MY CAREER IN SIX SPOTLIGHT
RACHEL KOBETZ
Chief Design Officer
PayPal
Sharing her career journey by answering the six questions below.
Who or what has been your biggest source of inspiration throughout your career?
I’ve always been inspired by visionary builders and leaders who build with clarity, conviction, and care – people who marry imagination with execution and who see possibility where others see constraint. Early in my career, realizing that design could shape not just products, but entire businesses, was transformative. Since then, the most enduring inspiration has come from my teams – watching talented people grow, take risks, and elevate what’s possible reminds me why I lead.
Would you say your success is primarily due to luck or hard work?
Hard work, and being prepared when new opportunities appear. What looks like luck is often timing meeting readiness, being in the right place because your hard work made you ready for it. The pivotal moments in my career were choices: stepping into ambiguity, taking on transformation, and proving that design isn’t just surface level, it’s how a company competes and evolves. Moving from tech to financial services was a leap into the unknown, I had to build trust and prove the value of design from the ground up. Joining PayPal to help transform it from a payments company into a commerce platform was another. Those choices required conviction, endurance, and a willingness to step into ambiguity, the kind of work that turns opportunity into impact.
What is the driving force behind your career aspirations?
I’m driven by the belief that design is strategy – that how something works and feels can fundamentally shape a company’s trajectory.
Early in my career, my purpose was focused on solely designing better products. Over time, it evolved into designing better systems – organizations, cultures, and operating models that enable innovation at scale. Today, my focus is on transformation: helping companies reimagine how they create value and real advantage through design, data, and emerging technology. It’s about moving beyond what exists to shape what’s next.
If given the chance to do one thing differently in your career, what would it be and why?
I would have learned earlier to protect my time and energy, to distinguish between what’s urgent and what’s truly important. Early on, I equated impact with output. Over time, I’ve realized the real work is influence, shaping direction, creating conviction, and helping others see what’s possible. I started to focus on clarity, direction, and the systems that multiply impact.
My advice to emerging leaders: don’t chase speed; build substance. Learn when to say no. Protect your ability to think deeply. The higher you rise, the more your value shifts from what you do to what you make possible for others.
What was your most favourite job/role and why?
My current role as Chief Design Officer at PayPal has been both the most challenging and the most rewarding. It’s different because it sits at a true inflection point, transforming an iconic company and proving that design can operate as a strategic engine.
What makes it special is the scale and ambition: aligning a global organization around coherence, craft, and innovation while shaping the future of commerce. It’s not just about designing experiences – it’s about redesigning how a company builds them.
Do you have a favourite motto or quote that guides your professional life?
Steve Jobs said, “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” That idea has guided every chapter of my career – design as a way of thinking, building, and leading.
Another quote of his also stays with me: “Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it.” It’s a reminder that nothing is fixed – that we have the ability, and responsibility, to shape the world around us. That belief has anchored every risk I’ve taken.