Senior UX Designer - Vice President

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior UX Designer - Vice President

Company: Morgan Stanley

Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: UX Design / Product Design (GTM Operations Support)

Date Posted: January 16, 2026

Experience Level: 7-8 years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Strategic leadership in user-centered design to enhance critical Wealth Management product ecosystems.

• Drive design initiatives for complex system migrations, particularly from legacy systems to Salesforce, ensuring seamless user experiences.

• Collaborate closely with research teams to translate qualitative and quantitative data into actionable, value-driven design decisions that align with overarching business objectives.

• Develop holistic and cohesive UX solutions that integrate effectively within a sophisticated financial services product suite.

📝 Enhancement Note: The title "Vice President" alongside "Senior UX Designer" indicates a significant leadership and strategic component to this role, implying a need for not only design expertise but also the ability to influence and drive design strategy within a large financial institution. The focus on Salesforce migration and Wealth Management products suggests a role deeply embedded within GTM (Go-To-Market) enablement and client-facing technology.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead the design process for migrating from legacy systems to Salesforce, ensuring a user-centric approach throughout.

• Synthesize insights from qualitative and quantitative user research to inform design decisions and product strategy.

• Design intuitive and engaging CRM interfaces that enhance user experience and drive customer engagement for Wealth Management products.

• Develop holistic and cohesive UX solutions that seamlessly integrate into the existing Wealth Management product ecosystem.

• Create and present detailed wireframes, prototypes, and user flows to stakeholders, articulating design rationale and impact.

• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including product managers, engineers, and business analysts, to deliver successful product launches.

• Mentor and guide less experienced designers, fostering a culture of continuous learning and design maturity.

• Actively participate in brainstorming, design critiques, and whiteboard sessions, contributing valuable ideas and feedback.

• Manage multiple design priorities and projects concurrently under tight deadlines, demonstrating resilience and adaptability.

• Evangelize and promote design thinking principles and best practices across the organization to elevate design maturity.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "migrating from legacy systems to Salesforce" and designing "intuitive CRM interfaces" strongly suggests this role will play a crucial part in supporting Go-To-Market (GTM) operations by improving the tools sales and client relationship teams use. The "Vice President" title implies leadership in this GTM technology enablement.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), or a related field. A Master's degree is considered a strong asset.

Experience: Minimum of 7-8 years of progressive experience in User Experience (UX) design, with a proven track record of leading key design contributions to successful product launches.

Required Skills:

• Mastery of User-Centered Design principles and methodologies.

• Proven expertise in user research, including conducting studies and synthesizing findings.

• Advanced proficiency in designing wireframes, user flows, and interactive prototypes.

• Demonstrated experience in designing intuitive and effective CRM interfaces.

• Strong command of design thinking principles and their application in complex organizational settings.

• Fluency in design tools such as Figma.

• Proficiency in project management and collaboration tools like Jira.

• Ability to analyze and interpret both qualitative and quantitative data to drive design decisions.

• Exceptional problem-solving skills with a focus on uncovering root causes.

• Demonstrated ability to actively listen and contribute constructively in group settings.

• Experience managing multiple priorities and tight timelines in a fast-paced environment.

• Hands-on approach, willing to undertake all aspects of the design process.

Preferred Skills:

• Previous work experience within the finance or wealth management industry.

• Experience with Salesforce CRM platform design and implementation.

• Familiarity with other relevant design and prototyping tools.

• Experience in change management related to technology adoption.

• Strong understanding of business goals and their translation into user experience strategies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The specific mention of "Salesforce" and "CRM interfaces" is a critical indicator for candidates interested in roles that support sales and customer success operations. The combination of "UX Lead" and "Vice President" title suggests a need for strategic thinking and the ability to influence product roadmaps from a user experience perspective, particularly within the financial services sector.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• An outstanding portfolio showcasing a minimum of 7-8 years of UX leadership and successful product launches.

• Demonstrations of how you have created user experiences that effectively balance business needs and user requirements.

• Case studies that clearly articulate the problem, your design process, key decisions, and the resulting impact on user engagement and business metrics.

Process Documentation:

• Showcase your ability to document and communicate design processes, including user research methodologies, wireframing, prototyping, and user testing phases.

• Provide examples of how you have iteratively improved designs based on feedback and data analysis.

