Lead Product Designer

Summary

Join AffiniPay as a Lead Product Designer to define and champion the UX vision and strategy across multiple product areas. Lead and mentor a team of designers, collaborating cross-functionally to solve complex problems and deliver user-centered design solutions. Play a mission-critical role in shaping product roadmaps and organizational priorities, establishing design principles and best practices. Build strong partnerships with Product, Engineering, Research, Content, and Business Leadership, translating business objectives into actionable design strategies. Champion design excellence, advocate for user needs, and contribute to building a world-class design organization. This role requires a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience and a strong portfolio showcasing design strategy execution, organizational impact, and contributions to design culture.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Graphic Design, or a related field, and/or the equivalent of 9+ years of experience in UX/Product Design, with 2+ years in a lead-level capacity
• An exemplary portfolio demonstrating a track record of defining and executing design strategies for entire product areas or platforms, significant organizational impact, and contributions to design culture and excellence
• Mastery of industry-standard design tools, capable of setting best practices and evaluating new tools/technologies for team adoption
• Expert knowledge of research methodologies and tools, with the ability to define research strategy for a product line or team
• Proven ability to define and drive strategic user research initiatives that inform product vision and strategy across multiple product lines or the entire product
• Experience collaborating at a strategic level with Research leaders
• Exceptional communication, presentation, and negotiation skills, capable of influencing executive leadership and building strong cross-functional partnerships at the highest levels (e.g., with VP-level stakeholders)
• Ability to inspire and empower design teams and cross-functional partners
• Visionary understanding and application of user-centered design principles, usability, accessibility, and ethical design to establish new standards and drive innovation across an organization
• Ability to articulate and champion complex design strategies, their rationale, and their transformative impact on the business to executive stakeholders, while addressing organizational challenges
• Ownership of the vision, strategy, and governance for enterprise-level design systems, ensuring their scalability, adoption, and ongoing evolution to support the entire product ecosystem. Experience leading and mentoring designers in design system contribution

Responsibilities

• Define & Champion Strategic Product-Led Growth
• Define, articulate, and champion the overarching UX vision and strategy that directly drives transformative product-led growth across an entire product portfolio or strategic business unit
• Set the strategic direction for leveraging AI and automation across our products, identifying opportunities for competitive differentiation, new market creation, and exponential user value, ultimately ensuring sustainable business growth
• Own the holistic user journey and ensure design contributes meaningfully to core business objectives
• Build & Lead Cross-Functional Partnerships
• Build and nurture executive-level partnerships with Product, Engineering, Research, Content, and Business Leadership to influence product roadmaps, organizational priorities, and overall company strategy
• Guide and empower design teams to collaborate effectively with engineering leadership, defining technical architecture implications of design decisions, especially for complex AI/ML systems and highly automated workflows
• Cultivate User Empathy & Design Excellence
• Instill a deep culture of user empathy across the organization, advocating for the user at the highest strategic levels and ensuring design decisions are rooted in profound customer understanding
• Establish and evolve design principles, standards, and best practices across the design organization, ensuring a cohesive, intuitive, and highly refined user experience that considers the unique challenges and opportunities of AI/automation in user interfaces
• Elevate Design Craft & Systemic Impact
• Set the bar for design excellence and innovation, leveraging a masterful command of user-centered design methodologies and tools, including cutting-edge applications of AI, generative design, and design automation, to solve the most ambiguous and impactful problems
• Own the vision, strategy, and evolution of the design system, ensuring it is a scalable, robust, and indispensable asset for design efficiency, consistency, and innovation across the entire product ecosystem, guiding its adaptation for future AI/ML applications
• Provide critical feedback and guidance to maintain the highest quality deliverables across the team
• Inspire & Influence Design Organization
• Serve as a key strategic partner and influencer for Product, Engineering, User Research, and Data/Product Science leadership, shaping company-wide initiatives and ensuring design has a voice at every table
• Articulate complex, often undefined strategic problems and design solutions with unparalleled clarity and persuasive influence to executive stakeholders, fostering a truly innovative and AI-first design culture
• Mentor, coach, and inspire a team of designers, fostering their professional growth, advocating for their needs, and shaping the next generation of design leaders
• Drive Organizational Scalability & Efficiency
• Define and implement design processes, tools, and strategies that optimize the entire product development lifecycle for scalability, maintainability, and maximum organizational impact, actively leading initiatives for design automation and AI-driven efficiencies
• Champion product-led strategies that enable exponential self-service adoption and minimize reliance on human intervention
• Pioneer Innovation & Future Vision
• Anticipate future trends and technological shifts, particularly in AI, human-computer interaction, and product-led growth strategies, to define and champion innovative design solutions that position the company as a market leader
• Orchestrate advanced user research initiatives and collaborate strategically with research leadership to uncover foundational insights, address complex challenges like AI explainability, bias mitigation, and user trust, and drive breakthrough innovation
• Direct the development of visionary prototypes and strategic proofs-of-concept that push the boundaries of user experience, validate new market opportunities, and demonstrate the transformative power of AI/automation in creating novel user interactions and product capabilities

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with the fintech, legaltech or SaaS products
• Working knowledge of AI and automation technologies

Benefits

• All employees receive fully covered medical, dental and vision coverage - Choose from our 2 available health plans based on what fits you and/or your family!
• Have some fur babies? - We offer them insurance too!
• RELAX and enjoy your time away with our flexible paid time off policy!
• We will help you plan for your future - 401K, or RRSP if in Canada, with a company match
• Competitive compensation packages that include mid-year and end-of-year bonuses and equity options for all full-time employees
• Health Wellness Program that includes nutrition consultations, mental health apps, and access to discounted memberships
• Have plans to grow your family? - Parental resources, including 16 weeks of paid time off for primary caregivers
• Professional development opportunities including mentorships, leadership programs and our AffiniPayU courses
• We believe it is important to give back with our Matching Gift Program and organized activities focused on donations, volunteerism and supporting the local communities throughout the country
• D&I initiatives provide educational opportunities regarding multicultural issues, tolerance, and celebrating diversity among our entire staff
• An incredible, in-office experience at our headquarters in Austin and San Diego including free lunch delivery, a fully stocked kitchen, and some “sweet” surprises for those afternoon pick-me-ups