📍 Job Overview
Job Title: UX/UI Designer
Company: San Manuel
Location: Highland, California, United States
Job Type: Full-Time
Category: UX/UI Design, Product Design
Date Posted: 2025-06-11T00:00:00
Experience Level: Mid-Level (4+ years)
Remote Status: On-site
🎨 Role Summary
- Drive the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design for custom developed software solutions, ensuring alignment with best practices and diverse user needs within the enterprise.
- Collaborate closely with Product Management, Software Engineering, and business stakeholders to define and implement best-in-class UX models for multiple unique solutions.
- Responsible for creating essential design artifacts including interaction models, wireframes, and prototypes for both mobile and web client solutions, supporting various product development initiatives.
- Ensure the long-term usability and relevance of products by integrating the latest design approaches and UX practices, enhancing solutions for the enterprise's diverse user base.
🖼️ Primary Responsibilities
- Produce comprehensive product designs and articulate the user experience vision for in-house custom development projects through close collaboration with Product Management, Software Engineering, enterprise stakeholders, and end-users.
- Develop detailed interaction models, wireframes, and interactive prototypes for proposed software solutions and feature enhancements, supporting both mobile and web client platforms across multiple product development tracks.
- Clearly and effectively communicate user experience designs to internal business units, providing strong justification for design decisions based on user needs and business goals.
- Actively participate in backlog grooming sessions with the Development Studio and Product Management teams to ensure design and user experience requirements are thoroughly understood and accurately implemented during development sprints.
- Provide timely clarification and support to development studios during sprints, maintaining a deep understanding of solution designs throughout the development lifecycle of each release.
- Stay current with the latest design and user experience best practices, trends, and emerging technologies to continuously enhance the quality and effectiveness of custom solutions.
- Facilitate and participate in focus groups with stakeholders and customers to gather user feedback, validate design concepts, and inform design decisions.
- Perform other assigned duties as necessary to contribute to the efficient operation and success of the Product & Design department.
🎓 Skills & Qualifications
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Software Design, or a related field is required. Relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
Experience: A minimum of four (4) years of experience in software design is required. One (1) year of experience specifically with Mobile Application, Web Interface, or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Dashboard designs is preferred. A strong portfolio demonstrating experience in these areas is essential for showcasing relevant design expertise.
Required Skills:
- Solid understanding and application of user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design best practices for custom software solutions.
- Proficiency in creating interaction models, wireframes, and prototypes for mobile and web applications.
- Strong verbal, written, and presentation skills for effectively articulating design decisions and user experience concepts to diverse audiences.
- Ability to deconstruct complex business and user requirements into clear, actionable design specifications.
- Experience collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams, including Product Management, Software Engineering, and business stakeholders.
- Knowledge of software development processes, particularly agile methodologies like Scrum (given the mention of sprints and backlog grooming).
- Proficiency in design and prototyping tools (specific tools are not listed, but industry standards such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, InVision are likely expected).
- Experience conducting or participating in user research activities, such as focus groups.
Preferred Skills:
- Experience designing for the hospitality or gaming industry, understanding the unique user needs and operational workflows within this sector.
- Familiarity with designing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) dashboards and enterprise-level applications.
- Experience with design systems and maintaining consistent UI patterns across multiple products.
- Knowledge of accessibility standards (WCAG) and designing for inclusive experiences.
🎨 Portfolio & Creative Requirements
Portfolio Essentials:
- Your design portfolio should prominently feature case studies of custom software development projects, particularly those involving mobile applications, web interfaces, or CRM dashboards, if you have experience in those areas.
- Each case study should clearly articulate the design problem you were solving, your design process, the solutions you developed (including wireframes, prototypes, and final UI), and the impact of your design decisions (e.g., improved usability, efficiency).
- Include examples of interaction models and user flows that demonstrate your understanding of user journeys and system interactions.
- Showcase your visual design skills through examples of final UI designs that are clean, intuitive, and align with modern design principles.
Process Documentation:
- Document your design process from initial research and requirements gathering through ideation, prototyping, testing, and iteration.
