Lead UX Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead UX Designer

Company: Zenoti

Location: Hyderabad, Telangana, India

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: User Experience (UX) Design

Date Posted: December 24, 2025

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (implied by "Lead" and 5-10 years AI experience)

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead and execute end-to-end user research initiatives, including interviews, usability studies, and journey mapping, to uncover critical user needs and identify key opportunity areas.

• Translate complex research findings into actionable insights, user personas, and prioritized product problems that inform strategic design decisions.

• Design intuitive user flows, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and robust interaction models that enhance the overall user experience of Zenoti's cloud-based software.

• Collaborate closely with Product Management and Engineering teams to shape product requirements, ensuring solutions are grounded in user behavior and business objectives.

• Drive a user-centric and data-informed design process, utilizing AI tools for accelerated ideation, rapid exploration, and synthesis of design concepts.

• Champion a culture of continuous improvement by running usability tests, measuring experience outcomes, and iteratively refining features post-launch.

📝 Enhancement Note: The job title "Lead UX Designer" and the emphasis on "end-to-end user research," "design flows, wireframes, prototypes," and "working closely with PM + Eng" strongly indicate a role focused on strategic UX design leadership and execution within a product development lifecycle. The AI-native mindset requirement suggests a modern, forward-thinking approach to design processes.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• User Research Leadership: Spearhead the planning, execution, and synthesis of comprehensive user research, utilizing qualitative and quantitative methods such as user interviews, usability testing, surveys, and ethnographic studies to gather deep user insights.

• Insight Translation & Strategy: Convert raw research data into clear, compelling user needs, pain points, and prioritized opportunity areas, effectively communicating these findings to cross-functional teams to influence product strategy and roadmap.

• Information Architecture & Interaction Design: Develop detailed user flows, task models, wireframes, and interactive prototypes that clearly articulate the intended user journey and interaction patterns for new and existing features.

• Product Collaboration & Requirements Definition: Partner with Product Managers and Engineering leads to define and refine product requirements, ensuring that design solutions are technically feasible, strategically aligned, and deeply rooted in user behavior.

• Design Validation & Iteration: Plan and execute usability testing sessions to validate design concepts and measure the impact of implemented features, using feedback to drive iterative improvements and optimize user experience outcomes.

• Cross-Functional Design Partnership: Collaborate effectively with visual designers, content strategists, and software engineers to ensure the seamless translation of design specifications into high-quality, implementable product experiences.

• Metrics-Driven Design Ownership: Co-own key success metrics for designed features, continuously monitoring performance post-launch and leveraging data analytics to inform ongoing design refinements and user experience enhancements.

• AI-Augmented Design Exploration: Leverage AI-native tools and methodologies for rapid ideation, concept exploration, and design synthesis, accelerating the design process while maintaining a high bar for quality and innovation.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities listed are typical for a lead-level UX Designer, emphasizing ownership, strategic contribution, and cross-functional leadership. The inclusion of "AI-native mindset" and "AI tools" suggests a focus on leveraging emerging technologies within the design workflow.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Design, Psychology, Computer Science, or a related field is typically expected for a Lead UX Designer role.

Experience: 5-10 years of progressive experience in User Experience (UX) design, with a proven track record of leading design initiatives from concept to launch.

Required Skills:

• Interaction Design Foundation: Strong proficiency in designing user flows, wireframes, task models, and interactive prototypes that effectively communicate design intent and user journeys.

• User Research Expertise: Demonstrated ability to independently plan, conduct, and synthesize user research, including user interviews, usability studies, surveys, and behavioral insights analysis.

• AI-Native Mindset: Natural and effective use of AI tools for ideation, rapid design exploration, synthesis of research findings, and overall creative acceleration.

• Modern Design Tooling Fluency: Proficient with industry-standard design and prototyping tools such as Figma (including AI add-ons), diagramming tools (e.g., Miro, Lucidchart), research analysis platforms, and prototyping software.

• Human-Centered Design Principles: Deep understanding of usability heuristics, accessibility standards (WCAG), mental models, and human-centered decision-making frameworks.

• Ambiguity Navigation: Ability to thrive in ambiguous environments, bringing structure, clarity, and forward progress to projects without requiring perfect or complete inputs.

