UI Design Lead - Temporary Worker

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UI Design Lead - Temporary Worker

Company: dentsu

Location: USA - Remote - California

Job Type: Full time, Temporary

Category: Creative & Design Operations

Date Posted: 2026-08-10

Experience Level: 5-10 Years

Remote Status: Hybrid (with expectation of 3 days in office for those within commutable distance of a hub, remote designation for others based on role/business needs)

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the definition and execution of a North Star Customer Experience (CX) Vision, focusing on both strategic design and detailed UI craft.

• Develop high-fidelity UI designs and comprehensive customer journey/service blueprint diagrams using Figma and FigJam.

• Translate complex business requirements and client strategies into intuitive, engaging digital interfaces and service ecosystems.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Group Creative Directors and multidisciplinary specialists, to bring future-state visions to life.

• Apply a digital-first, user-centric approach to design across web, app, and other digital touchpoints, adhering to accessibility standards.

📝 Enhancement Note: While the title is "UI Design Lead," the responsibilities and required skills indicate a strong blend of UI design, service design, and customer experience strategy. This role is critical in bridging the gap between high-level CX vision and tangible digital product design, requiring a candidate who can operate strategically and tactically. The temporary nature of the role suggests a project-based need, likely focused on a significant client initiative.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Partner with Group Creative Directors and stakeholders to conceptualize and articulate the overarching North Star CX Vision, ensuring alignment with client objectives and user needs.

• Design intuitive and visually compelling customer journey maps and service blueprints that illustrate the future-state advisory ecosystem and operational workflows.

• Produce high-fidelity UI designs, wireframes, prototypes, and design assets for a North Star microsite, ensuring a cohesive and engaging user experience.

• Translate complex business strategies and user insights into actionable design solutions that enhance user engagement and drive business outcomes.

• Apply expertise in visual, motion, and interactive design principles, staying abreast of current digital design trends and best practices across various platforms.

• Ensure all designs adhere to web and app accessibility best practices, specifically WCAG 2.2 AA standards, to create inclusive user experiences.

• Present design rationale, user flows, and strategic recommendations clearly and persuasively to both creative teams and business stakeholders.

• Manage design deliverables within project timelines, demonstrating proactive time management and flexibility to adapt to evolving project requirements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on "North Star CX Vision," "customer journeys," and "service blueprints" suggests a role that requires not just UI execution but also strategic thinking about the entire customer lifecycle and the underlying operational processes. The output is intended to feed directly into a "North Star microsite," implying a need for design that is both visionary and immediately implementable.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: While no specific degree is mandated, a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field is often preferred for roles at this level. Equivalent practical experience will also be considered.

Experience: 5+ years of professional experience in digital design, UI/UX design, or art direction, with a demonstrated ability to lead design initiatives.

Required Skills:

• Proven expertise in UI design principles, including layout, typography, color theory, and iconography.

• Strong proficiency in industry-standard design tools, specifically Figma and FigJam.

• Demonstrated experience in creating detailed customer journey maps and service blueprint diagrams.

• Solid understanding of systems thinking, interaction design, and modular/atomic design principles.

• Ability to interpret and effectively extend existing brand guidelines to new digital experiences.

• Knowledge of web and app accessibility best practices, including WCAG 2.2 AA standards.

• Experience in digital art direction and translating creative briefs into visual concepts.

• Strong presentation skills, with the ability to articulate design decisions and strategic rationale to diverse audiences.

• Excellent communication, proactive time management, and organizational skills.

• Ability to work effectively both independently and collaboratively within a team environment. Preferred Skills:

• Experience with motion design and animation for digital interfaces.

• Familiarity with other design and prototyping tools (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch).

• Background in user research and translating research findings into design solutions.

• Experience working within an agency or consulting environment.

• Understanding of front-end development principles to inform design feasibility.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for 5+ years of experience, combined with leading design initiatives and presenting to stakeholders, positions this as a mid-to-senior level role. The emphasis on Figma/FigJam and service design elements points to a need for modern design practices and a holistic approach to CX.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A curated portfolio showcasing a minimum of 5+ years of digital design work, with a strong emphasis on UI design, CX strategy, and service design.

• Specific case studies demonstrating experience in defining customer journeys and service blueprints, clearly outlining the problem, your role, the process, and the outcomes.

• Examples of high-fidelity UI designs for web and/or mobile applications, highlighting your visual design skills and attention to detail.

• Demonstrations of your ability to translate complex business requirements into intuitive and user-friendly interfaces.

• Visualizations of systems thinking and how you've approached modular or atomic design principles.

• Evidence of understanding and applying accessibility standards (WCAG 2.2 AA) in your design work.

