Lead UX Designer (Remote)

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Lead UX Designer

Company: Jobgether (Partner Company)

Location: Michigan, United States

Job Type: Full-time

Category: UX/Product Design Operations

Date Posted: May 03, 2026

Experience Level: 10+ Years

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead end-to-end UX design strategy and execution for post-login portal experiences across multiple digital properties.

• Drive user-centered design decisions from customer problem identification through to high-fidelity deliverables, including journey mapping and interaction design.

• Contribute to and author reusable components and interaction patterns within a modern design system, elevating design standards.

• Foster a collaborative environment by mentoring fellow designers and leading design critique sessions to ensure high-quality, consistent user experiences.

• Partner closely with Product Managers and engineering teams in an agile setting to deliver intuitive and engaging experiences that support small business growth.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "Lead UX Designer," the responsibilities, especially "Own UX design end-to-end for portal surfaces" and "Lead design critique sessions," suggest a senior individual contributor role with significant influence and potential mentorship, rather than a direct management position. The emphasis on "design system" and "systems thinking" points towards a strong focus on scalable and consistent design operations.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Own the complete UX design lifecycle for portal surfaces, ensuring seamless post-login user journeys and intuitive navigation across diverse digital platforms.

• Translate complex customer problems and business objectives into actionable design solutions, employing journey mapping, wireframing, prototyping, and interaction design.

• Drive the evolution and adoption of the design system by creating new, reusable components and documenting interaction patterns for broader team utilization and efficiency.

• Collaborate strategically with Product Management to validate design hypotheses, ensure alignment with customer needs, and define measurable design outcomes.

• Facilitate and lead regular design critique sessions, providing constructive feedback to elevate the overall quality and consistency of design work across the team.

• Partner closely with engineering teams to ensure accurate implementation of designs, championing best practices in user experience and accessibility.

• Ensure all designed experiences adhere to established accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG) and maintain strict compliance with the company's design system guidelines.

• Mentor junior and mid-level designers, sharing expertise in UX methodologies, design thinking, and effective communication of design rationale.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities emphasize ownership, strategic collaboration, and contribution to design operations through the design system and mentorship. This indicates a need for a candidate who can not only execute design but also influence and standardize design practices within the organization.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience: 10+ years of professional experience in UX design, product design, or a closely related role, with a proven track record of designing complex SaaS products.

Required Skills:

• Proven expertise in end-to-end UX design for complex SaaS products, with a strong portfolio showcasing post-login experiences and user journey optimization.

• Deep understanding and hands-on experience with modern design system tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD) and methodologies for component creation and pattern documentation.

• Strong systems thinking capabilities, focusing on scalable design patterns and their impact on user workflows rather than isolated UI elements.

• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with Product Managers and engineering teams within an agile development environment.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions, rationale, and user insights to senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.

• Proficiency in user research methodologies, usability testing, and data analysis to inform design decisions and validate outcomes.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience leading design initiatives or mentoring other designers.

• Familiarity with front-end development principles (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) to better facilitate collaboration with engineering.

• Experience with A/B testing and data-driven optimization of user interfaces.

• Knowledge of accessibility best practices and standards (e.g., WCAG 2.1 AA).

📝 Enhancement Note: The "10+ years" requirement specifically for "complex SaaS product surfaces" and the emphasis on "systems thinking" and "design system tools" strongly suggest a need for a senior designer with experience in building and maintaining scalable design infrastructure, not just individual feature design.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio demonstrating a minimum of 10 years of UX and product design experience, with a significant focus on complex SaaS product surfaces.

• Case studies that clearly articulate the problem, your role, the design process (including journey mapping, interaction design, and high-fidelity deliverables), and the measurable outcomes achieved.

• Examples showcasing your contribution to or creation of design systems, including reusable components, design patterns, and their impact on design consistency and efficiency.

• Demonstrations of strong systems thinking, illustrating how you approach design problems from a holistic, interconnected perspective rather than isolated UI elements.

Process Documentation:

• Showcase examples of how you document design processes, including user research findings, design rationale, and interaction specifications.

• Illustrate your approach to contributing to and maintaining design system documentation, emphasizing clarity and reusability.