• Communication & Storytelling: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate design decisions, influence stakeholders, and present research and design findings compellingly.

• Collaboration & Feedback: Proven ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, solicit constructive critique, and provide actionable feedback to peers.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience in the SaaS or enterprise software industry, particularly within the beauty and wellness sector.

• Familiarity with design system principles and implementation.

• Experience with A/B testing and data analysis to inform design iterations.

• A strong portfolio showcasing a range of UX design projects, research methodologies, and demonstrated impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "AI-native mindset" is a particularly unique and emphasized requirement, suggesting Zenoti is looking for designers who are early adopters and proficient users of AI in their creative process. The experience level is inferred from the "Lead" title and the breadth of responsibilities.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• End-to-End Case Studies: Showcase detailed case studies demonstrating the full UX lifecycle, from initial user research and problem definition through to final design solutions and post-launch iteration.

• Research Methodology Showcase: Clearly articulate the research methods employed, the insights derived, and how these insights directly informed design decisions and problem-solving.

• Design Artifacts: Include examples of user flows, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and final UI designs, illustrating your process and attention to detail.

• Impact & Metrics: Quantify the impact of your design work using relevant metrics (e.g., conversion rates, task completion times, user satisfaction scores) and demonstrate how you measured success.

• AI Tool Integration: Highlight instances where AI tools were used to accelerate research synthesis, ideation, or prototyping, explaining the benefits and outcomes.

Process Documentation:

• User-Centric Workflow Design: Demonstrate experience in mapping out user journeys and designing intuitive workflows that align with user needs and business objectives.

• Iterative Design and Testing: Provide examples of iterative design processes, including how usability testing and feedback loops were incorporated to refine solutions.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration Protocols: Illustrate how you have collaborated with product managers, engineers, and other stakeholders throughout the design and development process, ensuring alignment and effective communication.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the emphasis on user research, iterative design, and AI tools, a portfolio that clearly articulates these aspects with concrete examples will be highly valued. Demonstrating the ability to translate research into actionable design and measure impact is crucial.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: For a Lead UX Designer with 5-10 years of experience in Hyderabad, India, the estimated annual salary range is ₹1,800,000 to ₹3,500,000 (approximately $21,500 - $42,000 USD, subject to exchange rates). This range accounts for the lead responsibilities, specific skill requirements (including AI proficiency), and the Hyderabad cost of living and tech talent market.

Benefits:

• Competitive Compensation: Best in industry salary and equity in the company.

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical coverage provided for the employee and their immediate family.

• Holistic Wellbeing Programs: Access to regular yoga, meditation, breathwork, nutrition counseling, and stress management resources, with family inclusion for awareness sessions.

• Flexible Time Off: Unlimited vacation policy, encouraging a healthy work-life balance.

• Community Engagement: Opportunities to participate in social activities, community give-back initiatives, and regular engagement events.

Working Hours: Approximately 40 hours per week, with a focus on achieving project goals and maintaining flexibility where possible for effective design and analysis. The on-site nature implies standard business hours.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary is estimated based on industry benchmarks for Lead UX Designers in major Indian tech hubs like Hyderabad, considering the company's unicorn status and the specific skill requirements. Benefits are directly pulled from the provided text, highlighting their comprehensive nature.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Software (SaaS), Beauty & Wellness Technology. Zenoti operates in a rapidly growing tech sector, providing a critical all-in-one solution for businesses in the beauty and wellness industry. This means understanding the unique operational challenges and customer engagement needs of salons, spas, and fitness studios.

Company Size: Zenoti is a well-established company, having surpassed a $1 billion unicorn valuation and powering over 30,000 businesses globally. This indicates a mature organization with a robust product and significant market presence, likely employing several hundred to a few thousand employees.

Founded: While the founding year is not provided, Zenoti's significant growth and market penetration suggest it has been operating for several years, evolving from an early-stage startup to a market leader.

Team Structure:

• Product & Design Vertical: The Lead UX Designer will likely be part of a dedicated product development team, working within a larger Product organization that includes Product Managers, other UX/UI Designers, and potentially UX Researchers.

