Senior Manager, UI Engineering

ServiceNow
Full-time•$146k-256kundefined (USD)•San Diego, California, United States
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📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Manager, UI Engineering

Company: ServiceNow

Location: San Diego, California, United States

Job Type: Full-time

Category: UI/UX Design Leadership

Date Posted: 2025-06-09

Experience Level: 10+ years (Specifically 7+ years in UX/Interaction Design with leadership focus)

Remote Status: Remote OK (Flexible Work Persona)

🎨 Role Summary

  • Lead UI/UX initiatives to develop innovative solutions for complex customer issues within the ServiceNow platform.
  • Drive strategic UI/UX direction through close collaboration with IT application product owners and the broader experience organization.
  • Translate complex user needs and business requirements into elegant, intuitive, and informed design solutions.
  • Champion human-centered design principles throughout the product development lifecycle, ensuring a focus on user research and feedback.
📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Senior Manager, UI Engineering," the description strongly emphasizes UI/UX design responsibilities and leadership within a design context. The role appears to focus on managing and directing UI/UX design efforts rather than traditional UI engineering (coding) management. This interpretation is based on the listed responsibilities like "creating end-to-end detailed design deliverables," "coordinating and integrating the work of fellow designers," and "planning and executing usability testing," all of which are core design leadership functions.

🖼️ Primary Responsibilities

  • Engage strategically with IT application product owners to understand business goals and translate them into UI/UX requirements.
  • Collaborate closely with the experience organization to ensure alignment on overall product design direction and strategy.
  • Work alongside the Customer Liaison team to integrate customer research and feedback directly into the design process.
  • Create comprehensive design deliverables, including experience maps, storyboards, wireframes, and interactive prototypes.
  • Coordinate and integrate the work of other designers to ensure a seamless, unified, and high-quality user experience across products.
  • Plan, execute, and analyze usability testing to validate design solutions and gather actionable insights for iteration.
  • Potentially mentor or lead a team of designers, fostering their growth and ensuring design excellence.
📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic leadership, hands-on design delivery oversight, and strong cross-functional collaboration. The emphasis on integrating customer feedback and coordinating designer work points towards a management role focused on the quality and coherence of design output.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer Science, or a related field is typically expected for a role of this seniority. Equivalent practical experience demonstrating a strong understanding of design principles and methodologies is also highly valued.

Experience: Minimum of 7+ years of experience in UX or interaction design with a significant emphasis on human-centered design methods. The "Senior Manager" title implies a need for leadership experience, potentially including mentoring or leading design teams.

Required Skills:

  • Expertise in UI/UX Design principles and best practices, with a strong portfolio showcasing impactful work.
  • Demonstrated experience in leveraging or critically thinking about integrating AI into workflows, decision-making, or problem-solving.
  • Proficiency in using AI Productivity tools (e.g., Windsurf, Cursor).
  • Solid understanding and application of human-centered design methods throughout the design process.
  • Ability to translate complex problems into elegant, informed, and user-friendly design solutions.
  • Strong capability to articulate and defend design decisions based on human-centered design principles and research data.
  • Expertise in design tools such as Sketch and Adobe XD for creating wireframes and interactive prototypes.
  • Experience working in an iterative and agile development environment with a focus on continuous improvement.
  • Excellent teamwork and communication skills for effective collaboration with diverse, multi-functional teams.
  • High degree of initiative and a proactive approach to bringing product designs from concept to launch.
  • Expertise in designing for specific enterprise product spaces like IT Security Management, IT Operations Management, Security Operations, HR Service Delivery, Customer Service Management (CSM), or Finance & Legal.

Preferred Skills:

  • Experience mentoring designers or leading design teams.
  • Experience defining or working with a robust design system.
  • Experience working specifically in the enterprise software domain.
  • Experience facilitating design thinking workshops.
  • Experience collaborating with global teams across different time zones.
  • Experience creating content or designing with compliance to WCAG 2.0/2.1 AA guidelines for accessibility.
📝 Enhancement Note: The required skills list is comprehensive, highlighting both core design competencies and experience in enterprise software and AI integration. The preferred skills strongly suggest a leadership component and a focus on design systems and accessibility, which are critical in large-scale enterprise design environments. The 7+ years of experience combined with the "Senior Manager" title implies that candidates should demonstrate leadership capabilities beyond individual contributor roles in their experience and portfolio.

