Post-tensioned (PT) rocking piers have emerged as a promising solution for bridges substructures significantly increasing their seismic performance and resilience. These piers are characterized by unbonded PT tendon and energy dissipation (ED) components providing, respectively, self-centering and dissipating capacities. Despite the potential advantages, their practical applications are still limited due to the lack of design standards and guidelines. In this context, developing simple design procedure represents an essential step to make the use of such systems more accessible to the bridge design community. The present study introduces a design procedure for PT bridge piers by defining a performance index λ related to both initial PT force level and ED device amount. The design process is based on the improvement of a conventional monolithic bridge pier (i.e., similar dimensions and steel amounts, while superior self-centering behavior and load resistance). For illustration purposes, the design procedure is applied to a case study bridge pier, and its seismic performance is compared with the corresponding conventional monolithic pier. The results show that a PT bridge pier that satisfied the design objectives of residual drift and lateral force (i.e., superior self-centering behavior and load resistance) can be conceived and designed through the proposed simple design approach.