- Include details on how you collaborated with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders throughout the design lifecycle.
- If applicable, describe your approach to user research methods, such as conducting or participating in focus groups, and how user feedback influenced your design decisions.
💵 Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: Based on industry data for UX/UI Designer roles with 4+ years of experience in the Highland, California area, a typical salary range could be between $80,000 and $120,000 annually. This range can vary significantly based on the candidate's specific experience, skills, and the scope of the role within San Manuel. Research sources like Glassdoor, Salary.com, and LinkedIn Salary were consulted, adjusted for the specific location and experience level. The hospitality/gaming industry context in Southern California also influences this estimate.
Benefits:
- Comprehensive health insurance plans (Medical, Dental, Vision) are typically offered by large employers like San Manuel.
- Retirement savings plans (e.g., 401k) with potential company match are common benefits.
- Paid time off, including vacation, sick leave, and holidays.
- Opportunities for professional development and training to stay current with design best practices and tools.
- Potential employee discounts or perks related to the hospitality and gaming industry.
Working Hours: This is a full-time position, likely requiring standard business hours, although the nature of the hospitality industry may sometimes necessitate flexibility or occasional work during evenings or weekends, especially when supporting product releases or critical deadlines. The physical requirements mention potential evening, weekend, and holiday shifts, which could apply depending on project needs within the Product Development team supporting enterprise operations.
🎯Team & Company Context
🏢 Company & Design Culture
Industry: Hospitality / Gaming. San Manuel operates Yaamava' Resort & Casino, a major player in the Southern California entertainment and gaming industry. This context implies a fast-paced environment focused on guest experience and operational efficiency, which will influence the types of custom software solutions the design team develops.
Company Size: San Manuel is a large employer with over 5,000 employees according to LinkedIn. Working within a large organization means potentially collaborating with numerous departments and stakeholders across the enterprise, requiring strong communication and organizational skills from designers.
Founded: Yaamava' Resort & Casino at San Manuel has a history dating back to 1986. This long-standing presence suggests a stable organization with established processes, but also potentially ongoing initiatives to modernize and innovate their technology solutions.
Team Structure:
- The role reports to the Manager, Product & Design, indicating a dedicated design and product function within the organization.
- The design team works closely with Product Management and Software Engineering within a "Product Development team," suggesting a collaborative and integrated approach to product building.
- Collaboration with "various enterprise stakeholder groups" is a key aspect, highlighting the need for effective communication and the ability to gather requirements from non-design professionals.
Methodology:
- The mention of working with "Development Studios during sprints" strongly suggests an Agile development methodology, likely Scrum or a similar framework, is used by the product development teams.
- The focus on "backlog grooming" further supports the use of Agile practices, where designers contribute to defining and refining work for development sprints.
- The emphasis on user research through "focus groups" indicates a commitment to a user-centered design process that informs product development.
Company Website: https://www.sanmanuelcareers.com
📈 Career & Growth Analysis
Design Career Level: This role is positioned as a mid-level UX/UI Designer, requiring a minimum of four years of relevant experience. The responsibilities indicate a degree of autonomy in producing designs and articulating the user experience vision, while reporting to a manager suggests opportunities for guidance and mentorship.
Reporting Structure: Reporting to the Manager, Product & Design places this role within a dedicated design and product hierarchy. This structure typically offers a clear path for design career progression within the team or department.
Design Impact: The designer is responsible for the "user experience vision" and ensuring products are "enhanced with the latest approaches to design and user experience practices." This suggests the role has a direct impact on the usability, effectiveness, and lifecycle of custom software solutions used across the enterprise.
Growth Opportunities:
- Potential for growth into a Senior UX/UI Designer role, taking on more complex projects and potentially mentoring junior designers.
- Opportunities to specialize in specific areas of design, such as mobile UX, enterprise application design, or design systems.
- Advancement into design leadership or management positions within the growing Product & Design team.
- Exposure to designing for a large, diverse enterprise, which builds valuable experience for future roles.