🎨 Portfolio & Creative Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

  • An inspiring portfolio showcasing research-backed and well-crafted user experiences that have been successfully brought to market as released products.
  • Case studies that clearly articulate complex problems and the elegant, informed design solutions developed.
  • Visual presentation of design deliverables, including experience maps, storyboards, wireframes, and interactive prototypes.
  • Demonstration of technical understanding in translating designs into functional UI, even if not directly coding.

Process Documentation:

  • Documentation of the research and discovery phase, including user research methods and synthesis of findings.
  • Evidence of ideation and iteration methods used to arrive at the final design solutions.
  • Description of validation and testing approaches, including usability testing methodologies and results.
📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on an "inspiring portfolio showing us how you have researched and crafted great experiences, seeing them through to released products" is a strong indicator that ServiceNow values a full-lifecycle design approach and the ability to deliver tangible results. Case studies that detail the problem, process, solution, and impact will be crucial for demonstrating the required skills and experience.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $146,400 - $256,200 USD per year.

Benefits:

  • Comprehensive Health Plans, including flexible spending accounts.
  • 401(k) Plan with company match to support retirement savings.
  • Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) providing opportunities for equity ownership.
  • Matching Donations program to support charitable giving.
  • Flexible Time Away Plan promoting work-life balance.
  • Family Leave Programs to support employees during significant life events.

Working Hours: Standard full-time working hours (estimated at 40 hours per week), with flexibility offered through the "Flexible Work Persona" model. Design workflows may require adaptation to collaborate with global teams across time zones.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is specific to the San Diego location and is a guideline. Actual compensation is subject to negotiation based on qualifications, skill level, and experience, which is standard in the tech industry, particularly for senior-level design roles. The benefits package is competitive and includes common offerings in the US tech sector.

🎯Team & Company Context

🏢 Company & Design Culture

Industry: Software Development, specifically focused on enterprise cloud solutions and workflow automation. ServiceNow is a market leader in providing AI-enhanced technology to large organizations globally.

Company Size: Large enterprise with over 10,001+ employees globally (approximately 32,000+ employees according to LinkedIn). This size suggests a structured design organization with established processes and opportunities for specialization.

Founded: 2004. ServiceNow has a history of innovation in the enterprise software space, evolving to incorporate AI into its platform.

Team Structure:

  • The role involves engaging with IT application product owners, indicating a close partnership between design and product management.
  • Collaboration with the "experience organization" suggests a centralized or matrixed design team structure where different design disciplines (UI, UX, Research, etc.) work together.
  • Coordination and integration of the work of "fellow designers" implies a team of designers reporting directly or indirectly to this Senior Manager role.

Methodology:

  • Strong emphasis on human-centered design methods throughout the design process.
  • Iterative and agile development environment, requiring designers to adapt and refine designs based on feedback and testing.
  • Integration of customer research and feedback through collaboration with the Customer Liaison team.
  • Potential use of design thinking workshops (preferred skill) for problem-solving and ideation.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: ServiceNow's position as a large, established enterprise in the software development industry means the design culture likely prioritizes scalability, consistency (via design systems), and integration across a complex platform. The focus on AI integration indicates a forward-thinking approach to design challenges in the enterprise space.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Design Career Level: This is a Senior Manager role, indicating a leadership position within the design organization. Responsibilities involve strategic engagement, team coordination, and potentially direct management of designers. It sits above individual contributor senior designer roles and likely reports to a Director or Head of Design/Experience.

Reporting Structure: While not explicitly stated, the title suggests reporting to a higher-level design or engineering leader. The role involves coordinating "fellow designers," which could mean direct reports or leading project teams of designers.

Design Impact: Design plays a critical role in the success of ServiceNow's platform. This position has the opportunity to significantly impact the user experience for a large base of enterprise customers, influencing workflow efficiency and user satisfaction. The focus on integrating AI into the platform presents a unique opportunity for design leadership in a rapidly evolving area.

Growth Opportunities:

  • Advancement to Director or higher-level leadership roles within the experience organization.
  • Opportunity to specialize further in specific areas like AI integration design leadership, design systems leadership, or a particular product domain within ServiceNow.
  • Development of leadership skills through mentoring and managing designers.
📝 Enhancement Note: The Senior Manager title at a company of ServiceNow's size typically signifies a role with significant responsibility and scope. The growth path would likely involve leading larger teams, managing broader design initiatives, or moving into more strategic leadership positions within the company's experience organization.

