UX/UI Design Lead, Vice President

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UX/UI Design Lead, Vice President

Company: BlackRock

Location: Budapest, Hungary

Job Type: FULL_TIME

Category: UX/UI Design Leadership (Product Design)

Date Posted: April 20, 2026

Experience Level: 5-10 Years

Remote Status: Hybrid (4 days in office)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the design vision and execution for critical components of the Aladdin investment and risk analytics platform, a complex enterprise-grade financial technology solution.

• Drive human-centered design principles to translate intricate user needs and complex workflows into intuitive, accessible, and highly functional user interfaces.

• Champion systematic design and scalability, ensuring design solutions are repeatable and impactful across a multi-product environment.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product management, engineering, and research, to deliver end-to-end design solutions that align with business objectives.

• Serve as a positive advocate for user-centered design within a growing UX Design team, contributing to the evolution of UX maturity.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the input job title is "UX/UI Design Lead, Vice President," the responsibilities and requirements described lean towards a senior individual contributor or lead designer role rather than a traditional VP-level management position overseeing a large team. The focus is on hands-on design leadership and execution within a specific product suite. The "Vice President" title may reflect seniority and impact within the organization rather than direct people management scope, typical in some large financial institutions.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of the design for a defined subset of Aladdin's tools, serving both internal and external institutional wealth management and investment professionals.

• Develop and implement comprehensive UX strategies that directly support and align with overarching business goals, ensuring a cohesive and seamless user experience across the platform.

• Design detailed user workflows, wireframes, and interactive prototypes to effectively communicate design concepts and user journeys for complex financial analytics.

• Ensure all design outputs adhere strictly to established UX/UI guidelines and approved interaction patterns, maintaining consistency and brand integrity.

• Lead the end-to-end design of user interfaces, employing participatory and iterative design methodologies, including but not limited to heuristic evaluations, in-depth user interviews, and rigorous usability testing.

• Foster close collaboration with key project team members, including fellow UX designers, UX researchers, product managers, and technology leads, to deliver holistic and high-quality design solutions.

• Create detailed design specifications, annotations, and documentation for all designed elements, working within and contributing to the existing design system.

• Act as a positive, friendly, and effective representative and evangelist for user-centered design principles throughout the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Take ownership of design" responsibility, combined with the requirement to "Lead the design of user interfaces," indicates a senior role with significant autonomy over specific product areas. The emphasis on "designing software grounded in user need" and "reinvent and improve the Aladdin platform through the user’s lens" highlights a strategic, user-advocacy component beyond mere execution.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education:

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of progressive application design experience, gained either within product-focused environments or reputable agency settings.

Required Skills:

• Expert-level proficiency in Figma: Essential for creating detailed UI artifacts, concepts, and interactive prototypes.

• UI Artifact Development: Proven ability to translate user needs and business requirements into tangible design deliverables, including concepts, detailed UI designs, and prototypes.

• Detailed Design Documentation: Expertise in creating comprehensive specifications, annotations, and documentation to ensure accurate implementation by development teams.

• Communication and Storytelling: Exceptional presentation skills with the ability to articulate design rationale, user insights, and proposed solutions clearly and persuasively to diverse stakeholders.

• Collaboration with Development Teams: Strong capability to partner effectively with engineering teams, ensuring design implementation meets high-quality standards and technical feasibility.

• Stakeholder Partnership: Ability to collaborate with key stakeholders to identify, develop, and implement innovative processes that ensure UI design efforts are efficient, repeatable at scale, and result in effective, impactful design production.

• User Interviews: Strong skills in conducting user interviews to deeply understand user needs, pain points, and workflows within complex operational contexts.

• User Testing: Proficiency in conducting user testing to validate design concepts and solutions both before and after production, iterating based on feedback.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with B2B offerings and enterprise desktop software.

• Experience specifically within the enterprise financial software domain.

• Experience working with cross-functional teams that are in the earlier stages of their UX maturity, helping to establish and implement robust UX/UI processes for quality and scalability.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for "expert-level skills" in Figma and "detailing the work (i.e specs and annotations)" points to a role that demands high fidelity and precision in design deliverables. The emphasis on "partnering with key stakeholders to identify, develop, and implement innovative processes" suggests a proactive approach to process improvement, not just execution. The distinction between "expert-level" and "strong skills" highlights areas of critical importance versus beneficial additions.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio showcasing strong examples of solving complex user needs through intuitive interface design.

• The portfolio must include compelling visual design work and UI solutions that specifically address and simplify intricate workflows.

• Demonstrations of how design solutions were implemented and their impact, ideally with quantifiable results or user feedback.

