Director of UX

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Director of UX

Company: Routeware, Inc.

Location: Remote (United States)

Job Type: Salaried Full-Time

Category: User Experience (UX) / Product Design Leadership

Date Posted: June 10, 2026

Experience Level: 8+ Years (with leadership/maturing function experience)

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the strategic unification of User Experience (UX) across Routeware's diverse product portfolio, encompassing five distinct product lines.

• Drive the maturity of the UX function by establishing and owning a scalable design system, robust research practices, and comprehensive accessibility standards.

• Act as a player-coach, directly managing and mentoring an existing UX designer while building out the UX team and function for future growth.

• Integrate UX principles and practices seamlessly into the agile Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) to ensure efficient and effective design processes from discovery to release.

• Partner closely with Product Management, Engineering, and Customer Success to embed a user-centered approach into roadmap prioritization and product development.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Director of UX," the description emphasizes a "player-coach" role with direct management of one designer and the responsibility of building out the function. This suggests a hands-on leadership position focused on foundational UX maturity within a growing company, rather than a purely executive, strategy-only role. The salary range also aligns with a senior individual contributor or team lead position rather than a high-level director.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Define and execute a multi-year UX strategy across the entire Routeware product portfolio, identifying key investment areas and driving the convergence of visual language, interaction patterns, and information architecture.

• Build, maintain, and govern a scalable design system, including components, tokens, patterns, and accessibility primitives, ensuring its consistent adoption across all product squads.

• Establish and enforce UX, UI, and accessibility standards, with a minimum of WCAG 2.2 AA compliance, to ensure a high-quality and inclusive user experience across all products.

• Operationalize UX within the agile SDLC, defining collaborative workflows for discovery, research, prototyping, validation, and release readiness, while avoiding bottlenecks.

• Directly manage, mentor, and develop the existing UX designer, and create a hiring plan and organizational design for scaling the UX function.

• Establish lightweight, scalable user research practices such as usability testing, journey mapping, and customer feedback synthesis, partnering with Product to ground decisions in customer behavior.

• Define and track UX-specific success metrics (e.g., task completion, time-to-value, usability scores) and co-own product adoption and retention metrics with Product.

• Leverage AI tooling (e.g., Figma AI, v0, ChatGPT) to accelerate design workflows, synthesize research, generate content, and identify opportunities for AI-driven personalization.

• Collaborate effectively with Product Management on roadmap prioritization, Engineering on feasibility and implementation, and Customer Success on adoption barriers.

• Communicate UX strategy, trade-offs, and recommendations clearly to both technical teams and executive stakeholders.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strong emphasis on building and scaling foundational UX processes and infrastructure (design system, research practice, standards) within a multi-product environment, particularly in a post-acquisition context. This requires a blend of strategic vision and hands-on execution. The inclusion of AI tooling as a specific responsibility indicates a forward-thinking approach to design operations.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is listed, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience, is typically expected for this level of role.

Experience:

• A minimum of 8 years of progressive experience in UX, Product Design, or Human-Centered Design.

• Demonstrated success in building or significantly maturing a UX function within a SaaS environment, including establishing design systems, research practices, or design operations.

• Experience leading or mentoring designers, with comfort in a player-coach capacity, including managing at least one direct report.

• Proven track record in systems thinking, working with multi-product or multi-platform environments, and delivering measurable UX outcomes.

• Experience working within agile SDLC methodologies, collaborating closely with Product Management and Engineering. Required Skills:

• UX Strategy & Vision: Ability to define and articulate a long-term UX strategy across a complex product portfolio.

• Design System Development: Expertise in creating, implementing, and governing scalable design systems (components, tokens, patterns).

• User Research & Synthesis: Proficiency in establishing and executing research practices (usability testing, journey mapping) and synthesizing insights.

• Accessibility Standards: Deep understanding of WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA compliance and practical application in design.

• Interaction Design & IA: Strong skills in information architecture and designing intuitive user flows and interactions.

• Figma Proficiency: Hands-on expertise in Figma for design, prototyping, and collaboration.

• AI Design Tool Fluency: Demonstrated use of AI tools (Figma AI, v0, ChatGPT, etc.) to enhance design workflows and explore new possibilities.

