Senior Product Designer

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Product Designer

Company: Nextiva

Location: Scottsdale, Arizona, United States

Job Type: Full-Time

Category: Product Design / UX/UI

Date Posted: August 10, 2026

Experience Level: 6+ Years

Remote Status: Hybrid (Onsite 4 days/week)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead end-to-end product design for Nextiva's Unified Customer Experience platform, from initial discovery through final delivery across desktop and mobile.

• Act as a strategic thought partner to Product Management and Engineering, leveraging AI-native capabilities to solve complex customer challenges and define product direction.

• Drive innovation by designing and prototyping AI-powered features, modern workflows, and seamless user experiences that enhance customer engagement and business outcomes.

• Contribute to the evolution of Nextiva's design system (A2UI) and reusable components, ensuring consistency and scalability across multiple product domains.

• Utilize customer research, analytics, and AI-assisted tools to validate design decisions, iterate on solutions, and measure the impact of product enhancements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role emphasizes a hybrid work model with a strong emphasis on onsite collaboration, indicating a company culture that values in-person interaction for faster decision-making and stronger execution. The integration of AI-assisted workflows and tools is a significant differentiator, positioning this role at the forefront of modern product design practices within the SaaS industry.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Spearhead the complete product design lifecycle, encompassing user research, ideation, wireframing, prototyping, high-fidelity design, and final delivery for desktop, mobile, and responsive interfaces.

• Collaborate intimately with Product Managers and Engineers, actively questioning assumptions, identifying core problems, and co-creating optimal solutions rather than merely executing predefined tasks.

• Conduct direct customer engagements, including interviews and feedback sessions, to deeply understand user needs and translate these insights into tangible product improvements and innovative experiences.

• Develop user flows, customer journeys, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and polished, production-ready designs for various product areas, including onboarding, e-commerce, AI features, administration, and core customer conversations.

• Create functional, high-fidelity prototypes using AI-assisted development workflows to expedite idea validation with customers and stakeholders, facilitating rapid learning and iteration.

• Work closely with the Engineering team by reviewing AI-generated frontend code, refining implementations, and ensuring seamless translation of design concepts into production-ready features.

• Contribute to and enhance Nextiva's design system (A2UI) and component libraries to maintain design consistency, scalability, and efficiency across the product suite.

• Employ customer research, user analytics, experimentation, and usability testing methodologies to continuously refine product experiences and drive measurable business results.

• Clearly articulate design rationale, trade-offs, and customer insights to stakeholders through compelling presentations and facilitated discussions.

• Manage multiple design initiatives concurrently in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, demonstrating adaptability and agility as business priorities shift.

• Responsibly leverage AI-powered design, research, and development tools to elevate speed, quality, creativity, and overall execution efficiency.

• Proactively explore emerging AI technologies and novel workflows, sharing best practices to boost team productivity and enhance design quality across the organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a proactive and strategic approach to design, emphasizing partnership with Product and Engineering, direct customer interaction, and the innovative use of AI tools. The expectation to design across multiple product domains suggests a need for broad design expertise and adaptability.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is listed, a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Science, or a related field is typically expected for a Senior Product Designer role, or equivalent practical experience.

Experience: Minimum of 6 years of progressive experience in digital product design, with a strong preference for backgrounds in SaaS or enterprise software environments. Proven track record of leading complex product design initiatives from inception to successful delivery.

Required Skills:

• Comprehensive portfolio showcasing exceptional product thinking, interaction design, visual design, accessibility standards, systems thinking, and demonstrated customer impact.

• Proven ability to lead complex product design initiatives from the initial discovery phase through to final implementation and delivery.

• Demonstrated critical thinking and problem-solving skills, with the capacity to tackle ambiguous problems independently and challenge existing assumptions to influence product direction.

• Expertise in designing production-ready digital experiences across desktop, mobile, and responsive web environments.

• Experience in building, maintaining, and evolving scalable design systems, reusable UI components, and comprehensive component libraries.

• Profound understanding of user-centered design principles, information architecture, usability testing, experimentation frameworks, and data-informed design methodologies.

• Strong customer communication and discovery skills, including experience conducting user interviews, gathering feedback, and translating insights into actionable design decisions.

• Proven experience collaborating closely with software engineers throughout the entire development and delivery process.

• Demonstrated proficiency in utilizing modern AI-powered design and development tools to accelerate design workflows, prototyping, documentation, and frontend implementation.

