Director, UX and Product Design

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Director, UX and Product Design

Company: Drug Hunter

Location: United States

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design & User Experience Operations

Date Posted: September 18, 2026

Experience Level: 10+ Years

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the strategic direction and execution of user experience (UX) and product design across Drug Hunter's scientific intelligence platform.

• Drive the creation of intuitive, efficient, and compelling digital product experiences for B2B scientific users in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.

• Establish and scale robust design systems, processes, and potentially a high-performing UI/UX design team as the company grows.

• Collaborate cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Science, and Commercial teams to ensure product design aligns with user needs, business objectives, and drives key growth metrics like adoption, engagement, and retention.

• Contribute significantly to product strategy by leveraging user research, customer insights, and a deep understanding of complex scientific workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is classified under Product Design & User Experience Operations due to its strategic focus on shaping user journeys, establishing design frameworks, and influencing product strategy, which are critical components of operationalizing excellent user experiences within a technology company. The emphasis on B2B and scientific software implies a need for deep domain understanding and a rigorous, data-driven approach to design.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Strategic Design Leadership: Own and direct the overall UI/UX architecture and product design vision for Drug Hunter's entire product portfolio, ensuring consistency and a cohesive user journey.

• User-Centered Design Execution: Develop comprehensive information architecture, navigation structures, user flows, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity product designs that translate complex scientific needs into intuitive and efficient user experiences.

• User Research & Validation: Proactively conduct user research, usability testing, and customer discovery initiatives to gather evidence-based insights that inform product decisions, validate value propositions, and refine product requirement specifications.

• Product Strategy Contribution: Actively contribute to the strategic direction of the product roadmap by developing well-structured proposals and recommendations grounded in user evidence, market needs, and product usage insights.

• Adoption & Growth Driving: Design product experiences that directly enhance user adoption, engagement, stickiness, and retention, thereby contributing to overall business growth and customer lifetime value.

• Continuous Improvement: Identify and champion opportunities to systematically improve existing products by enhancing usability, discoverability, consistency, and overall product quality, ensuring a high standard of user experience.

• Design Process Establishment: Define, implement, and evolve scalable processes for design reviews, UX critiques, rapid prototyping, user validation, and data-informed design decision-making.

• Cross-Functional Product Partnership: Act as a key product leader, collaborating closely with Science, Commercial, Product Management, and Engineering teams to define user requirements and validate desired outcomes from initial product concept through final implementation.

• Brand & Experience Alignment: Partner with Brand, Marketing, Scientific/Content, and other creative teams to ensure visual brand standards are coherently applied across the entire customer experience where product and brand touchpoints intersect.

• Design System Development: Collaborate closely with the Engineering team to establish, maintain, and evolve a scalable design system, including reusable components, interaction patterns, and core UX principles, while upholding a high standard for design quality and implementation fidelity.

• Team Building & Mentorship: Recruit, hire, manage, and mentor UI/UX and product design professionals to build and grow a high-performing Product Design organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic leadership and hands-on design execution, characteristic of a senior role. The emphasis on B2B scientific software implies a need for understanding complex workflows and data-intensive environments, requiring a more analytical and evidence-based approach to design than typically seen in B2C roles.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in Design, Engineering, Science, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), or a closely related field.

• Equivalent professional experience will also be considered in lieu of a formal degree.

• Advanced degrees (MS, PhD) in relevant fields are a plus. Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in product design, UX design, interaction design, or related disciplines.

• Significant experience specifically designing for B2B or B2X digital products is essential.

• Proven track record of designing enterprise-level software, particularly within scientific, technical, analytical, data-intensive, or workflow-oriented domains.

• Experience serving highly specialized professional or technical user groups. Required Skills:

• UI/UX Architecture & Strategy: Deep understanding of how to structure complex digital products for optimal user flow and engagement.

• Information Architecture & User Flows: Expertise in mapping out user journeys, site structures, and content organization for intuitive navigation.

• Prototyping & Wireframing: Proficiency in creating low-fidelity wireframes and high-fidelity interactive prototypes to communicate design concepts effectively.

• User Research & Usability Testing: Demonstrated ability to plan, conduct, and analyze user research to validate design decisions and uncover user needs.

• Design Systems: Experience in establishing and maintaining scalable design systems, including component libraries, style guides, and UX principles.

• Interaction Design: Strong command of principles that govern how users interact with digital products.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Proven ability to work effectively with Product Management, Engineering, Science, and Commercial teams.

• Communication & Presentation: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate and defend design decisions to diverse audiences, including senior stakeholders.

Preferred Skills:

• AI-Enabled Design Tools: Familiarity and proficiency with emerging AI-powered design and prototyping tools.

• Data-Intensive Software Design: Specific experience designing user interfaces for complex data visualization, analysis, and management platforms.

• Scientific/Technical Domain Knowledge: Understanding of R&D workflows in biotech/pharma is highly advantageous.

• Team Leadership & Mentorship: Experience building, managing, and mentoring design teams.

• Product Strategy Development: Ability to contribute meaningfully to product strategy beyond design execution.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for experience with "enterprise, scientific, technical, analytical, data-intensive, or workflow-oriented software" is critical. This indicates the need for candidates who can handle complexity, understand specialized user needs, and design for environments where precision and efficiency are paramount, rather than solely focusing on aesthetic appeal. The "10+" years of experience suggests a senior leadership role with significant strategic input.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Case Studies of Complex B2B/Scientific Products: Showcase detailed case studies demonstrating your design process for enterprise, scientific, or data-intensive software. Focus on how you translated complex user needs and workflows into intuitive solutions.