• Examples of presenting design rationale and strategy to both creative and business stakeholders. Process Documentation:

• Case studies should detail your design process, from initial concept and research through to final asset delivery and implementation considerations.

• Clearly articulate how you approached problem-solving and decision-making at each stage of the design lifecycle.

• Showcase your methods for iterating on designs based on feedback and data.

• If applicable, include examples of how your designs have contributed to measurable business improvements or enhanced user satisfaction.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a role leading design initiatives and translating strategy into tangible assets, a portfolio is paramount. It needs to go beyond just static mockups to demonstrate a strategic design process, understanding of user journeys, and the ability to communicate complex ideas effectively. The inclusion of service blueprints and CX vision is a key differentiator.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $61.75 - $82.10 per hour.

• This hourly range is based on the provided information and reflects a temporary, full-time position with specific expertise requirements within the California market. Benefits:

• Paid holidays in accordance with dentsu policy.

• Safe and sick time accrual.

• This temporary position is not eligible for other benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, or paid time off beyond holidays and sick leave.

Working Hours: 40 hours per week.

• The role is designated as remote or hybrid depending on location. Employees within commuting distance of a dentsu hub (Chicago, metro Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City) are expected to work from the office three days per week (two days in Los Angeles). Those living outside a commutable range may be designated as fully remote. Flexibility to meet company and client needs, including potential office attendance, is expected.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is for a temporary, hourly role. It's crucial for candidates to understand that benefits are limited to paid holidays and sick time, which is typical for contract or temporary positions. The hybrid work expectation for those within commuting distance of a hub is a key detail for location-based candidates.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Marketing & Advertising / Digital Services. Dentsu is a global network of agencies providing a wide range of marketing, advertising, and consulting services. Merkle, the brand this role is under, is known for its data-driven customer experience management.

Company Size: Dentsu is a large, global organization. Merkle operates as a significant part of this network. This implies access to a broad range of resources, expertise, and large-scale client opportunities, but potentially with more formalized processes and structures.

Founded: Dentsu was founded in 1906, with Merkle's origins tracing back to 1988. This long history suggests a company with established practices and a deep understanding of the evolving marketing landscape.

Team Structure:

• This role reports to a Group Creative Director, indicating a position within a creative or experience design leadership structure.

• Collaboration will occur with multidisciplinary teams, likely including strategists, copywriters, account managers, and potentially data analysts or technologists.

• The "Temp Role – W2 on dentsu payroll" status means you'll be integrated into the team as a temporary employee, working alongside permanent staff. Methodology:

• Dentsu/Merkle emphasizes a data-driven approach to customer experience, blending creativity with analytical insights.

• The role requires a "digital-first mindset," leveraging current trends in visual, motion, and interactive design.

• A key methodology involves translating complex business strategies into tangible customer journeys and service blueprints, indicating a focus on end-to-end CX solutions.

• The company culture supports flexibility combined with in-person collaboration to foster idea generation.

Company Website: https://www.dentsu.com/ and https://www.merkleinc.com/

📝 Enhancement Note: Understanding that this role is under the Merkle brand within the larger Dentsu Aegis Network is important. Merkle's focus on customer experience management suggests that data-driven insights and measurable outcomes will be key performance indicators for any design work. The hybrid model for hub employees is a significant cultural and logistical detail.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as a Lead within UI Design, but with significant strategic responsibilities in CX Vision and Service Design. It's a senior individual contributor role, requiring leadership in design thinking and execution for a specific project. It bridges the gap between a pure UI Designer and a UX Strategist/Service Designer.

Reporting Structure: You will report directly to a Group Creative Director, receiving strategic direction and creative oversight from this senior leader. You will also collaborate closely with multidisciplinary teams.

Operations Impact: The impact of this role is directly tied to defining the future-state customer experience for a major client. Successful execution will influence how customers interact with the client's ecosystem, potentially driving engagement, conversion, and overall brand perception. The output directly feeds a "North Star microsite," making the design's clarity and effectiveness critical.

Growth Opportunities:

• While a temporary role, it offers a significant opportunity to gain experience working on a high-profile client initiative with a leading agency network.

• Exposure to advanced CX visioning, service design methodologies, and cross-functional collaboration within a large organization.

• Development of skills in presenting complex design strategies and rationales to senior stakeholders.