• Working knowledge of contemporary design-to-code workflows, including AI-generated frontend development, Git-based collaboration, and component-based architecture.

• Technical fluency with HTML, CSS, modern frontend frameworks, and design systems, sufficient to effectively evaluate and refine AI-generated code implementations.

• Experience developing interactive prototypes that closely mimic production experiences for effective feedback gathering and solution validation.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions clearly, craft compelling product narratives, and collaborate effectively with customers, Product, Engineering, and other stakeholders.

• Self-directed, highly adaptable, and comfortable navigating diverse product areas and priorities within a fast-paced organizational setting.

• Innate curiosity about emerging AI technologies and a commitment to continuous learning, with a proactive approach to experimenting with and sharing new methods across the team. Preferred Skills:

• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development environments such as Cursor, Claude Code, ChatGPT, or similar AI-native workflows.

• Experience designing user interfaces for AI-powered product features, including conversational interfaces, intelligent copilots, AI assistants, or embedded AI workflows within SaaS applications.

• Experience contributing to React component libraries or actively collaborating on the implementation of production-ready UI components.

• Demonstrated ability to create personal or side projects that showcase modern product design, coding skills, or AI experimentation.

• Experience designing and implementing A/B tests and utilizing experimentation results to enhance customer experiences and optimize product performance.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on AI-powered tools and design-to-code workflows suggests a forward-thinking design team. Candidates should be prepared to showcase their experience with these technologies and their ability to integrate AI into the design process. Proficiency in evaluating AI-generated code is a unique requirement that sets this role apart.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive portfolio is mandatory, showcasing a minimum of 6 years of digital product design work, with a strong emphasis on SaaS or enterprise software.

• The portfolio must clearly demonstrate exceptional product thinking, interaction design skills, sophisticated visual design execution, adherence to accessibility standards, robust systems thinking, and measurable customer impact.

• Include detailed case studies that highlight your leadership in complex product initiatives, from initial discovery and research through to final implementation and delivery.

• Showcase your ability to solve ambiguous problems, challenge assumptions, and influence product strategy, providing examples of how you've moved beyond executing requirements.

• Present examples of production-ready designs for desktop, mobile, and responsive environments, detailing the design process and rationale behind each.

• Feature your experience in building, maintaining, or significantly contributing to design systems, reusable components, and component libraries, illustrating their scalability and impact.

• Integrate examples of user-centered design application, information architecture planning, usability testing, experimentation, and data-informed design decision-making.

• Include evidence of direct customer communication and discovery skills, demonstrating how you've gathered feedback and translated it into actionable design improvements.

• Showcase your collaboration with engineering teams, illustrating how you've partnered to bring designs to life effectively.

• Highlight your proficiency with AI-powered design and development tools, detailing how they've accelerated your design process, prototyping, documentation, or frontend implementation.

• Provide examples of your understanding of design-to-code workflows, including experience with AI-generated frontend development and Git-based collaboration.

• Demonstrate your technical fluency with HTML, CSS, and frontend frameworks by showing how you've evaluated and refined AI-generated code.

• Include interactive prototypes that closely resemble production experiences, along with the process of using them for feedback and validation.

• Showcase your communication and presentation skills through examples of how you've articulated design decisions, told product stories, and collaborated with diverse stakeholders. Process Documentation:

• Provide documentation or case studies detailing your approach to end-to-end product design, from initial discovery and research phases through to implementation.

• Illustrate your methods for creating user flows, customer journeys, wireframes, and interactive prototypes, emphasizing how these artifacts inform product decisions.

• Detail your process for collaborating with Product Managers and Engineers, including how you challenge assumptions and align on solutions.

• Showcase how you incorporate customer feedback, analytics, and experimentation into your iterative design process.

• Document your experience in evolving or contributing to design systems and component libraries, outlining the process and benefits.

• Explain your approach to leveraging AI-powered design and development tools, including workflow optimization and quality assurance.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a strong portfolio, especially one that showcases AI tool proficiency and design-to-code workflows, is critical. Candidates should prepare detailed case studies that not only present final designs but also articulate the strategic thinking, problem-solving process, and measurable impact achieved.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: Based on industry benchmarks for Senior Product Designers with 6+ years of experience in the Scottsdale, Arizona area, a competitive salary range is estimated to be between $130,000 and $170,000 annually. This range can vary based on the candidate's specific qualifications, experience, and performance during the interview process.

Benefits:

• Health: Comprehensive health coverage including medical, dental, vision, and telemedicine services.

