Director of UX/UI

Purpose / Job Summary
The Director of UX/UI Design and Research is a senior-level role responsible for bringing a deep understanding of user-design principles to the organization and combining that with strategic thinking to ensure products meet the needs and expectations of users. They will be responsible for all user journeys across all initiatives across the organization including the customer, coworker, merchant partner segments. Their primary responsibility is to define and execute the vision and strategy for user experience and ensure consistent and seamless experiences across all lines of business. Fostering a culture of continuous understanding, learning, and improving the customer experience is a key to success metric for this role.

Key Accountabilities & Deliverables (Essential Functions of Job)
Define and communicate the long-term vision for the user experience and align it to the broader business objectives.
Establish design principles, guidelines, and best practices throughout the UX/UI department.
Lead a team of UX/UI professionals and provide guidance, mentorship, and support.
Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and business leadership to execute the technology strategy for the organization.
Oversee user research and lead a team of optimization professionals to find and validate opportunities to influence product development.
Develop and implement usability testing strategies used throughout the department.

Additional/Shared Responsibilities
Establish and maintain a design system library and ensure consistency in design patterns, style, and components with Marketing and other content creators within the organization.
Partner with Product and Engineering Leadership to ensure quality assurance that the final product matches the intended design and user experience.
Partner with Product Leadership to ensure business architecture related to wireframes, user flows, and design specifications are maintained.

Team Management & Organization Structure
All members of the UX/UI team would report through this role.
All members of the User research, testing, and optimization function would report through this role.
This role is a peer to the Product and Engineering directors.
This role reports to the SVP of Product and is a part of the Technology organization.

Qualifications & Experience
Bachelor's degree in either an IT-related field, Business, Marketing, Design or other relevant experience
10+ years of experience as a UX Designer
Experience in leading product design teams with at least 3 team members
Experience in developing UX strategies across multiple product portfolios
Proven track record in applying analytical skills to identify opportunities, capturing user feedback, and applying that to complex products.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills to foster collaboration and buy-in for the UX strategy.