• Provide examples of how you have applied design thinking and user-centered methodologies to solve complex product challenges and drive business goals.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a senior role like this, the portfolio is critical. It must go beyond showcasing visual design and demonstrate strategic thinking, process ownership, and the ability to contribute to the operational backbone of design through design systems and mentorship.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Given the 10+ years of experience requirement, the "Lead UX Designer" title, and the fully remote nature for a US-based role (Michigan), a competitive salary range is estimated. For a Lead UX Designer in Michigan with extensive experience, the typical annual salary can range from $130,000 to $180,000 USD. This estimate is based on industry benchmarks for senior UX/Product Designers in comparable US markets, considering the tech industry's compensation trends and the specialized nature of SaaS product design.

Benefits:

• Work-life balance: Emphasis on promoting overall well-being, suggesting flexible work arrangements and reasonable workloads.

• Diversity and Inclusion: Programs and initiatives fostered to create a culture of belonging and equitable opportunities.

• Comprehensive Health Insurance: Full medical, dental, and vision coverage, including Health Savings Account (HSA) options.

• Retirement Savings: 401K matching program to support long-term financial planning.

• Financial Security: Life insurance coverage.

• Generous Time Off: Ample vacation policies to encourage rest and rejuvenation.

• Professional Development: Opportunities for continuous learning, career advancement, and skill enhancement through mentorship programs.

• Networking & Support: Access to diverse affinity groups for professional networking and mutual support.

Working Hours: The standard full-time work week is typically 40 hours. Given the remote nature and emphasis on work-life balance, there may be flexibility in daily scheduling, provided core collaboration hours are met.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary is not provided, so an estimate has been made based on the role's seniority, location, and industry. The benefits are comprehensive and typical for a US-based tech company, with a specific mention of HSA and 401K matching.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology, specifically focused on supporting small business growth online, likely within the web hosting, SaaS, or digital services sector.

Company Size: As Jobgether is facilitating the hiring for a partner company, the exact size isn't specified. However, the structure implies a growing company that requires specialized roles like a Lead UX Designer and values structured processes (design systems, critique sessions). It's likely a mid-sized to large tech organization.

Founded: The founding date of the partner company is not provided. Jobgether itself is a platform focused on modern hiring processes.

Team Structure:

• The UX team likely consists of several designers, with this role acting as a senior individual contributor and potential mentor, rather than a direct manager.

• The Lead UX Designer will report to a design lead, Head of Product, or similar senior role.

Methodology:

• Design Thinking & User-Centricity: The role emphasizes understanding customer problems and delivering intuitive experiences.

• Agile Development: Work is conducted in an agile environment, requiring iterative design and close collaboration with development sprints.

• Design System & Standardization: A significant focus on building and maintaining a design system for consistency and efficiency across products.

• Data-Driven Decisions: Designs are expected to be grounded in customer problems and measurable outcomes, implying the use of analytics and user feedback.

Company Website: [Jobgether Partner Company Website - To be confirmed by applicant]

📝 Enhancement Note: Information about the partner company is limited, so inferences are made based on the job description's focus on SMB growth and the role of UX/Product Design. Jobgether's role as an AI-powered matching platform is also noted.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role represents a senior individual contributor (IC) path within the UX/Product Design discipline. It's a "Lead" position, signifying a high level of expertise, ownership, and influence. The focus is on driving design strategy, raising quality standards, and contributing to design operations (via the design system and mentorship) rather than people management. It's a critical role for shaping the user experience and ensuring design scalability.

Reporting Structure: The Lead UX Designer will likely report to a Director of Product Design, Head of Product, or a similar senior leadership role overseeing product development. They will be a key voice within the product team, influencing design direction and strategy.

Operations Impact: The Lead UX Designer's impact is directly tied to the usability, efficiency, and engagement of the company's digital products, particularly the post-login portal experiences. By ensuring intuitive user experiences and fostering design consistency through the design system, this role directly contributes to:

• Increased user adoption and retention.

• Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.

• Enhanced efficiency for small businesses using the platform.

• Reduced development rework due to clear design specifications and a robust design system.

Growth Opportunities:

• Design Leadership: Transition into a formal management role (e.g., Design Manager) if desired, overseeing a team of designers.

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in specific areas like design systems, UX research, or interaction design.

• Strategic Influence: Become a key contributor to product strategy and roadmap planning, influencing the direction of multiple digital products.

• Cross-Functional Mobility: Develop skills that could lead to roles in Product Management or broader GTM strategy roles, leveraging a deep understanding of user needs and product development.