• Team Leadership & Mentorship: Experience managing, mentoring, and growing design talent.

• Agile SDLC Integration: Ability to embed UX seamlessly into agile development processes.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Skilled in partnering with Product, Engineering, and Customer Success teams.

• Excellent Communication: Ability to clearly present UX strategies, trade-offs, and recommendations to diverse audiences, including executives.

Preferred Skills:

• 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 internal staff/operator users and external consumer/resident-facing experiences.

• Familiarity with experimentation programs and personalized/adaptive UX.

• Passion for sustainability and environmental impact technologies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Required Skills" have been expanded to include specific UX disciplines and tools mentioned in the description, such as IA, interaction design, and AI tools. The "Preferred Skills" section incorporates the "Bonus" qualifications to provide a clearer distinction between essential and advantageous attributes. The emphasis on "systems thinking" and "multi-product/multi-platform work" is crucial for this role.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Systems Thinking: Demonstrate a portfolio showcasing experience with systems thinking, particularly in unifying user experiences across multiple products or platforms.

• Design System Examples: Include examples of contributions to or creation of design systems, highlighting component libraries, pattern documentation, or style guides.

• Measurable UX Outcomes: Present case studies that clearly articulate the UX challenges, the solutions implemented, and the quantifiable impact on user behavior, efficiency, or business metrics.

• Process Maturity: Showcase experience in maturing UX functions, such as implementing research practices, establishing design standards, or integrating UX into agile workflows.

Process Documentation:

• UX in Agile SDLC: Provide examples of how you've integrated UX activities (discovery, research, prototyping, validation) into agile development sprints, demonstrating your approach to collaboration and efficiency.

• Design System Governance: Illustrate your approach to managing and evolving a design system, including governance models and enforcement strategies.

• Research Practice Frameworks: Detail frameworks or methodologies you've established for conducting user research, synthesizing findings, and disseminating customer insights across teams.

• Accessibility Integration: Show how accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) are incorporated into the design and development process, from initial concepts to final implementation.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section emphasizes practical demonstration of process maturity and strategic thinking, particularly concerning design systems, cross-product unification, and integrating UX into agile workflows, which are key themes in the job description. The portfolio should reflect hands-on experience in building and scaling UX functions.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $115,000 - $130,000 per year.

Benefits:

• Comprehensive medical insurance with a Health Savings Account (HSA) option.

• Vision and dental insurance.

• Life insurance coverage.

• Paid parental leave.

• Medical and Dependent Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).

• 401K plan with company match.

• Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO).

• Ten company-observed holidays.

• One paid volunteer day per year.

• Summer Fridays (early departures on Fridays during summer months).

Working Hours: The role is advertised with standard working hours, typically 40 hours per week, common for a full-time salaried position. While remote, maintaining consistent availability during core business hours for collaboration is expected.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is specific and within typical bounds for a Director-level UX role with a player-coach component in the United States, considering the experience requirements. The benefits list is comprehensive and detailed, reflecting a competitive package for a remote, full-time position.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Software (specifically in areas like waste management, recycling, and public works technology, often referred to as Civic Tech or GovTech). Routeware operates in a niche but critical sector focused on efficiency, sustainability, and public service delivery.

Company Size: Routeware, Inc. is a mid-sized company. Recent data suggests a range of 201-500 employees, indicating a structure where individual contributions can have a significant impact, but established processes are also being developed.

Founded: Founded in 1994, Routeware has a long history in its operational software domain. Its growth through product development and acquisition (ReCollect, Recyclist, Compliance Publishing, RouteOptix) means it's navigating the complexities of integrating diverse product lines and their respective user experiences.

Team Structure:

• The UX team is currently small, consisting of the Director of UX and one existing designer.

• The Director will be responsible for hiring and scaling this team, likely building out a structure that supports multiple product squads.

• Collaboration will be multi-directional: with Product Management for strategic direction, Engineering for implementation, and Customer Success for real-world user feedback and adoption insights.

• Executive stakeholders will be involved in strategic decisions and will require clear communication of UX vision and impact. Methodology:

• Agile SDLC: The company operates within an agile software development lifecycle, requiring UX to be integrated seamlessly into sprint cycles.