• Potential for future contract extensions or opportunities within Dentsu/Merkle based on performance and business needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: As a temporary role, direct "career growth" in the traditional sense might be limited to the contract duration. However, the experience gained and the portfolio pieces developed will be invaluable for future opportunities, especially in roles requiring a blend of UI, CX, and service design. The "Lead" title, even on a temp basis, signifies responsibility and influence.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The company operates a hybrid work model. Employees within commuting distance of designated hub offices (Chicago, metro Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City) are expected to work from the office three days per week. Those outside these areas may be designated as remote, depending on role and business needs.

Office Location(s): While the role is remote for California-based employees, the company has physical hub offices in Chicago, metro Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York City.

• For those designated as remote, the "work environment" is your home office.

• For those within commutable distance, the office environment will be collaborative, designed to foster idea generation and team connection. Workspace Context:

• For remote workers, a self-directed, productive home office setup is assumed.

• For hybrid workers, the office environment will likely be dynamic, with collaborative spaces and meeting rooms to facilitate teamwork and client interactions.

• Access to Dentsu's digital tools and platforms will be provided to support design work and collaboration.

• The expectation is flexibility to meet client and company needs, which may include occasional travel or in-office presence even for remote-designated roles.

Work Schedule: 40 hours per week, full-time. The schedule is generally flexible, but adherence to project deadlines and collaboration with teams across different time zones (mention of EST preference) will be key.

📝 Enhancement Note: The hybrid model is a critical detail. While the role is remote for California, the company's broader policy requires hub employees to be in-office 3 days/week. This indicates a company culture that values in-person collaboration, even if this specific role is remote. Flexibility is a recurring theme.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A recruiter will likely review your application and resume, focusing on your years of experience, key skills (Figma, service design, UI), and portfolio relevance.

• Portfolio Review & Creative Brief: You will likely be asked to present your portfolio, focusing on relevant case studies. Be prepared to walk through your process for a customer journey or service blueprint project, explaining your strategic approach, design decisions, and outcomes. A creative brief or design challenge might be presented to assess your immediate response and problem-solving skills.

• Stakeholder Interviews: Interviews with the Group Creative Director and potentially other team leads to assess your design leadership, strategic thinking, communication skills, and cultural fit. Expect questions about how you handle feedback, manage projects, and collaborate.

• Final Assessment: Evaluation will focus on your ability to deliver high-quality UI and service design, strategic thinking, and overall fit for the temporary project needs.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Curate Strategically: Select 2-3 projects that best showcase your UI design, customer journey mapping, and service blueprint creation skills. Prioritize projects that align with the "North Star CX Vision" concept.

• Tell a Story: For each project, clearly articulate the client's challenge, your role and responsibilities, your design process, the tools you used (especially Figma/FigJam), the solutions you developed, and the measurable impact or outcomes.

• Highlight Process: Emphasize your thinking behind the designs, not just the final visuals. Show how you translated strategy into design and how you considered user needs and business goals.

• Accessibility Focus: If possible, include an example where you explicitly considered or implemented accessibility best practices (WCAG 2.2 AA).

• Conciseness: Be prepared to present your portfolio effectively within a given timeframe, focusing on the most impactful aspects of your work.

Challenge Preparation:

• Figma/FigJam Proficiency: Be ready to demonstrate your skills in Figma/FigJam, potentially in a live exercise or by discussing complex features you've utilized.

• Service Design Thinking: Practice articulating how you would approach mapping a customer journey or designing a service blueprint for a hypothetical scenario.

• Strategic Rationale: Prepare to explain why you made certain design decisions, linking them back to business objectives and user needs.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on a "North Star microsite" and "future-state advisory ecosystem" means interviewers will be looking for a candidate who can think big picture while executing with precision. Your portfolio needs to prove you can do both. Be ready to discuss how you'd integrate UI design with service design to achieve a holistic CX.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Figma: Essential for UI design, wireframing, prototyping, and component-based design. Expect to use it extensively for creating high-fidelity UI assets and potentially for collaborative design sessions.

• FigJam: Crucial for collaborative whiteboarding, brainstorming, customer journey mapping, and service blueprint creation.

• Adobe Creative Suite: While Figma is primary, familiarity with Photoshop, Illustrator, or After Effects might be beneficial for asset creation or motion design elements.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not explicitly stated as a requirement for this role, experience with analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) and understanding how design impacts key metrics (engagement, conversion, retention) is highly valuable. This informs design decisions and allows for demonstrating impact. CRM & Automation:

• Not directly relevant to the core responsibilities of this UI design role, but understanding how user interfaces integrate with backend systems or marketing automation platforms can be a plus.

📝 Enhancement Note: Figma and FigJam are explicitly called out as required tools. Proficiency in these is non-negotiable. The role is design-centric, so the focus is on creative tools rather than backend operations or CRM systems.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Customer-Centricity: A deep commitment to understanding and designing for the end-user's needs and journey.

