Principal User Experience Designer

We are seeking a skilled and experienced Principal User Experience Designer to join our dynamic consulting team. This individual will play a crucial role in client discovery sessions, uncovering user insights, and delivering exceptional UX and UI solutions. The ideal candidate has a strong portfolio showcasing expertise in both user research and interface/experience design and thrives on engaging directly with clients. This role involves travel within USA for periodic onsite discovery meetings & presentations, emphasizing collaboration and strong communication skills.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Discovery and Collaboration:
• Actively participate in week-long discovery workshops with clients to understand business goals, user needs, and project requirements.
• Conduct stakeholder interviews, user research, and contextual inquiries during discovery phases.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers, developers, and stakeholders.
2. User Research:
• Plan and execute comprehensive user research strategies, including surveys, interviews, usability testing, and ethnographic studies.
• Create personas, journey maps, and other research artifacts to communicate user needs effectively.
• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative research findings into actionable insights.
3. UX/UI Design:
• Design visually compelling and user-friendly interfaces that align with research insights and client goals.
• Develop wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs that balance aesthetics and usability.
• Ensure designs adhere to accessibility standards and reflect a seamless user experience across devices.
• Present design concepts and research findings to stakeholders and iterate based on feedback.
4. Thought Leadership:
• Advocate for user-centered design principles within the organization and with clients.
• Mentor junior designers and researchers, fostering growth and knowledge-sharing.
5. Project Delivery:
• Collaborate with delivery managers to define timelines, deliverables, and milestones for client engagements.
• Oversee the execution of design solutions, ensuring alignment with client expectations and business goals.

Required Qualifications:

• Minimum 7 years of professional experience in UX/UI design.
• Proven portfolio showcasing exceptional UI designs, and impactful UX solutions.
• Proficiency in UI/UX design tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or equivalent.
• Experience creating wireframes, prototypes, user flows, and high-fidelity UI designs.
• Strong presentation and communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively with clients and stakeholders.
• Experience having user research methodologies including user research techniques, interviews, usability testing, and surveys is nice to have.
• We’ve faced travel issues with candidates needing U.S. visas. While visas can be obtained, approvals are at the discretion of governing bodies and can be unpredictable. We need to proactively manage travel expectations.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with design systems and accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG).
• Experience working in a consulting or agency environment.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to balance user needs with business goals.
• Degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Design, or a related field.

Personal Competence:

• Demonstrates strong ownership and accountability, delivering projects on time, within budget, and to the highest standard.
• Thrives in collaborative environments, effectively working with geographically dispersed teams.
• Flexible and adaptable, quickly adjusting to evolving client needs and dynamic project requirements.
• Embraces a practical, hands-on approach with a startup mindset, focusing on execution over theory.
• Resourceful and proactive, with a proven ability to swiftly acquire knowledge to overcome challenges and remove blockers.
• An innovative thinker who simplifies complex problems through creative and effective solutions.