered SaaS ecosystem from the ground up, transforming four connected product ideas into a unified platform for decision intelligence, execution, communication, and relationship management.

UserCore: Turning Platform Complexity into Product Clarity
Enterprise SaaS

UserCore: Turning Platform Complexity into Product Clarity

Led UX strategy across a seven platform enterprise SaaS ecosystem serving 10,000+ users. Led via JRA.

Vaultix: Rebuilding Trust in Fintech
Fintech • Consumer Mobile

Vaultix: Rebuilding Trust in Fintech

A technically strong product failing on trust. A strategic reset that cut acquisition cost 31% and lifted CLV to CAC from 0.8:1 to 2.4:1. Led end-to-end via JRA.

ClearFile AI: From Documents to Decisions in 15 Seconds
AI Product • Shipped

ClearFile AI: From Documents to Decisions in 15 Seconds

An AI powered document analyzer built for loan officers, mortgage professionals, and landlords.

Amazon Go at The Paseo: A Checkout Free Anchor for Oviedo
EXPERIENCE DESIGN • MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT

Amazon Go at The Paseo: A Checkout Free Anchor for Oviedo

Led a five-department team through the full concept package for a proposed checkout free Amazon Go development in Oviedo, Florida. The city accepted it with no requested changes. Led at Demetree Global.

Kestrel Point: A Presale Experience, From Site Plan to Live Site
Concept project

Kestrel Point: A Presale Experience, From Site Plan to Live Site

A presale experience for a master-planned lakefront community, designed end to end in about two weeks.

Leadership Pillars

How I Work

01

Product Design & Scale

Taking products from blank page to shipped, and closing the gap between the design file and the live product.

02

DesignOps & Governance

Design systems and clear decision rights that help teams ship faster and stay aligned.

03

AI-Native Strategy

Designing AI experiences people can trust, and building them with modern AI tools myself.

04

Physical and Digital Experiences

Designing for the place, the screen, and the person moving between them, from Universal theme parks to AI products.