• Insurance: Robust insurance options such as life insurance, disability insurance, and supplemental indemnity plans.

• Work-Life Balance: Flexible Time Off (for salaried employees), Paid Sick Time, Paid Parental Bonding Leave, and paid holidays to support personal well-being and time with family.

• Financial Security: A 401(k) retirement savings plan with a company match, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) with company contributions, and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs).

• Wellness: Access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and various wellness initiatives designed to support overall employee health.

• Growth: Opportunities for ongoing learning and professional development, coupled with clear pathways for career advancement within the organization.

Working Hours: The standard working hours for this role are approximately 40 hours per week. While this is a full-time position, the company offers flexibility in scheduling, guided by team leaders, to balance collaborative onsite work with individual productivity needs. The role requires onsite presence four days per week.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is an estimate based on general market data for a Senior Product Designer in a major Arizona tech hub. Actual compensation will be determined by individual qualifications and negotiation. The benefits package is comprehensive, reflecting a company committed to employee well-being and long-term financial security.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Nextiva operates within the Software & Technology sector, specifically focusing on Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Customer Experience (CX) platforms, with a strong emphasis on AI-native product development.

Company Size: Nextiva is a growing global leader, having served over 100,000 businesses and 1 million+ users worldwide. This size indicates a company with established processes and resources, yet still agile enough for significant individual impact. For operations professionals, this means opportunities to influence established systems and contribute to scalable growth.

Founded: Founded in 2008, Nextiva has over a decade of experience in the market, positioning it as a mature and reliable player in the communications technology space. This history suggests a stable yet innovative environment.

Team Structure:

• The Product Design team is likely composed of specialized designers focusing on UX, UI, interaction, and visual design, working within a larger Product organization.

• Reporting structure will likely involve a Design Lead or Director, with Senior Designers expected to mentor junior team members and collaborate closely with Product Managers and Engineering Leads.

• Cross-functional collaboration is integral, with designers working hand-in-hand with Product, Engineering, Marketing, and Customer Success teams to ensure a cohesive and impactful product experience. Methodology:

• Data Analysis & Insights: The team emphasizes a data-driven approach, utilizing customer research, analytics, and experimentation (including A/B testing) to inform design decisions and measure product success.

• Workflow Planning & Optimization: Design workflows are streamlined through the use of AI-assisted tools, rapid prototyping, and adherence to design systems, focusing on efficiency and speed.

• Automation & Efficiency: A key aspect is the responsible leverage of AI-powered tools for design, research, and development, aiming to enhance productivity, creativity, and the speed of iteration.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: Nextiva's culture appears to be a blend of established expertise and a strong push towards AI innovation. The emphasis on "conversation-centric" and "AI-native" product development suggests a dynamic environment where designers are expected to be at the cutting edge of technology and user experience.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned at a Senior level, indicating a significant degree of autonomy, responsibility, and influence. Senior Product Designers are expected to lead complex projects, mentor others, and contribute to strategic product decisions. They are key contributors to the product's success and often serve as subject matter experts.

Reporting Structure: The Senior Product Designer will likely report to a Design Manager or Director of Product Design. They will work closely with Product Managers, Engineering Leads, and potentially UX Researchers, forming part of a cross-functional product team.

Operations Impact: The impact of this role is substantial, directly influencing the user experience of Nextiva's Unified Customer Experience platform. By designing intuitive, efficient, and AI-enhanced features, the Senior Product Designer contributes to customer satisfaction, adoption rates, retention, and ultimately, the company's revenue growth and market position. The focus on AI and conversational experiences suggests a direct link to improving customer engagement and operational efficiency for Nextiva's clients.

Growth Opportunities:

• Operations Skill Advancement: Opportunities to deepen expertise in AI-driven design, conversational UI, and advanced prototyping techniques. Potential to specialize in specific product domains or AI functionalities.

• Leadership Development: Potential to transition into Lead Designer roles, manage design projects, mentor junior designers, and contribute more significantly to product strategy and roadmap planning.

• Cross-Functional Exposure: Deepen understanding of product management, engineering processes, and business strategy through close collaboration, offering a holistic view of product development.

📝 Enhancement Note: The Senior level implies a trajectory towards leadership or specialized expert roles within product design. The company's focus on AI and customer experience suggests growth opportunities in cutting-edge fields.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: This is an onsite role requiring 4 days per week in the Scottsdale headquarters, indicating a hybrid work model that prioritizes in-person collaboration. The company emphasizes that working together onsite "strengthens how we operate, enabling faster decisions, clearer communication, and stronger execution."