• Illustrate your approach to collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and successful implementation of design solutions.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a role of this seniority and focus on enterprise systems like Salesforce, the portfolio should emphasize not just aesthetic design but also the strategic thinking, problem-solving, and cross-functional collaboration required to deliver impactful solutions within a large organization. Demonstrating the ability to manage ambiguity and lead complex migrations will be key.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $110,000 - $190,000 per year.

Benefits:

• Health Insurance

• Stock Options

• 401k

• Annual discretionary incentive compensation award.

• Potential eligibility for a discretionary bonus component as part of a business unit's incentive compensation plan.

• Comprehensive employee benefits and perks in line with industry standards.

Working Hours: 40 hours per week (standard full-time).

📝 Enhancement Note: The provided salary range is for the Chicago, IL area for a UX Designer at a Vice President level within a large financial institution. This range reflects the experience, leadership responsibilities, and the specialized industry (finance) and technology (Salesforce CRM) focus. The inclusion of incentive compensation and discretionary bonuses is typical for VP-level roles in finance, indicating performance-based earning potential beyond the base salary. Research for this estimate was conducted using industry benchmarks for senior UX/Product Design roles in major US metropolitan areas, factoring in the specific industry and seniority.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Services (Investment Banking, Asset Management, Wealth Management). Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm with a long history of excellence.

Company Size: Large Enterprise (80,000+ employees globally). This size indicates a complex organizational structure with extensive resources and established processes, offering significant opportunities for impact and learning.

Founded: 1935. With nearly 90 years of history, Morgan Stanley has a deep-rooted culture of client service, innovation, and stability.

Team Structure:

• The UX team likely operates within a broader product or technology division, with specific sub-teams focused on different business areas like Wealth Management.

• This role reports at a VP level, suggesting a senior individual contributor or a lead for a small, specialized design group.

Methodology:

• Data-driven decision-making, leveraging both qualitative and quantitative insights from user research and analytics.

• Emphasis on iterative design processes, including testing, learning, and refining solutions.

• Strategic approach to design, aligning user needs with complex business goals and enterprise-level technology roadmaps.

• Commitment to fostering design thinking and promoting its adoption across a large organization.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: Morgan Stanley's long history and values (client-first, doing the right thing, leading with ideas, diversity, giving back) suggest a culture that prioritizes integrity, client success, and professional development. For a UX designer, this means a focus on creating solutions that genuinely benefit clients and support the firm's strategic objectives. The "Vice President" title signifies a role that is expected to uphold these values and drive them through design leadership.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is at a Vice President level within the UX Design function, specifically supporting Wealth Management and likely its Go-To-Market technology. This is a senior individual contributor or team lead position, requiring significant experience, strategic thinking, and the ability to mentor others. The "VP" title implies a high level of responsibility and influence within the organization.

Reporting Structure: The Senior UX Designer - VP will likely report to a Director or Managing Director overseeing UX Design for Wealth Management or a related technology division. They will collaborate extensively with product owners, engineering leads, and business unit heads.

Operations Impact: This role directly impacts GTM operations by enhancing the user experience of critical internal tools (Salesforce CRM) and client-facing Wealth Management products. Improved UX leads to increased sales productivity, better client engagement, more efficient operations, and ultimately, contributes to revenue growth and client retention.

Growth Opportunities:

• Specialization: Deepen expertise in financial services UX, CRM design, and enterprise system migrations.

• Leadership: Potential to lead larger design teams or take on broader product design responsibilities within Wealth Management or other business units.

• Strategic Influence: Contribute to the strategic direction of digital products and design thinking across the firm.

• Industry Expertise: Develop a strong understanding of the complexities and nuances of the financial services industry.

• Mentorship: Continue to mentor and develop junior designers, fostering leadership skills.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Vice President" title indicates a significant career advancement, suggesting that candidates with 7-8 years of experience are expected to operate at a strategic level. Growth opportunities will likely involve increasing scope of responsibility, team leadership, and strategic influence within the firm's digital transformation efforts, particularly in client-facing technologies.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: On-site. The role is based in Chicago, IL, indicating a need for consistent presence in the office.

Office Location(s): Chicago, Illinois, United States. Morgan Stanley has significant operations in Chicago, offering a professional and well-equipped corporate environment.

Workspace Context:

• A collaborative environment where ideas are shared and refined through active participation in group sessions like brainstorms, audits, and critiques.

