Director User Experience

The Director User Experience directs all department activities and relationships facing out of the Digital Services & Solutions team, up to C-level, as well as Peer-to-Peer communication. Oversees department risks and decisions. Provides design vision and direction, builds the UX department (if needed), and serves as thought-leader and practice-visionary. Crafts and participates in how other groups shape their Digital products and practices.
PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: ?
- Build, lead and grow a highly collaborative, talented and diverse team of User Experience designers and researchers that consistently delivers within cross-functional agile teams and is well-balanced across a range of design skill sets.?
- Oversee multiple agile teams and scale design resources in alignment with Product Owners accordingly, ensuring an effective UXR organization, and team members are set up for success by setting clear and measurable goals.?
- Develop design talent and build a thriving culture where designers grow in their careers and feel a strong sense of inclusion and belonging.?
- Foster a strong, collaborative design practice.?
- Partner closely with a world-class (and global) team of product managers, product owners and development engineers to deliver high quality experiences for people across platforms and digital product surfaces.?
- Act as an advocate of the product to the customer, imparting insight on the product's value and usability?
- Evangelize inclusive experience strategy and co-design methods to ensure we are creating viewing experiences that don't force users to adapt to an experience that hasn't been designed with them in mind.?
- Apply human centered approaches to understand the landscape of needs driving our users, be the tip of the spear to way find through potential innovation opportunities with strategic research and collaborative ideation and communicate a strategic vision for subsequent design and development efforts.?
- Coordinate UXR activities, managing team resourcing, internal and external communication with product & design teams?
- Deliver high quality user-centric design and research solutions in an environment with heterogeneous digital products and new market opportunities.?
- Apply standard design sets to all product portfolio ensuring that designated practices, product, and user experience targets are met?
- Create a culture of innovative thinking and strategic mindsets; position UXR as a strategic contributor to the digital product lifecycle process.
EXPERIENCE AND REQUIRED SKILLS: ?
- Ph.D. or Master's degree in Computer Science, Human Factors, Psychology, Sociology, Cognitive Science, Research & Strategy, Anthropology or related field?
- Minimum 10+ years professional experience in User Experience and Interface Design working collaboratively with product, engineering, design, content and user research teams?
- Minimum 6+ years managing a team of UX research strategy and/or UX design practitioners with proven ability to empower aligned and autonomous teams of leadership experience in managing direct reports including hiring and developing senior managers and individual contributors?
- Deep experience with cutting edge UX / UI approaches, customer journeys and user stories?
- Proven track record in applying Design Thinking to ambiguous situations, to frame problems and opportunities, and to work cross functionally toward their solutions.
- Strong customer & user focus: Building strong customer relationships and delivering user-centric solutions ?
- Ability to communicate effectively at all levels, collaborate to solve problems, clearly present ideas and solutions, and keep colleagues and stakeholders informed.?
- Command of a variety of research and experience strategy methodologies including alignment workshops, stakeholder interviews, ethnographic interviews, ethnography, co-design, affinity mapping, contextual inquiry, diary studies, qualitative and quantitative concept testing, benchmarking/competitive analysis, usability, strategic frame working, persona/profile development and other appropriate qualitative and quantitative research techniques.?
- Basic research strategy methods such as: persona development, ecosystem & journey mapping, service design blueprinting, jobs to be done, and various value proposition testing methods.?
- The rigor to guide UX designers & researchers to apply the right research at the right time for the right problems.?
- Ability to coach teams to clearly articulate the connection from research insights to actionable design strategy decisions through storytelling and effective presentations.?
- Ability to guide the design process through ideation workshops, and other collaborative working sessions, and to impart these skills to your team.?
- A resilient and tenacious growth mindset and flexible optimism that leans toward adaptability and collaboration, allowing you to thrive in ambiguous environments.?