Office Location(s): The primary office location is Nextiva's headquarters at 9451 E. Via de Ventura, Scottsdale, AZ 85256. This location is within a well-established business hub in Scottsdale.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The onsite requirement suggests a workspace designed to foster collaboration, with opportunities for spontaneous interactions, team meetings, and design critiques.

• Tools & Technology: As a tech company, expect access to modern design software, high-performance workstations, and potentially specialized AI design and development tools.

• Team Interaction: The hybrid model allows for focused individual work and dedicated collaborative time with Product, Engineering, and fellow designers, facilitating efficient communication and problem-solving.

Work Schedule: The role is expected to work approximately 40 hours per week. While the specific daily schedule may offer some flexibility, the requirement for 4 days onsite per week is a key aspect of the work arrangement.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a hybrid model with significant onsite presence suggests a culture that values face-to-face collaboration for innovation and productivity. Candidates should be comfortable with this structure.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio to assess qualifications and alignment with the role requirements.

• Design Challenge/Case Study: You may be asked to complete a design exercise or present a detailed case study from your portfolio. This will likely focus on your problem-solving approach, design process, AI tool utilization, and ability to articulate design decisions.

• Hiring Manager/Team Interviews: Interviews with the hiring manager and potential team members (Product Managers, Engineers, fellow Designers) to evaluate your technical skills, collaboration style, cultural fit, and strategic thinking.

• Final Round: Potentially a final interview with senior leadership to discuss your overall fit and potential impact.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 3-4 of your most impactful projects that best demonstrate the required skills, especially those involving complex problem-solving, AI integration, and end-to-end design leadership.

• Tell a Story: For each case study, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed (including research, ideation, prototyping, and iteration), the tools used (especially AI), the challenges encountered, your solutions, and the measurable outcomes or impact.

• Highlight AI & Design-to-Code: Explicitly showcase how you've used AI-powered tools in your design, research, or development workflows. Detail your experience with design-to-code, evaluating AI-generated implementations, and collaborating with engineers.

• Showcase Systems Thinking: Demonstrate your understanding of design systems, component libraries, and how you ensure consistency and scalability in your designs.

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

• Prepare for Questions: Be ready to discuss your design rationale, trade-offs, and how you handle feedback and constructive criticism.

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Problem: If given a design challenge, take time to fully understand the user problem and business goals. Ask clarifying questions.

• Focus on Process: Demonstrate your structured approach to design, from research and ideation to prototyping and user testing.

• Integrate AI: Consider how AI tools could be leveraged to solve the challenge more efficiently or effectively, and be prepared to discuss this.

• Communicate Clearly: Articulate your thought process, decisions, and proposed solutions clearly and concisely.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on AI tools and design-to-code workflows means candidates should be ready to present specific examples of their application and impact. A portfolio that highlights these aspects will stand out.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design Software: Proficiency in industry-standard design and prototyping tools such as Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, or similar.

• Prototyping Tools: Experience with tools for creating interactive prototypes (e.g., Figma, InVision, ProtoPie).

• AI-Powered Design Tools: Demonstrated experience with AI-assisted design, research, and development tools is a key requirement. This could include AI code assistants (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, ChatGPT), AI-driven research platforms, or AI-enhanced design generation tools.

• Design Systems: Experience working with and contributing to design systems (e.g., A2UI at Nextiva), including component libraries.

Analytics & Reporting:

• User Analytics Platforms: Familiarity with tools like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, or similar for tracking user behavior and product performance.

• Experimentation Platforms: Experience with A/B testing tools and methodologies.

CRM & Automation:

• While not explicitly a CRM role, understanding how design integrates with CRM and other business systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) can be beneficial for context.

• Version Control: Familiarity with Git and Git-based collaboration workflows for managing design assets and code integration.

📝 Enhancement Note: The explicit mention of "AI-powered design, research, and development tools" and "modern design-to-code workflows, including AI-generated frontend development" indicates a strong requirement for candidates to be proficient and forward-thinking in their use of AI in the design process.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Drives Results: Emphasizes being action-oriented, bringing clarity to ambiguity, challenging the status quo, and driving meaningful change with a focus on speed and learning.

• Critical Thinker: Values data-driven, forward-thinking individuals who can identify key drivers, anticipate risks, and leverage AI and automation for improved decision-making and efficiency.

