Senior UX Designer I , Design Systems

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior UX Designer I, Design Systems

Company: ActBlue

Location: Remote

Job Type: Full-time

Category: UX Design / Design Systems

Date Posted: May 19, 2026

Experience Level: Mid-Senior Level (3-5 years)

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the end-to-end design and delivery of products and features, from ideation through detailed execution, with a strong emphasis on user-centered design principles.

• Serve as a core contributor to ActBlue's design system, actively building, maintaining, and evolving design tokens, components, and documentation.

• Drive clarity, cohesion, and visual impact across product experiences by leveraging user research, data insights, and a deep understanding of systems thinking.

• Foster a strong design culture through active participation in critiques, mentorship of junior designers, and leading through influence in cross-functional collaborations.

• Integrate AI-powered design tools into the workflow to enhance efficiency, consistency, and explore new possibilities within the design system framework.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role uniquely blends product design responsibilities with a significant focus on design systems. The emphasis on "systems thinking" and contributing to "tokens, components, and documentation" indicates a need for a designer who can operate at both the strategic and granular levels of design. The "Senior UX Designer I" title suggests a level of autonomy and potential for mentorship, while the "I" might imply a foundational senior role within a larger design structure.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Conceptualize, design, and deliver user-centered product experiences by translating user needs, business requirements, and technical constraints into intuitive and impactful solutions.

• Drive the evolution and maintenance of ActBlue's design system by contributing to component specifications, defining and refining design tokens, and ensuring accuracy and consistency across the system library.

• Partner closely with UX researchers and data analysts to ground design decisions in user behavior, needs, and motivations, utilizing qualitative and quantitative insights to inform design strategy.

• Collaborate effectively with product management, engineering, and other internal teams to ensure seamless translation of design intent into production-ready solutions, defining timelines, trade-offs, and constraints collaboratively.

• Lead and contribute to information architecture, establishing best practices that elevate design standards and promote scalability across product offerings.

• Actively participate in team design critiques, providing and receiving constructive feedback to foster a culture of continuous improvement and shared learning.

• Develop and apply AI fluency in design practice, exploring how emerging AI tools can support faster, more consistent design outcomes and contribute to shared workflows.

• Identify gaps and opportunities within the design system, proposing and defining scalable patterns that support product growth and maintain system integrity.

• Support the creation and maintenance of comprehensive design system documentation and guidelines to facilitate adoption and understanding across design and development teams.

• Partner with front-end engineers to ensure design specifications are accurately translated into production code and maintain the reliability of the token pipeline.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a dual focus: direct product design delivery and active contribution to the design system's health and growth. The inclusion of AI fluency and token architecture indicates a forward-thinking approach to design operations and tooling.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While not explicitly stated, a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field is typically expected for a Senior UX Designer role. A strong portfolio can often substitute for formal education.

Experience:

• 3–5 years of progressive experience leading the end-to-end delivery of complex product features, from initial ideation and discovery phases through to pixel-perfect mockups and detailed execution.

• Proven experience working within remote, geographically distributed, cross-functional teams, demonstrating effective collaboration and communication across diverse environments.

• Demonstrated experience leading discovery workshops, ideation sessions, and user research initiatives to uncover user needs and validate design concepts.

Required Skills:

• UX Design & Product Delivery: Expertise in conceptualizing, designing, and delivering user-centered product experiences across the entire product lifecycle.

• Design Systems: Hands-on experience with design systems, including contributing to component libraries, defining design tokens, and understanding system architecture.

• Figma Proficiency: Advanced skills in design tooling, specifically Figma, including mastery of component libraries, variants, and an interest in leveraging Variables and token workflows.

• User Research & Data Analysis: Ability to ground design decisions in user research findings, behavioral data, and user needs.

• Information Architecture: Strong understanding of organizing and structuring content and navigation to ensure usability and intuitiveness.

• Prototyping & Storytelling: Skill in creating interactive prototypes and effectively communicating design intent and rationale through compelling visual narratives.

• Cross-functional Collaboration: Proven ability to partner effectively with product management, engineering, and other stakeholders to achieve shared goals.

• Mentorship: Experience mentoring junior designers, providing guidance, feedback, and support for their professional development.

• AI-Powered Design Tools: Familiarity with and a genuine curiosity for AI-powered design tools and their application within a design system context.

• Feedback Culture: Comfort working in a culture that embraces constructive feedback and approaches conflict with curiosity and a problem-solving mindset.

• Inclusivity & Collaboration: Dedication to fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and diverse work environment.

Preferred Skills:

• Familiarity with token architecture and its connection to engineering implementation.

• Experience with front-end technologies to better understand design-to-code translation.