🌐 Work Environment

Studio Type: The role offers a "Flexible Work Persona," which means it can be primarily remote, but may require occasional presence in the San Diego office for specific meetings or team events. The San Diego office location is provided.

Office Location(s): 4810 Eastgate Mall, San Diego, California, 92121, United States. This is a specific office address, suggesting it serves as a potential hub for the team or company activities, even if the role is primarily remote.

Design Workspace Context:

  • Even in a remote-first or hybrid model, the company likely provides tools and infrastructure to facilitate remote collaboration among design teams.
  • Opportunities for in-person collaboration may exist during planned team gatherings at the San Diego office.
  • The work environment emphasizes flexibility and trust, aligning with modern distributed work models.

Work Schedule: While full-time, the "Flexible Time Away Plan" and "Flexible Work Persona" suggest some degree of flexibility in daily scheduling, provided core responsibilities and collaboration needs are met. Collaboration with global teams may require flexibility in working hours to accommodate different time zones.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Flexible Work Persona" is a key aspect of the work environment, indicating that ServiceNow supports remote work for this role. However, the mention of a specific office location suggests that some level of in-person interaction or team events might be part of the work model. Candidates should clarify the specifics of the "Flexible Work Persona" during the interview process.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Design Interview Process:

  • Initial screening call to assess basic qualifications and fit.
  • Portfolio review round, where candidates present their work, focusing on process, problem-solving, and impact. Be prepared to discuss case studies in detail.
  • Potential design challenge or take-home assignment to evaluate problem-solving skills and design approach under specific constraints.
  • Interviews with members of the design team, product owners, engineering leads, and potentially higher-level management to assess technical skills, collaboration abilities, leadership potential, and cultural fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

  • Curate case studies that demonstrate experience in enterprise software, complex workflows, and integrating new technologies like AI.
  • Clearly articulate the problem, your role, your design process (including research, ideation, iteration, and testing), the final solution, and the impact of your design.
  • Showcase not just final designs, but also wireframes, prototypes, user flows, and research artifacts to illustrate your thinking and process.
  • Highlight projects where you've collaborated effectively with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders.
  • If possible, include examples that demonstrate your ability to design for accessibility (WCAG compliance) and work with design systems.

Challenge Preparation:

  • Understand the typical format of design challenges (e.g., whiteboarding session, presentation of a solution to a provided prompt).
  • Practice articulating your design process and rationale clearly and concisely.
  • Be prepared to ask clarifying questions and engage in a collaborative problem-solving discussion.

ATS Keywords: UI/UX Design, Human-Centered Design, Interaction Design, Product Design, Enterprise Software, AI Integration, Workflow Automation, Wireframing, Prototyping, Usability Testing, Design Systems, Agile, Collaboration, Leadership, Mentoring, Design Thinking, Sketch, Adobe XD, Figma (likely used even if not explicitly listed), WCAG, Accessibility, User Research, Customer Feedback, Storyboarding, Experience Maps, IT Security Management, IT Operations Management, Security Operations, HR Service Delivery, Customer Service Management (CSM), Finance & Legal.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on seeing products "through to released products" in the qualifications suggests that the interview process will heavily focus on understanding a candidate's end-to-end design process and their ability to deliver tangible, high-quality outcomes in a complex environment. Be prepared to discuss the impact of your design work on users and business goals.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Design Tools:

  • Sketch: Required expertise for creating wireframes and high-fidelity designs.
  • Adobe XD: Required expertise for creating interactive prototypes.
  • Figma: While not explicitly listed as required, Figma is widely used in the industry for collaborative design and prototyping and is highly likely to be part of their stack or a valuable skill.
  • Other Prototyping Tools: Experience with tools like InVision, Axure, or others may also be beneficial for creating realistic interactive prototypes.

Collaboration & Handoff:

  • Collaboration tools for working with product, engineering, and other design team members (e.g., Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira).
  • Handoff tools for providing specifications to engineers (e.g., Zeplin, Abstract, or features within design tools like Figma or Sketch).
  • Documentation tools for maintaining design systems and style guides (e.g., Confluence, Notion, Zeroheight).