• Access to essential design tools and technology, including Figma and Jira, and potentially other enterprise-level software.

• Opportunities for regular interaction with diverse teams, fostering a rich exchange of perspectives and promoting design thinking.

Work Schedule: Standard 40-hour work week, but the demanding nature of the financial industry and VP-level responsibilities may require flexibility and willingness to work beyond standard hours to meet tight deadlines and project demands.

📝 Enhancement Note: The on-site requirement in Chicago suggests a preference for direct collaboration and the ability to immerse oneself in the financial services environment. The "Vice President" level implies that the workspace will be conducive to strategic thinking, client engagement, and team leadership.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Review of resume and portfolio to assess experience, skills, and alignment with role requirements.

• Portfolio Presentation: A key stage will likely involve presenting your portfolio, showcasing your best work, design process, and problem-solving abilities. Be prepared to discuss specific case studies in detail.

• Technical/Design Deep Dive: Interviews focused on UX methodologies, tool proficiency (Figma, Jira), user research, wireframing, prototyping, and CRM design principles.

• Behavioral & Situational Interviews: Assessment of your leadership potential, problem-solving approach, resilience, collaboration skills, and ability to handle ambiguity, especially in a large organizational context. Questions will probe your experience in evangelizing design thinking and managing complex projects.

• Cross-functional Stakeholder Interviews: Meetings with product managers, engineers, and business leaders to gauge collaboration style and strategic alignment.

• Final Round: May involve senior leadership discussions focusing on strategic vision, leadership capabilities, and overall fit for the Vice President role.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Highlight Impact: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your specific role and contributions, the design process undertaken, and the quantifiable business and user outcomes (e.g., increased conversion rates, reduced support tickets, improved task completion times).

• Showcase Process: Demonstrate your thought process, not just the final deliverables. Include sketches, wireframes, user flows, research insights, and iterations.

• CRM & Salesforce Focus: If possible, include examples of complex enterprise systems, ideally CRM interfaces or projects involving system migrations.

• Ambiguity & Leadership: Select projects that demonstrate your ability to handle ambiguous requirements and lead design initiatives.

• Conciseness: Be prepared to present your portfolio efficiently, focusing on the most relevant and impactful projects. For a VP role, emphasize strategic decision-making and leadership.

Challenge Preparation:

• Design Challenge: You may be given a hypothetical problem related to financial services, CRM, or system migration. Prepare to outline your approach, conduct a mini-research phase (even if conceptual), sketch solutions, and articulate your rationale.

• Stakeholder Communication: Practice explaining complex design decisions and their business value to non-design audiences.

• Team Collaboration Scenarios: Be ready to discuss how you would collaborate with engineers, product managers, and other stakeholders, especially when facing conflicting priorities or technical constraints.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process for a VP-level role at a firm like Morgan Stanley will be rigorous. The portfolio review is paramount, and candidates must be able to articulate not just what they designed, but why and how it delivered value, especially in the context of complex enterprise systems and GTM support. Demonstrating leadership, strategic thinking, and resilience will be critical.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Essential for UI design, prototyping, and collaboration. Mastery is expected.

• Jira: Crucial for project management, task tracking, and collaboration with engineering teams.

• Prototyping Tools: Beyond Figma, familiarity with tools like InVision, Axure, or similar for creating interactive prototypes.

Analytics & Reporting:

• Experience leveraging analytics platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, internal BI tools) to gather user data and inform design decisions.

CRM & Automation:

• Salesforce: Explicitly mentioned as a target system for migration. Deep understanding of Salesforce CRM interfaces and user experience within this platform is highly advantageous.

• Understanding of CRM functionalities and how UX design can enhance sales processes, customer engagement, and operational efficiency within a financial services context.

• Familiarity with automation concepts in CRM that impact user workflows.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency with Figma and Jira is a baseline requirement. Given the role's focus on Salesforce migration, any experience or understanding of the Salesforce ecosystem, its design patterns, and common CRM workflows will be a significant advantage. The ability to glean insights from data and apply them to design solutions is also a key technical requirement.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Client-First: Design solutions that prioritize the needs and success of Morgan Stanley's clients, whether external or internal (e.g., sales teams using Salesforce).

• Do the Right Thing: Uphold ethical standards in design and decision-making, ensuring fairness, transparency, and integrity.

• Lead with Exceptional Ideas: Drive innovation and bring creative, well-reasoned design solutions to complex challenges.

• Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: Foster an inclusive design process and team environment, valuing diverse perspectives to create universally accessible and equitable experiences.

• Giving Back: Contribute to the firm's broader mission and community impact through thoughtful design and collaboration.

Collaboration Style:

• Relentless Collaborators: Actively engage with product managers, engineers, researchers, and business stakeholders to achieve shared goals.

• Creative Thinkers: Encourage open dialogue, brainstorming, and constructive critique to push creative boundaries.

• Active Listening: Practice attentive listening to understand different viewpoints and contribute effectively to group discussions.

• Team-Oriented: Unite with diverse teams to mature design thinking and drive collective success, valuing feedback and shared ownership.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company values are deeply embedded in the culture and will influence how design decisions are made and how teams operate. Candidates should demonstrate how their design philosophy and collaboration style align with these core principles, particularly "Client-First" and "Lead with Exceptional Ideas."

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Ambiguity: Dealing with undefined, complex projects and setting direction in a large, established organization.

• System Migration Complexity: Successfully migrating users from legacy systems to Salesforce while minimizing disruption and maximizing adoption.

• Evangelizing Design Thinking: Promoting and embedding design thinking principles in a large, potentially traditional, corporate environment.

• Balancing Stakeholder Needs: Integrating diverse requirements from various business units and stakeholders into cohesive design solutions.

• Managing Multiple Priorities: Juggling numerous projects with tight deadlines in a high-pressure financial services environment.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Financial Services Expertise: Gain in-depth knowledge of Wealth Management products, client needs, and the financial services industry.

• Enterprise-Scale Design Leadership: Develop skills in leading design for large, complex enterprise systems and organizational change initiatives.

• Advanced CRM Design: Become an expert in designing for sophisticated CRM platforms like Salesforce within a financial context.

• Mentorship and Influence: Opportunities to mentor junior talent and influence design strategy at a senior level within the firm.

• Industry Conferences & Certifications: Potential to attend relevant industry events and pursue advanced certifications.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges highlight the need for resilience, strong communication, and strategic problem-solving. The growth opportunities are significant, offering a path to becoming a recognized expert in financial services UX and a leader in design strategy within a prestigious firm.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a complex project where you had to set the direction for an undefined problem. How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on your process for handling ambiguity, research, and strategy setting).

• "How would you approach designing a seamless user experience for a critical Salesforce migration, balancing business goals with user needs and technical constraints?" (Prepare to discuss your methodology for migrations, user impact, and collaboration).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "How do Morgan Stanley's values (e.g., Client-First, Doing the Right Thing) influence your approach to UX design?" (Research the values and prepare examples of how you embody them).

• "Describe your experience working in a diverse team and how you contribute to an inclusive design process." (Emphasize your collaboration style and commitment to D&I).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Narrative Arc: Structure your portfolio presentations around compelling stories that highlight challenges, your role, your process, and the impact of your work.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the success of your designs (e.g., "Increased user task completion by 15%," "Reduced support inquiries by 10%").

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals effectively – sketches, wireframes, prototypes, user flows – to illustrate your design thinking and problem-solving.

• Tailor to the Role: Emphasize projects that are most relevant to enterprise CRM design, system migrations, and financial services if available. Clearly articulate your leadership contributions.

📝 Enhancement Note: For this VP-level role, interview preparation should focus on demonstrating strategic thinking, leadership, and the ability to navigate complex organizational dynamics. Candidates should be ready to discuss not just design execution but also the business impact and strategic rationale behind their decisions, particularly in a financial services and CRM context.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior UX Designer - Vice President position:

• Submit your application through the provided application link.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight your experience in enterprise-level UX design, CRM interfaces, system migrations (especially to platforms like Salesforce), and your leadership contributions. Prepare 2-3 in-depth case studies that showcase your process and impact.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your 7-8 years of UX leadership experience, specific skills (Figma, Jira, user research, prototyping), and any relevant finance or CRM experience. Use keywords from the job description naturally.

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design philosophy, problem-solving approach, and how you handle ambiguity. Prepare to discuss your portfolio in detail and answer behavioral questions related to leadership, collaboration, and strategic thinking.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research Morgan Stanley's values, its Wealth Management division, and its commitment to technology and design. Understand the competitive landscape of financial services and how UX plays a role.

⚠️ 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.