• Deep understanding of accessibility standards and best practices in UX design.

• Experience in the nonprofit or political technology sector.

📝 Enhancement Note: The experience requirement focuses on end-to-end product delivery and specific design systems exposure. The emphasis on Figma, Variables, and token workflows points to a need for technically proficient designers. The inclusion of AI tools signals a requirement for forward-thinking designers comfortable with emerging technologies. The "I" in the title suggests that while experience is required, there might be opportunities for growth into more senior leadership within the design system domain.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Demonstrate end-to-end product design process for at least 2-3 complex features or products, showcasing discovery, ideation, user flows, wireframing, prototyping, and final UI design.

• Showcase specific contributions to a design system, including examples of component design, token definition, and how you've contributed to system documentation or guidelines.

• Include case studies that highlight your ability to integrate user research and data into your design decisions, explaining the "why" behind your design choices.

• Present examples of your work with Figma, demonstrating your proficiency with component libraries, auto-layout, and ideally, advanced features like variables or token implementation.

Process Documentation:

• Clearly articulate your design process for product features, detailing how you approach problem definition, user research, ideation, prototyping, user testing, and iteration.

• Document your contributions to design systems, explaining how you identify needs, define patterns, spec components, and maintain consistency.

• Illustrate how you gather and utilize feedback from user research, data analytics, and cross-functional partners to refine designs and system elements.

• Provide examples of how you communicate design intent and rationale to diverse audiences, including engineers, product managers, and stakeholders.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio requirements are crucial for this role, emphasizing not just visual design skills but also process, systems thinking, and collaboration. Candidates must be prepared to show tangible contributions to design systems.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $141,906 - $164,145 USD per year.

• The provided salary range is $141,906 - $153,026 - $164,145. This indicates a tiered salary structure within the stated range.

• ActBlue states that final salary offers will consider candidate experience, interview performance, and current team salary parity.

Benefits:

• Work-Life Balance:

  • Flexible work schedules.
  • Unlimited time-off policy.
  • Minimum of three months paid medical, family, and parental leave (for all new parents, adoptions included).

• Health & Wellness:

  • Fully paid and trans-inclusive health, dental, and vision insurance for employees and their families.
  • Fully paid health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) for out-of-pocket expenses.
  • Fully paid short-term and long-term disability insurance.
  • Basic and AD&D life insurance, with an option for voluntary supplemental life insurance.
  • Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for employees.

• Financial Security:

  • Automatic 2% employer-paid 401K contribution.
  • Up to an additional 6% match on employee 401K contributions.
  • Dependent and health care flexible spending account options.

• Remote Work Support:

  • Commuter or home-office benefits.
  • A $1,000 home-office setup allowance for all new full-time remote employees.

• Additional Perks:

  • Quarterly snack deliveries.

Working Hours:

• This role requires availability during established, regular business hours (Monday-Friday).

• While specific hours are not detailed, the remote-first culture and distributed teams across U.S. time zones imply a need for flexibility and coordination.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range is clearly defined and competitive. The benefits package is extensive, with a strong emphasis on health, family leave, and remote work support, reflecting a modern and employee-centric approach. The mention of a union bargaining unit is noteworthy for understanding the employment structure.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology, specifically focused on political fundraising and progressive causes. ActBlue operates within the nonprofit technology sector, providing essential digital infrastructure for Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations.

Company Size: ActBlue is a growing organization, indicated by the range of states they are registered in and the need for a Senior UX Designer. While not explicitly stated, their scale suggests a mid-sized organization with a significant impact in their niche.

Founded: ActBlue was founded to revolutionize grassroots fundraising. The company's mission is deeply intertwined with its culture, fostering a commitment to progressive causes and empowering small-dollar donors.

Team Structure:

• The UX team likely operates within a larger Product or Technology department.

• The Senior UX Designer I will collaborate closely with UX Research, Product Management, and Engineering.

• There's an expectation of cross-functional collaboration across various internal teams to ensure product success and cohesive user experiences.

Methodology:

• User-Centricity: A core methodology is grounding design decisions in user behaviors, needs, and motivations through research and data analysis.

• Systems Thinking: The emphasis on design systems and component-based design points to a structured, scalable approach to product development.

• Agile/Iterative: The end-to-end delivery process implies an iterative approach, balancing speed with craft and structure.

• AI Integration: Actively exploring and integrating AI tools into the design workflow for efficiency and innovation.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: ActBlue's mission is a significant cultural driver. Candidates should demonstrate a genuine interest in progressive causes and politics. The remote-first, distributed team structure requires strong communication and self-management skills.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a "Senior UX Designer I," indicating a mid-to-senior level position. It requires significant autonomy in design execution and contribution to core design infrastructure (the design system). The "I" suggests this is a foundational senior role, with potential for further advancement to more specialized or leadership positions within UX or design systems.