Process Documentation:

• Provide examples of how you document and communicate design specifications for development teams, ensuring clarity and scalability.

• Showcase your approach to creating and maintaining design consistency across multiple products or features, potentially referencing design system contributions.

• Illustrate your experience in iterating on designs based on user feedback, research findings, and usability testing outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of a portfolio requirement that includes "solving complex user needs via intuitive interface design, as well as examples of visuals designs and UI solving for complex workflows" is a critical indicator for operations-focused roles. This implies a need to demonstrate not just aesthetic appeal but functional problem-solving within intricate business processes.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range:

• Given the "Vice President" title, the location in Budapest, Hungary, and the required 5+ years of experience in a specialized field like UX/UI design for enterprise financial software, the estimated annual gross salary range is likely between €65,000 - €95,000. This range accounts for the seniority of the role, the specific industry (FinTech), and local market conditions for highly skilled professionals in Budapest.

• Methodology: This estimate is based on research of senior UX/UI Design Lead roles in major European financial hubs, adjusted for the cost of living and typical compensation structures in Budapest, Hungary. It also considers the prestige of a company like BlackRock and the specialized nature of the Aladdin platform.

Benefits:

• Retirement Investment Tools: Access to tools and resources designed to support long-term financial planning and wealth building.

• Education Reimbursement: Support for continuous learning and professional development through educational programs and certifications.

• Comprehensive Well-being Resources: Extensive support for physical health, mental health, and emotional well-being, fostering a healthy work-life balance.

• Family Support Programs: Resources and programs designed to assist employees with family-related needs and responsibilities.

• Flexible Time Off (FTO): A generous policy allowing employees to take time off to relax, recharge, and attend to personal matters.

Working Hours:

• Standard full-time hours are expected, likely around 40 hours per week. The hybrid model allows for some flexibility in scheduling individual workdays, with a requirement for 4 days in the office.

📝 Enhancement Note: Salary estimation for a senior role in a specific international location requires careful consideration. The "Vice President" title, while potentially indicative of a senior individual contributor, still commands a higher compensation bracket than a standard Lead. The provided range reflects a professional judgment based on industry benchmarks for similar roles and markets.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Financial Services & Technology (FinTech). BlackRock is a global leader in investment management, risk management, and advisory services, leveraging advanced technology to serve institutional clients worldwide. The Aladdin platform is a cornerstone of this technological infrastructure, offering sophisticated analytics and operational tools.

Company Size: BlackRock is a very large organization, employing over 10,000 people globally. This scale means opportunities for significant impact and exposure to complex, enterprise-wide challenges.

Founded: BlackRock was founded in 1988. Its long history in the financial industry, coupled with its continuous innovation in technology, signifies a stable yet forward-thinking corporate environment.

Team Structure:

• The Aladdin UX Design team is composed of skilled UX designers, UI designers, and UX researchers.

• The role is a "Lead" position, suggesting it may involve guiding other designers or taking significant project-level leadership without necessarily having direct line management of a large team, aligning with the "Vice President" title's potential interpretation.

Methodology:

• Human-Centered Design: The team explicitly practices a human-centered approach, prioritizing user needs in software design.

• Participatory and Iterative Design: Design processes involve active user participation and continuous refinement based on feedback and testing.

• Systematic Design and Scalability: A strong emphasis is placed on creating design solutions that are repeatable, scalable, and maintainable within a large enterprise context.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: Understanding BlackRock's scale and its commitment to technology like the Aladdin platform is crucial. The "human-centered design" and "systematic design and scalability" aspects are key indicators for operations-minded professionals looking for roles where process and efficiency are paramount.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned at a senior to lead level within the design discipline, specifically targeting enterprise software for finance. The "Vice President" title, while not necessarily indicating direct people management, signifies a high level of responsibility, strategic input, and potential influence within the Aladdin UX Design team and the broader product organization. It suggests ownership of significant product areas and the ability to shape design strategy.

Reporting Structure: The role will likely report to a Director or Senior Director of UX Design within the Aladdin organization. Close collaboration and interaction with Product Management and Engineering leads are expected, forming key relationships for project execution and strategic alignment.

Operations Impact: The UX/UI Design Lead will have a direct impact on the usability, efficiency, and adoption of the Aladdin platform. By designing intuitive interfaces and optimizing complex workflows, this role contributes significantly to the operational effectiveness of BlackRock's clients and internal users, ultimately influencing their ability to manage investments and risk more effectively. This operational efficiency translates directly into business value and client satisfaction.