• Design System Development: A core initiative is the creation and ownership of a scalable design system to unify disparate product interfaces.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: UX success metrics will be defined and tracked, with a focus on product adoption, retention, and efficiency, using product analytics tools.

• User-Centric Approach: Emphasis on grounding product decisions in user research and customer insights, moving beyond assumptions.

Company Website: https://www.routeware.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: The company context highlights the challenge of unifying UX across acquired products. This implies a need for a leader who can navigate legacy systems, establish new standards, and foster a cohesive brand experience. The focus on sustainability and environmental impact is a key cultural differentiator.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a Director of UX, signifying a leadership capacity focused on shaping the user experience strategy and function. However, the "player-coach" aspect and the current team size (one direct report) indicate a mid-to-senior level leadership role where hands-on contribution is as critical as strategic direction. It's a foundational leadership role, building out a function rather than managing a large, established department.

Reporting Structure: The Director of UX will likely report to a VP of Product, Chief Product Officer (CPO), or potentially a CTO, depending on the company's organizational structure. This ensures direct influence on product strategy and roadmap.

Operations Impact: The UX Director's impact will be measured by the successful unification of user experiences across Routeware's portfolio, leading to improved product adoption, increased customer satisfaction, enhanced operational efficiency for users, and potentially reduced support costs. By driving a consistent and intuitive user experience, the role directly contributes to customer retention and the overall success of Routeware's software solutions in a competitive market.

Growth Opportunities:

• Functional Leadership: Opportunity to build and scale the UX function from its current state into a robust, high-performing team, defining its structure, processes, and culture.

• Strategic Influence: Play a key role in shaping the product roadmap and company-wide UX strategy, influencing the direction of multiple SaaS products.

• Skill Development: Deepen expertise in design systems, UX strategy for complex portfolios, and leveraging AI in design workflows.

• Industry Impact: Contribute to the advancement of technology solutions in the civic tech and environmental sustainability sectors, making a tangible impact on public services and environmental initiatives.

• Potential for Advancement: As the UX function matures and demonstrates impact, opportunities for broader leadership roles within the product organization may arise.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth analysis focuses on the unique aspect of "building the function" rather than managing an existing one, highlighting the foundational leadership and strategic impact potential of this Director role.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: This is a fully remote position, allowing employees to work from their home office within the United States.

Office Location(s): While the role is remote, the company has a headquarters in Springville, Utah. However, this specific role is designated for remote work within the US, suggesting a distributed team model.

Workspace Context:

• Remote Collaboration: The work environment necessitates strong digital collaboration tools and practices, with an emphasis on asynchronous communication and clear documentation.

• Technology Stack: Access to essential design and collaboration tools (Figma, Jira, Confluence, product analytics) is paramount for effective remote work.

• Cross-Functional Interaction: Opportunities for interaction will be primarily through virtual meetings, project management platforms, and shared documentation, requiring proactive engagement with Product, Engineering, and Customer Success teams.

• Focus on Autonomy: Remote work requires self-discipline, effective time management, and the ability to work independently while remaining connected to the team.

Work Schedule: The role is full-time, with standard working hours expected to align with US business operations for effective collaboration. Flexibility is inherent in a remote, unlimited PTO structure, but core availability for team meetings and urgent tasks is crucial.

📝 Enhancement Note: The remote aspect is central. The description emphasizes the need for strong digital collaboration skills and self-management, which are critical for success in a fully distributed team environment.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will likely conduct an initial screening call to assess basic qualifications, experience, and cultural fit.

• Portfolio Review & Presentation: Candidates will be asked to present their portfolio, focusing on systems thinking, multi-product experience, and demonstrable UX outcomes. Be prepared to walk through specific case studies that highlight your strategic approach and impact.

• Hiring Manager Interview: A deeper dive into your experience, leadership style, and strategic vision for maturing the UX function at Routeware. This may include scenario-based questions.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Interviews with key stakeholders from Product Management and Engineering to assess collaboration skills, technical understanding, and alignment with team dynamics.

• Executive Interview: A final discussion with senior leadership to evaluate strategic alignment, communication skills, and overall fit for the Director role.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-4 projects that best demonstrate your ability to unify UX across multiple products, build design systems, or mature a UX function. Highlight challenges, your process, and measurable results.