• Reporting Hierarchy: Typically, a Lead UX Designer would report to a Head of Product Design, Director of UX, or VP of Product, with direct collaboration across Product Management and Engineering teams.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Expect close collaboration with Product Managers to define product strategy, Engineers to ensure feasibility and quality implementation, and potentially Marketing and Customer Success teams to gather broader user feedback and market insights.

Methodology:

• User-Centric Design: A strong emphasis on understanding and designing for the user, as evidenced by the core responsibilities related to user research and usability testing.

• Agile Development: Likely operates within an agile or iterative development framework, requiring designers to be adaptable and responsive to changing requirements and feedback.

• Data-Informed Decisions: Encourages the use of data, including user research findings and performance metrics, to guide design decisions and product improvements.

• AI Integration: Actively exploring and integrating AI tools to enhance design processes, from ideation to synthesis.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: Zenoti's focus on the beauty and wellness industry means the product design must be visually appealing, user-friendly for a diverse range of business owners and staff, and highly functional for managing appointments, inventory, and customer relationships. The "unicorn" status suggests a dynamic, high-growth environment with significant resources.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a "Lead UX Designer," indicating a senior individual contributor role with significant autonomy and influence. It sits above mid-level UX Designers and is a stepping stone towards potential leadership roles such as Senior Lead UX Designer, Design Manager, or Head of UX. The role requires not only strong design execution but also the ability to guide research, influence product strategy, and mentor junior designers.

Reporting Structure: The Lead UX Designer will likely report to a Director-level or VP-level executive within the Product or Design organization. They will work in close partnership with Product Managers and Engineering leads for specific product initiatives, fostering a collaborative, cross-functional team dynamic.

Operations Impact: The Lead UX Designer will directly influence the usability, desirability, and effectiveness of Zenoti's core SaaS platform. By ensuring intuitive user experiences and solving complex user problems, they will contribute to increased customer adoption, retention, and satisfaction, which are critical drivers of revenue and business growth in a subscription-based software model. Their work directly impacts how businesses manage their operations and interact with their end customers.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Development: Opportunities to lead design initiatives, mentor junior designers, and potentially transition into management roles overseeing a UX team.

• Skill Specialization & Expansion: Deepen expertise in specific areas of UX, such as advanced user research methodologies, design systems, or leveraging AI for design innovation.

• Strategic Influence: Contribute to higher-level product strategy and roadmap planning, gaining exposure to business objectives and market dynamics.

• Industry Expertise: Develop a deep understanding of the beauty and wellness industry's technology needs, becoming a subject matter expert in a niche but growing market.

• Career Pathing: Potential progression to Senior Lead UX Designer, Design Manager, Director of UX, or similar senior leadership positions within Zenoti's product organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Lead" title signifies a crucial point in a UX designer's career, balancing hands-on design with strategic thinking and potential mentorship. The growth opportunities are geared towards both individual contribution excellence and leadership potential.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is designated as "On-site," indicating a traditional office-based work environment. This suggests a collaborative atmosphere where in-person interaction, brainstorming, and team cohesion are valued.

Office Location(s): The primary office location is Hyderabad, Telangana, India, a major technology hub. This location likely offers access to a vibrant tech community and talent pool.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Spaces: The office environment likely features dedicated spaces for team collaboration, brainstorming sessions, and design reviews, facilitating direct interaction with PMs, engineers, and fellow designers.

• Technology & Tools: Access to modern design software, hardware, and research tools necessary for executing UX design tasks, including potentially specialized AI-powered design platforms.

• Team Interaction: Regular opportunities for face-to-face meetings, design critiques, and informal discussions that foster a strong team culture and shared understanding of project goals.

Work Schedule: While specific hours aren't detailed, a full-time, on-site role typically adheres to standard business hours (e.g., 9 AM to 6 PM IST), with potential for flexibility based on project needs and company culture. The emphasis on "wellbeing" suggests a balance between productivity and personal time.

📝 Enhancement Note: An on-site role in a tech hub like Hyderabad suggests a dynamic, fast-paced environment with ample opportunities for in-person collaboration and professional networking within the company.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

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

• Portfolio Presentation & Design Challenge: Candidates will typically present their portfolio, walking through key case studies to demonstrate their design process, problem-solving skills, and impact. This may be followed by a design challenge (e.g., a take-home assignment or an in-person/virtual whiteboarding session) to evaluate practical skills.