• Mentorship & Training: Formalize mentorship responsibilities and potentially lead training initiatives for design and product teams.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Lead" title in this context emphasizes senior expertise and influence over direct people management, aligning with an individual contributor career path common in senior design roles.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully Remote. This means candidates can work from their home office or any suitable remote location within the specified region (Michigan, United States).

Office Location(s): While the role is remote, the requirement for candidates to be based in Michigan, United States, suggests a regional focus for talent acquisition, potentially for timezone alignment or specific legal/tax considerations.

Workspace Context:

• Flexibility: The remote nature offers significant flexibility in managing one's workday, promoting a healthy work-life balance.

• Collaboration Tools: Expect extensive use of digital collaboration tools (e.g., Slack, Zoom, Miro, Figma) for communication, brainstorming, and design reviews.

• Independent Work: A high degree of autonomy and self-direction is expected, requiring strong time management and self-discipline.

• Team Interaction: Despite being remote, emphasis is placed on "collaborate cross-functionally" and "lead design critique sessions," indicating structured opportunities for team interaction and feedback.

Work Schedule: Typically a 40-hour work week. While specific hours may be flexible, candidates should be prepared to align with core business hours for team collaboration and meetings, particularly given the remote nature across timezones within the US.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Remote Solely" status with a specific US region (Michigan) implies a need for candidates to be physically located within Michigan for compliance or practical reasons, despite the remote work arrangement.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Likely an AI-driven or recruiter screening to assess basic qualifications and fit against core requirements. Jobgether's AI matching process will be a key part of this.

• Portfolio Review & Design Challenge: A critical stage where candidates present their portfolio, discussing case studies, design process, and impact. A design challenge focused on a complex SaaS problem or a component within a design system may be administered.

• Cross-functional Interviews: Meetings with Product Managers and Engineering leads to assess collaboration style, technical understanding, and ability to translate design into functional products.

• Leadership Interview: A final interview with senior leadership (e.g., Head of Product, VP of Engineering) to evaluate strategic thinking, leadership potential, and cultural fit.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly outline the problem statement, your specific role and contributions, the design process undertaken (research, ideation, prototyping, testing), key decisions made, and the quantifiable impact of your work.

• Highlight Systems Thinking: Explicitly demonstrate how you approach design problems with a focus on patterns, scalability, and the interconnectedness of user flows, especially in relation to design systems.

• Showcase Design System Contributions: If you have experience building or contributing to design systems, dedicate specific examples to illustrate component design, pattern documentation, and how it improved efficiency or consistency.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs (e.g., increased conversion rates, reduced task completion time, improved user satisfaction scores).

• Present Process, Not Just Pixels: Emphasize the "why" behind your design decisions, showcasing your strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, not just the final visual output.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: If a design challenge is given, thoroughly research the company's products, target audience (SMBs), and competitive landscape.

• Focus on Process: Demonstrate a structured approach to the challenge, outlining your steps for understanding the problem, defining requirements, ideating solutions, and iterating based on potential feedback.

• Design System Awareness: Consider how your proposed solutions could integrate with or extend an existing design system, showcasing your understanding of scalable design.

• Communicate Clearly: Practice articulating your thought process, design rationale, and any assumptions you make during the challenge.

📝 Enhancement Note: Jobgether's AI matching process is highlighted. The portfolio review is emphasized as a key step, requiring candidates to showcase systems thinking and design system contributions, not just UI aesthetics.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (highly probable given modern design system focus), Sketch, Adobe XD.

• Collaboration & Communication: Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace.

• Project Management: Jira, Asana, Trello, or similar agile project management tools.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Product Analytics: Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, Pendo, or similar platforms for tracking user behavior and product performance.

• Reporting Dashboards: Tableau, Power BI, Looker, or internal tools for visualizing key metrics and design impact.

CRM & Automation:

• While not directly a CRM role, familiarity with how design impacts CRM data or user onboarding within a CRM context might be beneficial.

• Understanding of A/B testing platforms (e.g., Optimizely, VWO) for design validation.

📝 Enhancement Note: Based on the emphasis on design systems and SaaS products, Figma is a very likely primary tool. Analytics tools are crucial for demonstrating the impact of UX design.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and serving the needs of small business users.

• Excellence & Quality: Striving for high standards in design execution, user experience, and product reliability.