Reporting Structure: The UX Designer will likely report to a UX Manager, Director of Design, or Head of Product. They will work closely with Product Managers and Engineering leads on specific product initiatives. The mentorship aspect suggests they will guide junior designers, who may or may not directly report to them.

Operations Impact: As a Senior UX Designer, the impact is significant. By contributing to a robust design system, this role directly influences the consistency, scalability, and efficiency of product development across ActBlue's platform. Strong UX design ensures that ActBlue's technology effectively supports Democratic victories and progressive causes, thereby amplifying the impact of small-dollar donors and grassroots movements. Efficiency gains from the design system can free up engineering and design resources for other critical initiatives.

Growth Opportunities:

• Design System Specialization: Deepen expertise in design systems, potentially moving into a dedicated Design Systems Lead or Architect role.

• Product Design Leadership: Progress to a Senior UX Designer II or Lead UX Designer role, taking ownership of larger product areas or leading design initiatives.

• Mentorship & Management: Develop leadership skills by formally managing junior designers or leading design efforts for specific product lines.

• AI in Design: Become a go-to expert within ActBlue for leveraging AI tools in design workflows, contributing to innovation and best practices.

• Cross-functional Mobility: Gain deep product knowledge that could lead to opportunities in Product Management or other strategic roles within the tech organization.

📝 Enhancement Note: The growth path is clear, offering opportunities to specialize in design systems, take on more product ownership, or move into leadership. The emphasis on AI integration presents a unique opportunity for skill development in a rapidly evolving field.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: ActBlue operates as a remote-first organization. While specific office locations are not detailed for this role, the company is registered to support remote work in numerous US states. This means the work environment is virtual, relying heavily on digital communication and collaboration tools.

Office Location(s): Remote, with registered states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Washington D.C. ActBlue can register in additional states as needed.

Workspace Context:

• Distributed Teams: Employees work with distributed teams across all U.S. time zones, requiring strong asynchronous communication skills and an understanding of time zone management.

• Technology-Centric: Roles require extended technology usage, with proficiency expected in virtual communication tools like Zoom and Slack. Regular attendance in virtual meetings is a standard expectation.

• Collaborative Environment: Despite being remote, the culture emphasizes collaboration, feedback, and inclusivity, fostered through digital tools and structured team interactions.

Work Schedule:

• The role requires availability during established, regular business hours (Monday-Fri).

• While specific hours are not mandated, the remote-first nature and distributed teams suggest a need for flexibility and responsiveness within core business hours.

📝 Enhancement Note: The remote-first environment is a defining characteristic. Candidates must be comfortable with asynchronous communication, self-direction, and leveraging digital tools for all aspects of work and collaboration.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter or hiring manager will likely review applications and resumes, looking for alignment with the required experience and skills, particularly in UX design and design systems.

• Portfolio Review: Candidates will be asked to present their portfolio, showcasing relevant projects that demonstrate end-to-end product design and design system contributions. Focus on clear storytelling, process explanation, and quantifiable results.

• Hiring Manager Interview: A deeper dive into your experience, design philosophy, approach to problem-solving, and fit with the team and company culture. Expect questions about your experience with Figma, design systems, and AI tools.

• Design Exercise/Case Study: You may be given a design challenge or asked to walk through a specific case study in detail, focusing on your process, decision-making, and how you would approach a problem within ActBlue's context. This could include a design system component challenge.

• Cross-functional Interviews: Interviews with Product Managers, Engineers, and potentially other designers to assess collaboration skills, communication effectiveness, and technical understanding.

• Final Interview: Potentially with a senior leader to discuss overall fit, strategic thinking, and long-term potential.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 2-3 projects that best showcase your end-to-end product design skills and, crucially, your direct contributions to a design system. Highlight specific components, tokens, or documentation you developed.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the problem, your role, the process you followed (especially research and ideation), your design decisions (and the rationale behind them), and the impact/outcomes. Use visuals effectively but ensure they support your narrative.

• Highlight System Thinking: For design system contributions, detail how you identified needs, defined patterns, collaborated with engineers, and ensured consistency. Show how your work scales and supports product development.

• Showcase Figma Mastery: Be prepared to demonstrate your Figma skills, particularly your use of component libraries, auto-layout, and any experience with variables or design tokens within the tool.

• Quantify Impact: Wherever possible, include metrics or data that demonstrate the success of your designs or the efficiency gains from design system implementation (e.g., reduction in design/dev time, increased consistency).