• Focus on Systems Thinking: For each relevant project, explicitly explain your approach to consistency, scalability, and cross-product integration.

• Quantify Impact: Wherever possible, use data and metrics to show the tangible outcomes of your work (e.g., improved task completion rates, reduced user errors, increased adoption, positive feedback trends).

• Showcase Leadership & Mentorship: If applicable, include examples of how you've guided junior designers, influenced product decisions, or contributed to team growth.

• AI Integration: Be ready to discuss how you've used AI tools to enhance your design process, and how you envision leveraging AI for personalization or efficiency at Routeware.

Challenge Preparation:

• Strategic Vision: Be prepared to discuss your approach to developing a multi-year UX strategy for a company with a diverse product portfolio.

• Design System Implementation: Outline your methodology for building, rolling out, and governing a design system in a complex environment.

• UX in Agile: Describe how you would integrate UX seamlessly into an agile SDLC without becoming a bottleneck.

• Leadership & Team Building: Discuss your philosophy on leading designers, fostering collaboration, and scaling a UX team.

• Company & Industry Knowledge: Research Routeware's products, target markets (municipalities, haulers, residents), and the broader civic tech/sustainability landscape.

📝 Enhancement Note: This section provides actionable advice tailored to a UX Director role focused on building out a function, emphasizing portfolio content that demonstrates systems thinking, leadership, and strategic impact.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Essential for UI design, prototyping, and collaboration. Hands-on proficiency is required.

• AI Design Tools: Fluency in tools like Figma AI, v0, ChatGPT, and other AI-powered platforms for prototyping, research synthesis, and content generation.

• Jira & Confluence: Working fluency is required for project management, issue tracking, and documentation within the agile SDLC.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics Tools: Experience with tools to define and track UX-specific success metrics (task completion, time-to-value, usability scores) and product adoption/retention metrics. Specific tools are not listed but common examples include Amplitude, Mixpanel, or Google Analytics.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a CRM role, understanding how UX impacts customer engagement and support is beneficial. Familiarity with how design decisions influence user journeys within B2B/B2G SaaS platforms is key.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on Figma and AI design tools is critical, reflecting the current technological landscape and specific requirements of the role. The mention of Jira and Confluence indicates a need for proficiency in standard agile development collaboration tools.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User-Centricity: A core value that prioritizes understanding and meeting the needs of diverse users (municipal staff, haulers, residents) through thoughtful design.

• Collaboration: Strong emphasis on working effectively across departments (Product, Engineering, Customer Success) to achieve shared goals and deliver integrated solutions.

• Efficiency & Scalability: A commitment to building scalable design systems and efficient UX processes that can support a growing product portfolio and company.

• Innovation & Continuous Improvement: Encouragement to leverage new technologies like AI to enhance design workflows and create adaptive, personalized user experiences.

• Impact & Sustainability: A passion for using technology to drive positive environmental impact and improve public services, aligning with the company's mission.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Expect close collaboration with Product Managers to define roadmaps, Engineers to ensure feasibility and implementation of design solutions, and Customer Success to gather real-world feedback.

• Process-Oriented: A focus on defining clear, lightweight UX processes within the agile SDLC, including design reviews, critiques, and streamlined handoffs.

• Data-Informed: Decisions are expected to be informed by user research, analytics, and feedback, fostering a culture of continuous learning and iteration.

• Strategic Communication: Open and transparent communication with executive stakeholders regarding UX strategy, trade-offs, and recommendations.

📝 Enhancement Note: The values and collaboration style are inferred from the job description's emphasis on strategic unification, cross-functional partnerships, and the company's mission in sustainability.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Portfolio Unification: The primary challenge is to harmonize the UX across five distinct product lines, each with its own heritage, conventions, and visual language. This requires strategic planning, strong design system leadership, and diplomatic stakeholder management.

• Maturing the UX Function: Building out a UX function from its current nascent stage involves establishing processes, standards, and a team structure that can scale effectively.

• Balancing Strategic Vision with Hands-On Execution: As a player-coach, the Director must balance defining long-term strategy and building the team with hands-on design work and mentorship.