• Right Attitude: Promotes collaboration, competitiveness, resilience, and a culture of service, respect, and care for both customers and teammates.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Designers are expected to partner closely with Product Managers and Engineers, acting as strategic thought partners rather than just executors.

• Customer-Centric Feedback: A culture that values direct customer interaction, feedback gathering, and incorporating insights into design decisions.

• Agile & Iterative: The fast-paced environment and emphasis on rapid prototyping suggest an agile and iterative approach to design, with a willingness to adapt and refine based on new information.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "Nextiva DNA" core competencies highlight a culture that is results-driven, analytical, and collaborative, with a strong emphasis on leveraging technology (including AI) and a positive, customer-focused attitude.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Rapidly Evolving AI Landscape: Keeping pace with the fast-evolving field of AI and integrating new AI technologies and workflows effectively into the design process.

• Balancing Innovation with Scalability: Designing cutting-edge AI features while ensuring they align with the existing design system (A2UI) and scale across a broad product suite.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Effectively influencing product direction and ensuring alignment with Product and Engineering priorities in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

• Data-Informed Decision Making: Continuously leveraging customer research, analytics, and experimentation to validate design choices and demonstrate impact.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• AI & Emerging Tech: Opportunities to explore and experiment with cutting-edge AI tools and technologies, becoming an internal expert.

• Design System Mastery: Deepen expertise in contributing to and evolving complex design systems and component libraries.

• Product Strategy Influence: Grow in influence by contributing to product strategy, roadmap planning, and challenging assumptions at a senior level.

• Mentorship: Potential to mentor junior designers and contribute to the growth of the design team.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role presents opportunities to work at the intersection of AI and product design, which is a high-demand and rapidly evolving area. Candidates should be prepared for continuous learning and adaptation.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you led an end-to-end product design initiative from discovery through delivery. What was your process, what challenges did you face, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on your structured approach, problem-solving, and impact.)

• "How have you leveraged AI-powered design or development tools in your workflow? Provide a specific example and discuss the benefits and any limitations you encountered." (Highlight your practical experience with AI tools and critical evaluation.)

• "Walk me through a complex product design problem you solved. How did you challenge assumptions, collaborate with Product and Engineering, and arrive at your solution?" (Emphasize critical thinking, collaboration, and influencing skills.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about Nextiva's focus on AI-native and conversation-centric customer experiences?" (Show your research and alignment with their mission.)

• "How do you approach balancing the need for rapid iteration and AI-assisted speed with the importance of maintaining design quality and consistency within a design system like A2UI?" (Demonstrate your understanding of trade-offs and system thinking.)

• "Describe your experience working in a hybrid environment. How do you ensure effective collaboration and communication with your team when working onsite and remotely?" (Address the 4-day onsite requirement.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure Your Narrative: For each case study, clearly define the problem, your role, the process, the AI tools used, the key decisions and trade-offs, and the measurable results.

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Use visuals (wireframes, prototypes, final designs, user flows) to illustrate your process and solutions.

• Highlight AI Integration: Explicitly point out where and how you used AI tools, and discuss the impact on efficiency, creativity, or outcome.

• Discuss Design-to-Code: Be prepared to talk about your experience collaborating with engineers on AI-generated code, evaluating its quality, and refining it.

• Practice Your Pitch: Rehearse your presentation to ensure it's concise, engaging, and covers all key aspects within the allotted time. Be ready for in-depth questions.

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should prepare to discuss their experience with AI tools in a practical, results-oriented manner. The ability to articulate the "why" behind design decisions and demonstrate impact will be crucial.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Product Designer position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on Nextiva's careers page.

• Curate Your Portfolio for AI and Impact: Tailor your portfolio to prominently feature projects where you've utilized AI-powered design tools, implemented design-to-code workflows, and achieved measurable business or customer impact. Prepare detailed case studies that walk through your process, highlighting your problem-solving approach and collaboration.

• Optimize Your Resume: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your 6+ years of experience in digital product design, specifically mentioning SaaS or enterprise software. Highlight keywords related to AI-assisted design, user experience, interaction design, visual design, design systems, and collaboration with engineering.

• Prepare Your Presentation: Practice presenting your portfolio case studies, focusing on clear communication, storytelling, and demonstrating your strategic thinking. Be ready to discuss your experience with AI tools, design-to-code workflows, and how you measure design success.

• Research Nextiva: Thoroughly understand Nextiva's mission, product offerings (especially their AI-native platform), company culture ("Nextiva DNA"), and recent news to 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.