• Cross-Functional Interviews: Interviews with Product Managers and Engineering leads to assess collaboration skills, technical understanding, and ability to work within a product team.

• Leadership/Final Interview: A final interview with a senior leader (e.g., Head of Design, VP of Product) to evaluate strategic thinking, leadership potential, and overall fit with Zenoti's culture and vision.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate for Impact: Select 3-5 of your strongest projects that best showcase your skills in user research, interaction design, and problem-solving, particularly those demonstrating leadership and AI tool integration.

• Tell a Story: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed (emphasizing research and iterative design), your design solutions, and—most importantly—the measurable impact and outcomes.

• Highlight AI Usage: Explicitly call out instances where you leveraged AI tools, explaining how they enhanced your process, accelerated outcomes, or led to novel solutions.

• Quantify Results: Whenever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs. If metrics are unavailable, explain the qualitative outcomes and user feedback.

• Be Prepared for Questions: Anticipate questions about your design decisions, trade-offs made, collaboration experiences, and how you handle ambiguity.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: If given a take-home challenge, thoroughly research Zenoti's product and target users to inform your approach.

• Focus on Process: For any design challenge, emphasize your thought process, research considerations, and how you would approach problem-solving, rather than just delivering a polished final output.

• Articulate Trade-offs: Be ready to discuss the trade-offs you made during the challenge and why, demonstrating critical thinking and strategic decision-making.

• Communicate Clearly: Practice articulating your ideas and solutions concisely and persuasively, as you would in a stakeholder meeting.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on AI tools in the requirements suggests that candidates should be prepared to discuss their experience with AI in design during portfolio reviews and interviews. Demonstrating how these tools were practically applied and their benefits will be key.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (with a focus on AI add-ons), Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop).

• Wireframing & Flow Tools: Balsamiq, Miro, Lucidchart, Whimsical.

• User Research & Analysis: UserTesting.com, Optimal Workshop, Dovetail, Google Analytics (for product insights), SurveyMonkey or similar for surveys.

• AI Design Tools: Specific AI tools for ideation, content generation, image creation, or workflow automation are expected, though not explicitly named. Candidates should highlight their proficiency with any relevant AI platforms.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics: Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, or similar platforms for tracking user behavior and feature adoption.

• Reporting Tools: Tableau, Power BI, or internal dashboards for visualizing key performance indicators (KPIs) and user metrics.

CRM & Automation:

• CRM: While not directly a UX tool, understanding how CRM systems (like Salesforce, HubSpot) integrate with product experiences can be beneficial.

• Collaboration & Project Management: Jira, Confluence, Asana, Trello for task tracking and project management.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of "Figma + AI add-ons" and "AI tools" highlights a critical requirement. Candidates should be prepared to discuss their proficiency and experience with AI-driven design tools.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Curiosity & Learning: A strong desire to learn and explore new technologies, design patterns, and user behaviors, fostering continuous professional development.

• User-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and advocating for the user, ensuring that design decisions are always grounded in user needs and experiences.

• Collaboration & Humility: A willingness to work collaboratively, share ideas openly, provide and receive constructive feedback, and approach challenges with a balanced perspective.

• Quality & Excellence: A dedication to producing high-quality design work, maintaining a high bar for user experience, and striving for elegant, effective solutions.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilizing research findings, analytics, and user feedback to inform design choices and measure the impact of implemented solutions.

• Embracing Ambiguity: The ability to navigate uncertainty, bring structure to undefined problems, and drive progress even when all information is not yet available.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Partnership: A proactive approach to working with Product Management and Engineering, ensuring alignment on vision, requirements, and implementation details.

• Iterative Feedback: An open and constructive exchange of feedback within the design team and with stakeholders to refine designs and improve overall quality.

• Knowledge Sharing: A culture that encourages sharing best practices, learnings from research, and innovative design approaches across the team.

• Community & Wellbeing: A supportive environment that values employee wellbeing, encourages community engagement, and fosters a positive work atmosphere.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company values emphasize a blend of individual drive, collaborative spirit, and a commitment to user-centered design, with a clear leaning towards embracing modern tools and approaches like AI.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Ambiguity: Zenoti is likely in a phase of continuous growth and product evolution, which can present ambiguous requirements and evolving priorities. The challenge is to bring structure and clarity to these situations.