• Demonstration of Design System Development: Include examples or descriptions of design systems you've helped create or significantly contribute to, highlighting component libraries, style guides, and the process for their adoption and maintenance.

• User Research & Validation Artifacts: Present examples of user research plans, usability test reports, and how findings directly influenced design iterations and product decisions.

• Impact & ROI Articulation: Clearly articulate the impact of your design solutions, quantifying improvements in user adoption, engagement, efficiency, or other relevant business metrics. Showcase how your designs contributed to business growth.

• Prototyping & Interaction Design Examples: Provide interactive prototypes or detailed walkthroughs of complex user flows and interactions that illustrate your design craft.

Process Documentation:

• Workflow Design & Optimization: Document your approach to mapping and optimizing complex user workflows, illustrating how you identified pain points and designed solutions.

• Design Review & Critique Methodologies: Detail your established processes for design reviews, critique sessions, and how feedback is incorporated into the design lifecycle.

• Cross-functional Collaboration Frameworks: Illustrate how you integrate with Product, Engineering, and Science teams, outlining communication strategies and decision-making processes.

• User Validation & Iteration Cycles: Explain your methodology for conducting user validation and how you manage iterative design cycles based on feedback and data.

📝 Enhancement Note: A strong portfolio for this role must go beyond visual mockups. It needs to demonstrate a deep understanding of user-centered design methodologies applied to complex, specialized domains, showcasing strategic thinking, process rigor, and measurable business impact. The emphasis on "data-intensive" and "workflow-oriented" software means showcasing problem-solving skills for highly technical users is paramount.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

Based on industry benchmarks for a Director-level UX/Product Design role with 10+ years of experience, specializing in B2B scientific software, and operating remotely in the United States, the estimated salary range is $180,000 - $250,000 per year. This estimate considers the highly specialized nature of the role, the company's focus on a critical scientific intelligence platform, and the competitive landscape for senior design leadership.

Benefits:

• Competitive Compensation Package:

  • Competitive base salary.
  • Variable compensation tied to individual and company performance.
  • Equity options, providing ownership and potential for significant long-term gain.

• Comprehensive Health & Wellness:

  • Broad range of medical, dental, and vision insurance plans, including generous coverage for a platinum PPO healthcare plan for employees and dependents.
  • Life insurance coverage.
  • Short-term and long-term disability insurance to provide financial security.
  • Cancer and critical illness coverage for added peace of mind.

• Work-Life Integration & Family Support:

  • Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave (after one year of tenure).
  • Childcare Flexible Spending Account (FSA) plan to assist with dependent care costs.
  • Generous and flexible vacation and leave policies, encouraging time off and personal well-being.

• Retirement Planning:

  • 401(k) retirement savings plan with a substantial employer match (3-5%).

• Remote Work Support:

  • Home office setup stipend to ensure a productive and comfortable remote work environment.

• Professional Development:

  • Learning and development support, including access to training, conferences, and resources to foster continuous growth. Working Hours:

The standard working hours are expected to be approximately 40 hours per week. Given the fully remote nature of the role and the seniority level, there may be flexibility in scheduling, with an expectation of availability during core business hours relevant to the team's collaboration needs across different US time zones.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary estimate is derived from aggregated data from reputable compensation platforms (e.g., Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, Salary.com) for Director-level UX/Product Design roles in the US tech industry, adjusted for the specific demands of B2B scientific software and the company's backing by top-tier investors. The benefits package is comprehensive and aligns with industry standards for a well-funded, growth-stage tech company.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: The company operates within the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical R&D Software sector, a highly specialized and innovation-driven field. Drug Hunter serves as a scientific intelligence platform, empowering researchers to accelerate drug discovery. This context means the company values deep scientific understanding, data integrity, and the ability to translate complex scientific processes into user-friendly digital tools.

Company Size: Drug Hunter is described as serving "most of the top global biotech & pharma companies," and being "backed by top-tier investors." While specific headcount isn't provided, this suggests a growth-stage company that is likely past its startup phase and is scaling its operations, product, and team. This implies a dynamic environment with opportunities for significant impact.

Founded: While the founding date isn't explicitly stated, the company's description and backing by top-tier investors suggest it is an established, rapidly growing entity rather than a nascent startup. This maturity allows for structured processes while retaining a fast-paced, innovative culture.

Team Structure:

• Cross-Functional Product Teams: The Director will work within a matrixed environment, collaborating closely with dedicated Product Managers, Engineering teams (likely specialized by product area or technology stack), and scientific subject matter experts.

• Reporting Structure: This role reports into a senior leadership position, likely the Head of Product or a Chief Product Officer, given the directorial title and strategic scope. The Director will then build and lead the UI/UX design organization.

• Collaboration Patterns: Expect a highly collaborative model where design is integrated early and often in the product development lifecycle. This involves regular interaction with stakeholders across Science, Commercial, Product, and Engineering to ensure alignment and user-centricity.

Methodology:

• Data-Driven Decision Making: The company emphasizes empowering scientists and is backed by investors, suggesting a strong reliance on data to inform strategy, product development, and design choices.

• User-Centric Product Development: A core tenet is translating complex user needs into intuitive experiences, indicating a commitment to understanding and solving user problems through design.

• Agile & Iterative Processes: The fast-paced nature of biotech R&D and software development implies an agile, iterative approach to product design and development, with continuous feedback loops.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: The industry context is crucial. Designing for B2B scientific users in pharma/biotech means dealing with highly specialized workflows, complex data, and a user base that values precision, accuracy, and efficiency above all else. This isn't about consumer trends; it's about enabling critical research. The growth-stage nature suggests a blend of established processes and the need for proactive development of new ones, especially within the design function.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role represents a Director-level position, signifying senior