Kirk Castro · Director of UX & Product Design · Seattle
I build the teams and systems behind products people trust.
Design leader with 15+ years across startups and enterprise. Founder of Shepherd. Director at Independence Pet Group.
Also worth reading: Product Principles

Experience
Director of Product Design
Independence Pet Group · Sep 2022 – Present
Head of Product Design
Shepherd Veterinary Software · Mar 2019 – Jun 2022
Co-Founder
Shepherd Veterinary Software · Jan 2016 – Mar 2019
Product Designer
Kajabi · Mar 2015 – Dec 2015
Freelance Designer
Self · 2010 – 2019
I'm a product design leader based in Seattle with 15+ years building digital products across startups and enterprise, including co-founding Shepherd Veterinary Software, scaling it to nationwide adoption, and leading design through its acquisition in 2019.
At Independence Pet Group, I've led product and UX across a 9 brand portfolio, built a cross functional team of 30+ spanning design, engineering, and marketing, and driven $100M+ in incremental business value through experimentation and customer centered product development.
Beyond the product work, I've consistently operated as an organizational change agent, identifying the operational gaps that slow teams down and building the systems, processes, and culture shifts that fix them at the root. At IPG that meant reshaping how nine brands collaborate, design, and ship, in some cases reducing delivery timelines by 80%.
What I care about most is closing the gap between design and real business outcomes. I've spent my career building environments where designers are trusted to lead, where cross functional teams share ownership of results, and where the work actually reflects what users need.
I'm drawn to mission driven companies with complex, meaningful problems, where good design changes how people experience something they genuinely care about.
The team's output is my output
A director's work is not the screens. It is the conditions that let great screens happen: the mandate, the metrics, the rituals, and the air cover. I measure myself by what the team ships and how they grow doing it.
Find the system under the symptom
Inconsistent UI is rarely a UI problem. Slow delivery is rarely a speed problem. I look for the structural cause, fix it at the root, and prove it with numbers the business cares about.
Empathy and focus, together
Customers and stakeholders will always ask for more. The job is to understand their problems deeply, then deliver a clear, opinionated solution. Building everything means nothing works well.
Relentless simplification
Remove before you add. Then ask if you can remove more. This applies to interfaces, processes, and org charts equally.
Leadership
- Team building and mentorship
- Org and process design
- Design operations
- Cross functional alignment
- Stakeholder management
Craft
- Product strategy
- UX and product design
- Design systems
- Research and experimentation
- Prototyping and validation
Tools
- Figma and FigJam
- Framer and Webflow
- Kameleoon and A/B testing
- Jira and Confluence
- AI assisted workflows
“He knows how to lead with compassion without compromising on vision or quality. People trust him because he listens.”

Cam Simony · Staff Product Designer, Shopify
Longtime friend and frequent contract collaborator at Shepherd and IPG
“As both a talented designer and a confident decision maker, Kirk brings a desired passion, grounding, and creativity to any project he works on.”

Jake Quattrocchi · Senior Engineer, Shepherd
Engineering partner during Kirk's time leading design at Shepherd
“As a new designer seeking mentorship, I couldn't have asked for a better leader. Kirk's passion for design is evident in everything he does, and it's hard not to feel inspired when working alongside him.”

Connor Squires · Product Designer, IPG
Reported to Kirk on the IPG design team
“Kirk fostered a collaborative environment, encouraging creativity and open communication among the entire team.”

Conor Guptil · VP of Growth, Shepherd
Cross functional partner at Shepherd
- 01Leading product design across a 9 brand portfolio at Independence Pet Group
- 02Exploring how AI assisted workflows change what small design teams can ship
- 03Building practical tools for real world contexts, most recently around home media, church operations, and family life
- 04Thinking about what design leadership looks like at the VP level
Let's Work Together
Open to Director and VP level design roles at product led, mission driven companies. Remote or Seattle area.