Challenge Preparation:

• Understand the Context: Research ActBlue's mission, platform, and user base to tailor your approach.

• Focus on Process: For any design challenge, emphasize your methodology – how you'd break down the problem, what research you’d conduct, how you’d ideate, and how you’d validate your solutions.

• Design System Integration: If the challenge involves a new feature, consider how it would integrate with or extend the existing design system. If it's a system challenge, focus on scalability and maintainability.

• AI Tool Exploration: Be ready to discuss how you might use AI tools to accelerate parts of the design or research process, but ground it in practical application and the need for human oversight and system consistency.

• Communicate Clearly: Practice articulating your thought process concisely and effectively, as you'll likely need to present your work and rationale.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process heavily emphasizes portfolio demonstration and practical application of design system principles. Candidates should be prepared to "show their work" and explain their thought process in detail.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: The core design tool mentioned, with a specific emphasis on component libraries, Variables, and token workflows. Proficiency is essential.

• Design System Tools: Likely involves tools for managing component libraries, versioning, and potentially style guides. This could include Figma's built-in features or integrations.

• Prototyping Tools: Figma's prototyping capabilities are expected, but other tools might be used for more advanced interactive prototypes.

• AI-Powered Design Tools: Candidates should be familiar with or eager to learn tools that leverage AI for design generation, analysis, or workflow automation.

Analytics & Reporting:

CRM & Automation:

• Not directly relevant to the UX Designer's primary tool stack, but understanding how user data is managed and how automated processes impact user experience could be advantageous.

📝 Enhancement Note: The technology stack is heavily focused on design execution and design system management, with Figma as the central tool. The explicit mention of AI tools and design tokens indicates a modern and evolving approach to UX design operations.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Mission-Driven: A strong commitment to advancing progressive causes and politics is a core value. Employees are expected to care about the mission and want to make a meaningful impact.

• User-First Approach: Decisions are grounded in user behaviors, needs, and motivations, ensuring that technology serves the user effectively.

• Collaboration & Inclusion: Fostering an inclusive and collaborative work environment is paramount, centering and amplifying diverse backgrounds and points of view.

• Curiosity & Continuous Learning: A willingness to explore new tools (like AI-powered design tools), learn new skills, and approach challenges with curiosity.

• Craftsmanship & Quality: Balancing speed with craft, ensuring that design solutions are not only functional but also visually impactful and well-executed.

• Teamwork & Feedback: A culture of constructive feedback and a willingness to work through conflict with curiosity, leading through influence.

Collaboration Style:

• Remote-First & Asynchronous: Emphasizes effective asynchronous communication and collaboration across distributed teams and time zones.

• Cross-functional Partnership: Works closely with Product, Engineering, and UX Research, fostering alignment and shared ownership.

• Mentorship & Peer Support: Actively supports the growth of junior designers and engages in team critiques to elevate collective work quality.

• Influence & Alignment: Leads through influence rather than authority, driving consensus and ensuring stakeholders are aligned on design direction.

📝 Enhancement Note: The company culture is deeply tied to its mission. Candidates who are passionate about progressive causes and comfortable in a remote, collaborative, and feedback-driven environment will thrive.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Product Design & System Design: Effectively managing time and focus between delivering new product features and contributing to the ongoing maintenance and evolution of the design system.

• Remote Collaboration Dynamics: Navigating the nuances of remote collaboration, ensuring clear communication, building strong relationships, and maintaining team cohesion without in-person interaction.

• Integrating Emerging Technologies: Staying current with and effectively integrating AI-powered design tools into existing workflows without compromising design quality or system integrity.

• Scalability & Consistency: Ensuring the design system remains scalable and consistent as ActBlue's product offerings and user base grow.

• Bridging Design & Engineering: Maintaining strong alignment between design specifications and front-end implementation, particularly with evolving technologies and token architecture.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Design System Expertise: Opportunity to become a specialist in design systems, learning about advanced token architecture, component governance, and system scalability.

• AI in Design Exploration: Develop deep fluency in AI-powered design tools and learn to apply them strategically to enhance design processes and outcomes.

• Mentorship & Leadership: Gain experience in mentoring junior designers and potentially leading design initiatives, building leadership skills.

• Cross-functional Exposure: Deepen understanding of product management, engineering, and user research through close collaboration, broadening career perspectives.

• Industry Trends: Participate in industry discussions and learn about best practices in UX design, design systems, and the application of new technologies.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role presents opportunities to tackle complex design challenges in a growing organization with a strong mission. The emphasis on design systems and AI offers clear avenues for professional development.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you had to balance designing a new product feature with contributing to a design system. How did you prioritize and manage your time?" (Focus on prioritization