• Strategic Creativity: Balancing innovative design concepts with practical, executable solutions that align with business goals.

• Collaboration: Working effectively with diverse teams, sharing ideas, and incorporating feedback to achieve collective success.

• Excellence in Craft: A dedication to producing high-quality, polished design work with meticulous attention to detail.

• Adaptability: Embracing change, being flexible with evolving project requirements, and proactively managing time to meet deadlines.

Collaboration Style:

• The role emphasizes partnership with Group Creative Directors and multidisciplinary teams, suggesting a collaborative and communicative environment.

• Expect to engage in brainstorming sessions, design reviews, and cross-functional discussions.

• The hybrid work model indicates a culture that balances flexible remote work with the benefits of in-person interaction for idea generation and team cohesion.

📝 Enhancement Note: Dentsu's emphasis on flexibility combined with in-person collaboration suggests a culture that values both autonomy and teamwork. The specific mention of "sparking ideas and strengthening our teams" highlights the importance of collaborative energy.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Balancing Vision and Execution: The primary challenge will be translating a high-level "North Star CX Vision" into concrete, high-fidelity UI designs and detailed service blueprints within project constraints.

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Ensuring that UI designs and service blueprints are understood and supported by various stakeholders with different priorities and perspectives.

• Temporary Role Dynamics: Adapting quickly to a new team, project, and client objectives within a defined contract period.

• Remote/Hybrid Collaboration: Effectively collaborating and maintaining strong communication with team members across different work arrangements and potentially time zones.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced CX Design: Deepen expertise in strategic customer experience visioning and service design methodologies.

• Agency Workflow: Gain hands-on experience with the operational workflows and client management practices of a major global agency network.

• Tool Mastery: Further refine skills in Figma and FigJam for complex design and collaboration tasks.

• Portfolio Enhancement: Create significant, impactful pieces for your professional portfolio that demonstrate leadership in UI and CX design.

📝 Enhancement Note: The temporary nature of the role presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is to hit the ground running and deliver impact quickly. The opportunity lies in gaining high-value experience and portfolio assets that can propel future career moves.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you partnered with a senior creative leader to define a customer experience vision. What was your role and the outcome?" (Focus on collaboration, strategic input, and communication.)

• "How do you approach translating complex business requirements into intuitive customer journeys and service blueprints?" (Highlight your process, tools, and user-centric thinking.)

• "Walk us through a project where you had to balance brand guidelines with innovative UI design. How did you ensure consistency while pushing creative boundaries?" (Showcase your design rationale and problem-solving.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about this temporary role at Merkle/Dentsu, and how does it align with your career goals?" (Connect your skills and aspirations to the project and company.)

• "How do you contribute to a collaborative team environment, especially in a hybrid or remote setting?" (Emphasize communication, proactivity, and teamwork.)

• "How do you ensure your designs are accessible and inclusive?" (Demonstrate knowledge of WCAG 2.2 AA and your commitment to accessibility.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Lead with Impact: Start with your strongest, most relevant case study that showcases UI design, customer journey mapping, and service blueprinting.

• Structure Your Narrative: For each project, clearly define the problem, your solution, your process (emphasizing Figma/FigJam), and the results. Quantify outcomes where possible.

• Showcase Strategic Thinking: Explain the "why" behind your design decisions, linking them to user needs and business objectives.

• Be Ready for Figma/FigJam: If asked, be prepared to discuss specific features or workflows you use in Figma/FigJam for complex tasks like journey mapping or component design.

• Concise and Clear: Practice your presentation to be engaging, informative, and within the allotted time.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interviewers will be assessing your ability to handle ambiguity, think strategically about CX, and execute with high-quality UI craft. Your preparation should focus on demonstrating a blend of these skills, supported by concrete examples from your portfolio.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations position:

• Submit your application through the "Apply" button on the job posting.

• Portfolio Customization: Ensure your resume and portfolio are tailored to highlight your experience in UI design, customer journey mapping, service blueprints, Figma/FigJam proficiency, and strategic CX visioning. Select 2-3 key projects that best align with the role's requirements.

• Resume Optimization: Clearly articulate your 5+ years of experience, focusing on achievements and responsibilities related to digital design leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and stakeholder presentations. Use keywords from the job description.

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design process, strategic rationale, and how you've applied accessibility standards. Prepare to present your portfolio confidently and answer behavioral questions related to teamwork and problem-solving.

• Company Research: Familiarize yourself with Dentsu and Merkle's work, particularly their focus on customer experience management and digital transformation. Understand their hybrid work model and company values.

⚠️ 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.