Director of UX
Lead UX strategy and unification across a multi-product SaaS portfolio. Build design systems, research practices, and accessibility standards while managing one designer and partnering cross-functionally on roadmap and delivery.
About the job
Responsibilities
UX Strategy & Portfolio Unification
- Define and lead Routeware’s multi-year UX strategy across the product portfolio with an explicit prioritization framework
- Drive convergence of visual language, interaction patterns, and information architecture across acquired and native products
Design System & Standards
- Build and own a scalable design system (components, tokens, patterns, accessibility primitives)
- Establish UX, UI, and accessibility standards (WCAG 2.2 AA minimum) and governance
UX in the SDLC
- Operationalize UX inside agile processes: discovery, research, prototyping, validation, and release readiness
- Define how PMs, engineers, and designers collaborate at each phase including design reviews, critique, and handoff
Team Leadership
- Directly manage and grow the existing UX designer
- Mentor, develop, and unblock team members
- Build the hiring plan and org design for the function as the team scales
User Research & Customer Insight
- Establish scalable, lightweight research practices: usability testing, journey mapping, and customer feedback synthesis
- Partner with PMs to ensure product decisions are grounded in real customer behavior
Data-Driven UX
- Define and own UX-specific success metrics (task completion, time-to-value, usability scores, onboarding friction)
- Co-own product adoption and retention metrics with Product
- Drive continuous UX improvement through experimentation
AI-Enabled Design Practice
- Use AI tooling fluently to accelerate the team’s work — prototyping (Figma AI, v0), research synthesis, content generation, and design QA
- Identify opportunities for AI-driven personalization and adaptive experiences
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Partner with Product Management on roadmap prioritization
- Partner with Engineering on feasibility and design system implementation
- Partner with Customer Success on real-world adoption barriers
- Communicate UX strategy, trade-offs, and recommendations clearly to executive stakeholders
Requirements
- 8+ years in UX, Product Design, or Human-Centered Design with progressive scope and impact
- Experience leading or mentoring designers; comfortable as a player-coach with at least one direct report
- Demonstrated success building or significantly maturing a UX function — design system, research practice, or design ops — in a SaaS environment
- Strong portfolio showing systems thinking, multi-product or multi-platform work, and measurable UX outcomes
- Deep fluency across UX disciplines: research, IA, interaction design, accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA), and usability testing
- Hands-on proficiency in Figma
- Working fluency with Jira, Confluence, and modern product analytics tools
- Track record using AI tools (Figma AI, v0, ChatGPT, research synthesis tools) to accelerate design workflows
- Excellent communication with both technical and executive audiences
Nice-to-Haves
- Experience unifying UX across acquired products or post-M&A portfolios
- Background in B2B / B2G SaaS, civic tech, logistics, or operational software
- Experience designing for both staff/operator users and consumer/resident-facing experiences
- Familiarity with experimentation programs and adaptive/personalized UX
- Passion for sustainability and environmental impact through innovative technology solutions
Benefits
- Comprehensive benefits (medical with HSA option, vision, dental, and life insurance)
- Paid parental leave
- Medical and Dependent FSA
- 401K match
- Unlimited PTO
- Ten company holidays
- 1 Volunteer day
- Summer Fridays
Skills
Figma, Design Systems, Wcag, Accessibility, User Research, Usability Testing, Jira, Confluence, Product Analytics, Ai Design Tools
Similar jobs
Product Design jobs
Givebutter
New York, NYLeads and develops a growing product design organization, setting craft standards, design strategy, and scalable team practices across a complex SaaS platform. Requires 8+ years of product design experience, substantial people-management experience, and fluency with AI-driven design and product experiences.
Thatch
Austin, TXLeads product and brand design strategy while building and developing a high-performing design organization. Requires 7+ years of design experience, including team leadership, strong product craft, and experience setting design direction in high-growth technology environments.
Bevi
Boston, MA
Leads Bevi’s multidisciplinary product and experience design function across industrial design and UI/UX for connected beverage hardware and digital products. The role requires 10+ years of design experience, multidisciplinary team leadership, production experience, and strong strategic and hands-on craft leadership.
Motive
San Francisco, CA
Leads product design strategy and a team of designers for a Fleet Management platform, driving user-centered experiences, design systems, and cross-functional product execution. Requires 10+ years of design experience, significant people leadership, and expertise with complex web and mobile products.
BuildOps
Los Angeles, CALeads the product design organization, setting design strategy, scaling the team, and shaping cohesive mobile and web experiences for enterprise SaaS products. Requires extensive product design leadership, strong UX/UI and systems thinking, and experience building high-performing teams.