• Collaboration & Teamwork: Fostering an environment where cross-functional teams work together effectively to achieve common goals.

• Innovation & Growth: Encouraging new ideas and continuous improvement to support small business growth and company evolution.

• Inclusivity & Belonging: Promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace where all employees feel valued and respected.

Collaboration Style:

• Partnership: Working closely with Product Managers to define strategy and with Engineering to ensure feasibility and quality implementation.

• Constructive Feedback: A culture that embraces design critiques as a tool for mutual improvement and elevating the collective output.

• Knowledge Sharing: Encouraging the sharing of best practices, design patterns, and learnings across the design team and with other departments.

• Data-Informed: Decisions are expected to be supported by user research, analytics, and performance metrics, rather than solely intuition.

📝 Enhancement Note: The values are inferred from the company's mission (supporting SMB growth), the role's responsibilities (collaboration, mentoring), and the provided benefits (diversity, inclusion).

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Scalability and Specificity: Designing for a diverse range of SMB needs while maintaining a consistent and scalable design system.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Ensuring buy-in and effective collaboration across Product, Engineering, and potentially Marketing/Sales on design decisions and priorities.

• Measuring Design Impact: Clearly defining and attributing business outcomes (e.g., user growth, retention) to specific UX design initiatives.

• Evolving Design Standards: Keeping pace with the latest UX trends, technologies, and user expectations within the SaaS and SMB market.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Design System Mastery: Becoming an expert in building, scaling, and governing complex design systems.

• Strategic Product Influence: Gaining deeper insights into product strategy and contributing to high-level roadmap planning.

• Mentorship & Leadership Skills: Developing leadership capabilities through mentoring junior designers and potentially leading design initiatives.

• Industry Trends: Staying abreast of emerging UX/UI technologies, methodologies, and best practices relevant to SaaS and SMB platforms.

📝 Enhancement Note: Challenges are framed around the typical complexities of senior design roles in tech, especially those involving design systems and cross-functional collaboration.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe your approach to owning the end-to-end UX design for a complex SaaS portal. How do you ensure user needs are met while aligning with business goals and technical constraints?" (Preparation: Focus on your process, example case studies, and how you balance competing priorities.)

• "How do you contribute to and leverage design systems? Can you walk us through a time you authored a reusable component or interaction pattern and its impact?" (Preparation: Be ready to discuss your philosophy on design systems, show portfolio examples, and quantify benefits.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about designing for small business growth online and specifically for our partner company's products?" (Preparation: Research Jobgether's mission and any publicly available information about the partner company, and connect it to your passion for user advocacy.)

• "How do you collaborate with Product Managers and Engineers in an agile environment? Provide an example of a successful cross-functional partnership." (Preparation: Highlight your communication skills, understanding of agile methodologies, and examples of teamwork.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Tell a Story: Structure your portfolio presentation around compelling narratives for 2-3 key projects that best represent your skills and experience.

• Focus on Impact: Clearly articulate the problem, your role, your process, the solutions you designed, and the measurable results. Use data whenever possible.

• Showcase Systems Thinking: Explicitly call out instances where you applied systems thinking, designed reusable patterns, or contributed to a design system.

• Be Prepared for Deep Dives: Anticipate questions about your design decisions, trade-offs, and how you handled challenges.

• Demonstrate Leadership Potential: Highlight instances of mentorship, leading initiatives, or influencing design direction.

📝 Enhancement Note: Questions are tailored to the specific responsibilities and required skills, with an emphasis on design systems, collaboration, and impact.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Lead UX Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on jobs.lever.co.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 of your strongest case studies that highlight complex SaaS product design, end-to-end UX ownership, and ideally, contributions to design systems or strong systems thinking. Prioritize projects with quantifiable results.

• Tailor Your Resume: Ensure your resume clearly outlines your 10+ years of experience, emphasizing your expertise in UX/product design for SaaS, design systems, and cross-functional collaboration. Use keywords from the job description.

• Prepare Your Presentation: Practice presenting your portfolio case studies, focusing on your process, strategic thinking, and the impact of your work. Be ready to discuss your approach to mentorship and design critique.

• Research the Company: Investigate Jobgether and any available information on their partner companies to understand their mission, target audience (SMBs), and products. This will help you tailor your responses and demonstrate genuine interest.

⚠️ 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.

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