• Balancing User Needs with Business Goals: Ensuring that user-centric design decisions align with and support the company's strategic business objectives and technical constraints.

• Integrating AI Effectively: Discovering and implementing AI tools and workflows that genuinely enhance the design process and deliver tangible benefits, rather than just adopting technology for its own sake.

• Scaling Design Processes: As the company grows, maintaining design quality and consistency across an expanding product suite and user base will be a significant challenge.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Ensuring consistent understanding and buy-in for design strategies and solutions across diverse teams (Product, Engineering, Marketing).

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced UX Research Techniques: Opportunities to deepen expertise in specialized research methods, potentially including generative AI for synthetic data or advanced qualitative analysis.

• AI in Design Workshops/Training: Access to learning resources and workshops focused on leveraging AI tools for design ideation, content creation, and workflow optimization.

• Product Strategy Contributions: Involvement in higher-level product planning and strategy discussions, gaining exposure to business impact and market dynamics.

• Mentorship and Leadership: Potential to mentor junior designers, lead design critiques, and develop leadership skills for future management roles.

• Industry Exposure: Gaining in-depth knowledge of the beauty and wellness tech sector, becoming a valuable specialist in this domain.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges highlight areas where a Lead UX Designer can demonstrate strategic thinking and problem-solving. The growth opportunities are tailored to advancing UX expertise, particularly in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI-assisted design.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you led a significant UX research initiative. What were your key findings, and how did they directly influence product decisions?" (Focus on research methodology, insight translation, and impact.)

• "How do you approach designing for complex or ambiguous requirements? Walk us through your process for bringing clarity and structure to such situations." (Emphasize your problem-solving framework and ability to navigate uncertainty.)

• "Can you share an example of how you've used AI tools in your design process? What was the problem, how did you use AI, and what was the outcome?" (Highlight practical application of AI and its benefits.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What excites you about Zenoti's mission and the beauty/wellness industry?" (Demonstrate research into the company and industry positioning.)

• "How do you approach giving and receiving feedback within a design team and with cross-functional partners?" (Showcase your collaborative mindset and humility.)

• "Describe your ideal work environment for fostering creativity and innovation in UX design." (Align your preferences with Zenoti's stated values and culture.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure for Clarity: Begin with a brief overview of your role and the project's context. Dedicate sections to Problem Definition, Research & Insights, Design Process (including AI tool usage), Solutions, and Impact/Outcomes.

• Visual Storytelling: Use clear, high-fidelity visuals of your designs, flows, and research artifacts. Ensure your presentation flows logically and is easy to follow.

• Focus on 'Why' and 'How': Explain the rationale behind your design decisions and the methods you employed, rather than just showing the final product.

• Quantify Impact: Present metrics and data that demonstrate the positive outcomes of your work. If quantitative data is unavailable, discuss qualitative feedback and user sentiment.

• Highlight AI Integration: Explicitly call out where and how AI tools were used, detailing the benefits they brought to the process (e.g., speed, breadth of ideas, synthesis efficiency).

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should be prepared to discuss their experience with AI tools in detail, as this is a key differentiator. Demonstrating how they translate research into actionable design and measure impact will be critical for success.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead UX Designer position at Zenoti:

• Submit your application through the provided Greenhouse link.

• Tailor Your Resume: Highlight experience in SaaS design, user research, interaction design, and any specific AI tools you've utilized. Quantify achievements wherever possible.

• Prepare Your Portfolio: Select 3-5 strong case studies that demonstrate your end-to-end UX process, research capabilities, AI tool integration, and measurable impact. Ensure it is easily accessible and professionally presented.

• Research Zenoti: Understand Zenoti's product offering, target market (beauty and wellness businesses), and recent company news to inform your application and interview responses.

• Practice Your Presentation: Rehearse presenting your portfolio case studies, focusing on clear storytelling, articulating your design process, and highlighting the impact of your work, especially any AI-driven successes.

• Prepare for Design Challenges: Be ready for potential design exercises that test your problem-solving, ideation, and rapid prototyping skills.

⚠️ 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.