Growth Opportunities:

• Design Leadership & Specialization: Opportunity to deepen expertise in enterprise UX/UI design for complex financial applications, potentially leading design initiatives for major platform components.

• Mentorship and Skill Development: Potential to mentor junior designers and contribute to the growth of the UX team's capabilities, particularly in areas of process maturity and design system development.

• Strategic Influence: Ability to influence product strategy and design direction by championing user needs and advocating for best practices in design and development.

• Cross-functional Exposure: Gaining in-depth experience working with diverse teams across product, engineering, research, and business units within a global financial institution.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Vice President" title is a key signal for career progression. It implies a trajectory beyond a standard senior designer, offering a path towards broader strategic influence or specialized leadership within a critical product area.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: BlackRock operates a hybrid work model, requiring employees to be in the office at least 4 days per week. This suggests a collaborative office environment designed to foster teamwork, knowledge sharing, and in-person interaction, which is crucial for complex problem-solving in enterprise design.

Office Location(s): The role is based in Budapest, Hungary. This location likely offers a modern office space designed to support collaborative work and access to essential amenities. Specific details about office amenities would typically be available upon further inquiry or during the interview process.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The hybrid model emphasizes in-person collaboration, facilitating spontaneous discussions, brainstorming sessions, and effective teamwork with designers, product managers, and engineers.

• Operations Tools and Technology: The role will heavily utilize industry-standard design tools like Figma, along with prototyping tools and potentially internal systems for design documentation and collaboration. Access to robust technology infrastructure is expected.

• Team Interaction: Opportunities for regular interaction with a diverse set of colleagues, including UX researchers, product leads, engineers, and potentially business stakeholders, enabling a holistic understanding of product development.

Work Schedule: A standard full-time work schedule is anticipated, with flexibility in daily hours within the context of the 4-day in-office hybrid model. This structure allows for focused work periods both in the office and remotely, balancing individual deep work with team collaboration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid work model and emphasis on in-person collaboration are significant for operations roles. They suggest an environment where process alignment, design reviews, and rapid feedback loops are prioritized.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

1. Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will review your application and resume, focusing on your experience, portfolio, and alignment with the core requirements.

2. Design Challenge/Portfolio Review: You will likely be asked to present your portfolio, walking through case studies that demonstrate your ability to solve complex user problems, design intricate workflows, and create intuitive interfaces. A practical design exercise or case study related to enterprise financial software may be assigned.

3. Hiring Manager/Team Interviews: Interviews with the hiring manager and potential team members (UX designers, researchers, product managers) to assess your design skills, problem-solving approach, collaboration style, and cultural fit. Expect questions about your experience with Figma, design systems, and working with technical teams.

4. Final Round: Potentially interviews with senior leadership to discuss strategic thinking, impact, and long-term vision for the role.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Focus on Process and Impact: Clearly articulate the problem you were solving, your design process (research, ideation, iteration, testing), and the measurable impact of your solutions. Highlight how your designs addressed complex workflows and user needs.

• Showcase Figma Proficiency: Include examples of high-fidelity mockups, interactive prototypes, and detailed specifications created in Figma. Demonstrate your understanding of design systems and component-based design.

• Complex Workflow Examples: Prioritize case studies that showcase your ability to design for intricate, multi-step processes common in enterprise financial software. Explain your design decisions and why they were effective.

• Storytelling: Frame your case studies as narratives. Begin with the user problem or business challenge, explain your approach, detail your design solutions, and conclude with the outcomes and learnings.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand Enterprise UX: Familiarize yourself with the challenges of designing for enterprise software, particularly in the financial sector. Think about data density, complex analytics, security, and scalability.

• Figma Mastery: Be prepared to demonstrate advanced Figma skills, including auto layout, component variants, prototyping, and collaboration features.

• Process Optimization: Anticipate questions about how you would improve UX processes, establish design systems, or collaborate with less mature UX teams.

• Stakeholder Communication: Practice articulating your design rationale and advocating for user needs to non-design stakeholders, emphasizing business value and operational efficiency.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a portfolio that showcases "solving complex user needs" and "UI solving for complex workflows" is critical. Applicants should prepare case studies that explicitly detail these aspects, demonstrating their ability to navigate the intricacies of enterprise financial software.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Expert-level proficiency is a mandatory requirement for UI design, prototyping, and detailed documentation. Expect to use its collaboration features extensively.

• Prototyping Tools: While Figma has robust prototyping capabilities, familiarity with other tools that might be integrated or used for specific purposes could be beneficial.

• Design Systems: Experience with creating, contributing to, or working within established design systems is crucial for ensuring scalability and consistency across the Aladdin platform.