Research & Testing:

  • Tools for conducting and analyzing user research (e.g., Usertesting.com, Maze, survey platforms).
  • Analytics tools for measuring the impact of design changes (e.g., Google Analytics, Pendo, Mixpanel).
  • Tools for planning and executing usability testing sessions.
📝 Enhancement Note: While Sketch and Adobe XD are specifically mentioned, proficiency in industry-standard collaborative design tools like Figma is highly probable and would be a significant advantage. Experience with tools that facilitate handoff, documentation, and research is also crucial for a senior-level role in a large organization.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Design Values:

  • Focus on creating UI/UX that effectively solves customer issues, indicating a strong user-centric approach.
  • Emphasis on collaboration and alignment with product and experience organizations, highlighting the value of teamwork and shared vision.
  • Relentless pursuit of "experience perfection" within an iterative and agile environment, suggesting a culture of quality and continuous improvement.
  • Valuing initiative and a "make it work" ethos, pointing to a pragmatic and results-oriented culture.

Collaboration Style:

  • Collaborative approach with IT application product owners and the experience organization.
  • Close alignment with the Customer Liaison team for integrating user feedback.
  • Teamwork and communication skills are explicitly highlighted as essential for effective collaboration with multi-functional and multi-disciplined teams.
📝 Enhancement Note: The culture appears to be results-oriented, collaborative, and focused on delivering high-quality user experiences within an agile framework. The emphasis on integrating AI suggests a culture that embraces technological advancement and its impact on user workflows.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Design Challenges:

  • Designing for complex enterprise workflows and diverse user needs within the ServiceNow platform.
  • Integrating AI effectively and ethically into existing and new user experiences.
  • Ensuring design consistency and scalability across a large and evolving product suite, potentially involving working with or defining a robust design system.
  • Collaborating effectively with global teams across different time zones and cultural contexts.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

  • Opportunity to deepen expertise in enterprise software design and specific product domains within ServiceNow.
  • Learning and applying AI integration principles in a practical design context.
  • Developing leadership and mentoring skills by potentially managing or guiding other designers.
  • Gaining experience working with a robust design system and contributing to its evolution.
  • Opportunities to facilitate design thinking workshops and promote innovative problem-solving within the team.
📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges align with the complexities of designing for a large enterprise platform with diverse user needs and a focus on integrating emerging technologies like AI. The growth opportunities reflect the potential to deepen expertise in these areas and develop leadership skills within a significant design organization.

💡 Interview Preparation

Design Process Questions:

  • Be prepared to walk through your design process using specific case studies from your portfolio. Focus on how you approached complex problems, conducted research, iterated on designs, and validated solutions.
  • Discuss how you incorporate human-centered design principles into your work and how you use research data to inform your design decisions.
  • Explain your approach to creating wireframes, prototypes, and other design deliverables, and how you ensure they effectively communicate your design intent.

Company Culture Questions:

  • Research ServiceNow's values and recent product announcements, particularly those related to AI. Be prepared to discuss how your skills and experience align with their focus areas.
  • Think about examples of how you've collaborated effectively with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders in previous roles.
  • Be ready to discuss your experience working in agile environments and adapting to iterative development cycles.

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

  • Select 2-3 key case studies that best showcase your experience in enterprise design, complex problem-solving, and potentially AI integration or design system work.
  • For each case study, clearly articulate the problem you were trying to solve, your role in the project, the design process you followed, the final solution, and the measurable impact of your work.
  • Use visuals effectively to illustrate your process and deliverables, but focus on explaining the rationale behind your design decisions.
  • Practice presenting your portfolio concisely and engagingly, being prepared to answer questions about your choices and challenges faced.
📝 Enhancement Note: Given the seniority of the role and the company's focus, interviewers will likely be looking for candidates who can demonstrate strategic thinking, effective collaboration, and a proven ability to deliver impactful design solutions within a complex enterprise environment. Highlighting experience with AI, design systems, and leading design initiatives will be particularly valuable.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this design position:

  • Submit your application through this link
  • Customize your resume to highlight your experience in UI/UX design leadership, enterprise software, human-centered design, and any relevant experience with AI integration, using keywords found in the job description.
  • Prepare a compelling design portfolio showcasing case studies that demonstrate your end-to-end design process, problem-solving skills, and the impact of your work on released products.
  • Research ServiceNow's platform, design principles, and recent developments (especially regarding AI) to tailor your application and prepare for interviews.
  • Practice presenting your portfolio and discussing your design process, being ready to articulate your design decisions and collaborative approach.
⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and design industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.
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