• Integrating UX into Agile SDLC: Ensuring UX is a seamless and efficient part of the agile development process without becoming a bottleneck requires careful process design and strong collaboration.

• AI Adoption: Fluently integrating AI tools into workflows and identifying opportunities for AI-driven personalization requires continuous learning and experimentation.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Leadership & Team Building: Develop skills in hiring, mentoring, and scaling a UX team, establishing its culture and operational frameworks.

• Strategic Design Leadership: Gain experience in defining and executing UX strategy for a complex, multi-product SaaS portfolio.

• Design System Expertise: Become an expert in building and managing scalable design systems that serve diverse product needs.

• AI in Design: Deepen practical application of AI tools in design, research synthesis, and content generation.

• Cross-Functional Influence: Enhance abilities to influence product roadmaps and drive user-centricity at executive levels.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are derived directly from the company's stated situation (diverse portfolio, growing function) and the role's demands (player-coach, AI integration). Growth opportunities are aligned with overcoming these challenges.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach defining a multi-year UX strategy for a company with a portfolio of acquired and native products, each with its own UX heritage?" (Focus on prioritization frameworks, stakeholder alignment, and phased implementation.)

• "Describe your methodology for building and governing a scalable design system from the ground up, ensuring adoption across multiple product teams." (Discuss component libraries, tokens, pattern documentation, and governance models.)

• "How do you operationalize UX within an agile SDLC to ensure seamless integration without becoming a bottleneck, and what lightweight rituals would you implement?" (Explain your approach to discovery, research, prototyping, and collaboration with PMs and Engineers.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What are your thoughts on Routeware's mission and how can UX contribute to its goals of sustainability and improved public services?" (Demonstrate research into the company's mission and connect UX principles to its impact.)

• "How would you foster a collaborative UX culture within a growing, remote team and across different departments like Product and Engineering?" (Discuss your leadership style, communication strategies, and approach to team building.)

• "How do you measure the success of UX initiatives, and what key metrics would you focus on at Routeware to demonstrate impact to executive leadership?" (Prepare to discuss metrics like task completion, time-to-value, adoption rates, and usability scores.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Narrative Arc: Structure your portfolio presentation around the journey of solving a problem. Clearly state the challenge, your role, the process you followed, the solutions you designed, and the measurable outcomes.

• Highlight Systems Thinking: For your most relevant projects, explicitly call out how you addressed consistency, scalability, and cross-product integration. Use visual aids to show how different elements connect.

• Showcase AI Integration: Be ready to discuss specific instances where you used AI tools to accelerate your work or explore new design possibilities, and how you envision this evolving at Routeware.

• Focus on Leadership & Process: If you have experience building or maturing UX functions, dedicate time to explaining your approach to process creation, team building, and mentorship.

• Tailor to Routeware: Where possible, draw parallels between your past work and Routeware's business (B2B/B2G SaaS, operational software, civic tech) to demonstrate relevance.

📝 Enhancement Note: These questions and preparation tips are designed to probe the candidate's strategic thinking, leadership capabilities, and practical experience in building and scaling UX functions, as well as their ability to integrate modern tools like AI.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Director of UX position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on the Routeware careers portal.

• Customize Your Resume: Tailor your resume to highlight keywords and experiences directly relevant to UX strategy, design systems, team leadership, agile SDLC integration, and experience with multi-product portfolios. Quantify achievements where possible.

• Prepare Your Portfolio: Select 3-4 impactful projects that demonstrate your systems thinking, experience in unifying UX across products, and ability to mature a UX function. Ensure clear articulation of challenges, processes, solutions, and quantifiable outcomes. Be ready to present this virtually.

• Research Routeware: Thoroughly investigate Routeware's product suite (ReCollect, Recyclist, Compliance Publishing, RouteOptix, Routeware Platform), target audiences (municipalities, haulers, residents), and their stated mission regarding sustainability and civic tech. Understand their current UX challenges as described in the job posting.

• Practice Your Narrative: Rehearse your portfolio presentation and be prepared to answer strategic and behavioral questions related to leadership, process building, and user-centric design in a remote, SaaS environment. Practice articulating how you would leverage AI tools.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.