Analytics & Reporting:

CRM & Automation:

• Awareness of CRM systems (like Salesforce) and automation tools might be relevant in understanding how user data is managed and how design choices impact downstream operational processes, though direct hands-on experience may not be required.

📝 Enhancement Note: Figma is explicitly called out as an "expert-level skill." This indicates it's not just a tool but a core competency for this role, suggesting candidates should be ready to showcase advanced Figma usage in their portfolio and interviews.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User-Centricity: A fundamental belief in designing software that is grounded in user needs, ensuring solutions are intuitive, effective, and delightful for financial professionals.

• Excellence in Design: A commitment to high-quality, sophisticated visual and interaction design, even when dealing with complex and data-intensive applications.

• Scalability and Efficiency: A drive to create design solutions that are repeatable, sustainable, and efficient to implement and maintain across a large enterprise platform.

• Collaboration and Partnership: Valuing strong working relationships with product managers, engineers, and researchers to achieve shared goals.

• Continuous Improvement: An ethos of constantly learning, iterating, and refining processes and designs to enhance user experience and product value.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: The team works closely with product management and engineering, requiring strong communication and a shared understanding of project goals and constraints.

• Iterative Feedback Loops: Embracing participatory design and user testing fosters a culture where feedback is actively sought, given, and incorporated into the design process.

• Knowledge Sharing: Encouraging the sharing of design insights, best practices, and learnings to elevate the overall UX maturity of the team and the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "systematic design and scalability" and "efficiency" points towards a culture that values robust processes and well-architected solutions, aligning with operational excellence.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Complexity of Enterprise Financial Software: Navigating and designing for the intricate workflows, data density, and specialized requirements of institutional investment and risk analytics presents a significant challenge.

• Balancing User Needs with Business Goals: Synthesizing diverse user needs, technical constraints, and strategic business objectives into cohesive and effective design solutions.

• Driving UX Maturity: Potentially working with teams or stakeholders who are earlier in their UX evolution, requiring strong advocacy and process-building skills.

• Maintaining Design Consistency at Scale: Ensuring a unified and high-quality user experience across a vast and evolving platform like Aladdin.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Dive into FinTech UX: Gaining unparalleled experience in the specialized domain of UX/UI design for enterprise financial technology.

• Design System Advancement: Contributing to and advancing a sophisticated design system for a critical enterprise platform.

• Leadership Development: Opportunities to hone leadership skills in design strategy, process improvement, and cross-functional team collaboration.

• Industry Exposure: Engaging with cutting-edge financial analytics tools and understanding the operational demands of global investment professionals.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges highlight the need for resilience, strategic thinking, and strong problem-solving skills, characteristic of advanced operations roles.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to design for a highly complex workflow. What was your process, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on detailing the workflow, your design decisions, and measurable impact).

• "How do you ensure design consistency and scalability across a large product suite like Aladdin?" (Discuss your experience with design systems, style guides, and collaboration with development).

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about BlackRock and the Aladdin platform specifically?" (Research BlackRock's mission, its role in financial markets, and the significance of Aladdin).

• "How do you see your role contributing to BlackRock's mission of helping more people experience financial well-being?" (Connect your design work to client success and operational efficiency).

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly define the problem, your role, your process, your solutions, and the results. Use a consistent structure.

• Highlight Figma Expertise: Be ready to demonstrate specific Figma features used, such as complex component libraries, interactive prototypes, and detailed specifications.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use metrics (e.g., efficiency gains, error reduction, user satisfaction scores) to demonstrate the value of your designs. If exact metrics aren't available, use qualitative user feedback to show impact.

• Focus on Enterprise Context: Tailor your examples to showcase your ability to design for complex business needs, data visualization, and professional user workflows, demonstrating an understanding of the enterprise environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: Preparing for questions about "complex workflows" and "UX maturity" is key, as these directly relate to the operational demands of the role and the environment.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this UX/UI Design Lead position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Workable.

• Tailor Your Resume: Ensure your resume clearly highlights your 5+ years of application design experience, your BFA degree, and specific achievements related to enterprise software, complex workflows, and Figma expertise. Use keywords from the job description.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 3-4 of your strongest case studies that best showcase your ability to solve complex user problems, design intuitive interfaces for intricate workflows, and demonstrate expert-level Figma skills. Ensure it includes detailed documentation examples.

• Prepare Your Presentation: Practice articulating your portfolio case studies, focusing on your process, design decisions, and the impact of your work. Be ready to discuss your experience with user research, usability testing, and design systems.

• Research BlackRock & Aladdin: Understand the company's mission, values, and the role of the Aladdin platform in the financial industry. 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.