🌐 Work Environment
Studio Type: The primary work environment is described as a "climate-controlled office setting," indicating a traditional corporate office environment. The nature of the hospitality industry means the office might be located within or near the resort/casino property.
Office Location(s): The primary location is Highland, California. The job description also mentions potential travel for meetings, trade shows, and conferences, suggesting some flexibility in work location may be required occasionally.
Design Workspace Context:
- The office setting likely provides dedicated workspace for design tasks, potentially with access to necessary hardware and software.
- Collaboration spaces for team meetings, brainstorming, and cross-functional collaboration are expected in a product development environment.
- Opportunities for interacting with the design team and other product development professionals in person are available in an on-site setting.
Work Schedule: The role is full-time. While generally standard business hours, the physical requirements and industry context suggest the possibility of needing to work some evenings, weekends, or holidays to support critical business or project needs. Endurance to sit, walk, and stand for extended periods is noted, which aligns with typical office work and potential travel.
📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process
Design Interview Process:
- Expect an initial screening call, likely with HR, to discuss your background, experience, and interest in the role, potentially touching upon your design experience.
- Subsequent interviews will likely involve the hiring manager (Manager, Product & Design) and members of the design and product development teams. Be prepared to discuss your design process, collaboration style, and experience with relevant projects.
- A portfolio review will be a critical part of the process. Be ready to walk through selected case studies in detail, explaining your rationale, challenges faced, and outcomes.
- A design exercise or challenge might be part of the process to assess your problem-solving skills and design approach under timed conditions.
- Final interviews may involve senior leadership or cross-functional stakeholders to assess cultural fit and your ability to collaborate across the enterprise.
Portfolio Review Tips:
- Curate your portfolio to highlight projects most relevant to custom software development, mobile/web interfaces, or CRM dashboards if you have such experience.
- For each case study, clearly explain the problem, your role, your process (research, ideation, prototyping, testing), your key design decisions, and the impact of your work. Quantify results where possible (e.g., "improved task completion time by X%").
- Be prepared to discuss the challenges you faced and how you overcame them, demonstrating your problem-solving skills and resilience.
- Showcase wireframes, prototypes, and final UI designs to illustrate your design thinking and visual execution.
- Practice presenting your case studies concisely and engagingly, focusing on storytelling and the "why" behind your design choices.
Challenge Preparation:
- If a design challenge is included, pay close attention to the prompt and requirements. Clarify any ambiguities before starting.
- Allocate your time wisely to cover all aspects of the challenge, from understanding the problem to presenting your solution.
- Focus on demonstrating your design process, not just the final output. Show your sketches, wireframes, and iterations.
- Be prepared to articulate your design rationale and defend your choices based on user needs and potential business impact.
ATS Keywords: UX Design, UI Design, User Experience, User Interface, Product Design, Software Design, Interaction Design, Wireframing, Prototyping, Usability Testing, User Research, Focus Groups, Agile, Scrum, Mobile Design, Web Design, CRM Design, Collaboration, Stakeholder Management, Communication, Presentation Skills, Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, InVision, Design Systems, Information Architecture, User Flows, Visual Design, Problem Solving, Design Thinking, Custom Software, Enterprise Software, Digital Products, Front-end Design, Backlog Grooming, Usability, Accessibility, Case Studies, Portfolio, Design Process.
🛠 Tools & Technology Stack
Primary Design Tools:
- While specific tools are not listed, proficiency in industry-standard design and prototyping software is expected. This likely includes tools like Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, or similar platforms used for creating wireframes, interactive prototypes, and high-fidelity UI designs.
- Experience with tools that facilitate collaboration and handoff with engineering teams is also crucial, such as Zeplin, Avocode, or built-in features within primary design tools.
Collaboration & Handoff:
- Tools for project management and collaboration within an Agile framework are likely used, such as Jira, Asana, or Trello. Designers will need to interact with these platforms for backlog grooming and sprint management.
- Communication tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or similar platforms will be used for daily interaction with the design team, product managers, and engineers.
- Version control systems for design assets might be in place, potentially integrated with design tools or using platforms like Abstract.
Research & Testing:
- Tools or methods for conducting user research, including facilitating focus groups, are relevant. This could involve survey platforms, remote testing tools, or simply effective methods for documenting and synthesizing qualitative feedback.
- Analytics platforms may be used to inform design decisions and measure the impact of implemented designs on user behavior.
👥 Team Culture & Values
Design Values:
- Given the context of a large hospitality/gaming enterprise, design values likely emphasize creating intuitive and efficient experiences for both internal users (employees) and potentially external users (guests accessing digital services).
- A focus on user-centered design is implied by the mention of working with intended users and participating in focus groups.
- Collaboration and communication are likely highly valued, given the need to work closely with Product Management, Engineering, and various enterprise stakeholders.
- Adaptability and a willingness to learn and apply new design best practices are important for enhancing the "useful lifecycle" of products.
Collaboration Style:
- Collaboration is expected to be cross-functional, working closely with product managers to define requirements and with engineers during development sprints.
- Participation in backlog grooming suggests a collaborative approach to planning and prioritizing design work within the development process.
- Communication with stakeholders is a key aspect, requiring the ability to effectively articulate design concepts and rationale to non-designers.
- A collaborative approach to design critique and feedback within the design team is likely part of the culture.
⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities
Design Challenges:
- Designing for a diverse user base within a large enterprise in the hospitality/gaming industry can present complex challenges related to varying technical proficiency, accessibility needs, and specific operational workflows.
- Balancing user needs with business requirements and technical constraints within custom software development projects.
- Navigating the complexities of a large organization, including managing feedback from multiple stakeholders and aligning design decisions with overarching enterprise strategies.
- Staying current with rapidly evolving design best practices, tools, and technologies to ensure the "useful lifecycle" of products.
Learning & Development Opportunities:
- Opportunity to deepen expertise in designing for enterprise-level applications within a specific industry context (hospitality/gaming).
- Gain significant experience collaborating with large, cross-functional product development teams operating within an Agile methodology.
- Develop skills in conducting and leveraging user research, specifically through methods like focus groups.
- Potential for professional development funding or time to attend industry conferences, workshops, or online courses to enhance design skills and knowledge.
💡 Interview Preparation
Design Process Questions:
- Be prepared to describe your end-to-end design process for a custom software project, from understanding the initial problem to delivering final designs for development. Use examples from your portfolio.
- Discuss how you approach gathering and interpreting user requirements and feedback, particularly how you might conduct or utilize insights from focus groups.
- Explain your approach to creating wireframes and prototypes, and how you use them to test and validate design concepts with stakeholders and users.
- Describe a time you faced a significant design challenge on a project and how you addressed it, demonstrating your problem-solving skills and adaptability.
Company Culture Questions:
- Research San Manuel and the hospitality/gaming industry. Be ready to discuss why you are interested in designing for this specific environment and the unique challenges or opportunities it presents for UX/UI design.
- Ask questions about the design team's structure, how they collaborate with product management and engineering, and what their design critique process is like.
- Inquire about typical project timelines and how design work fits into the overall Agile development sprints.
Portfolio Presentation Strategy:
- Select 2-3 projects that best showcase your experience in custom software, mobile/web interfaces, or CRM dashboards, and that highlight your design process and collaboration skills.
- Structure your presentation using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for each case study, focusing on the problem, your role, the steps you took, and the outcome of your design work.
- Be ready to articulate your design decisions clearly and concisely, explaining the rationale behind your choices based on user needs, business goals, and design principles.
📌 Application Steps
To apply for this design position:
- Submit your application through this link.
- Tailor your resume to highlight your relevant experience in UX/UI design, custom software development, and collaboration with cross-functional teams. Use keywords from the ATS list provided above.
- Prepare a cover letter that expresses your specific interest in designing for San Manuel and the hospitality/gaming industry, and briefly outlines how your skills and experience align with the requirements of the role.
- Ensure your online portfolio is up-to-date, easily accessible, and features case studies demonstrating your design process and relevant project experience.