UX Design System Designer (AI) – 10982

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UX Design System Designer (AI) – 10982

Company: ICSI.

Location: Fort Worth, TX

Job Type: CONTRACTOR

Category: Design | Digital Product Operations

Date Posted: May 20, 2026

Experience Level: 5-10 years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive the evolution and scaling of enterprise design system artifacts, patterns, and documentation, with a focus on AI integration for enhanced efficiency and consistency.

• Spearhead the exploration, prototyping, and advocacy for AI tools and workflows within UX design processes to automate tasks and elevate design quality and speed.

• Influence product and design decisions by leveraging UX best practices, design principles, and research findings within an agile framework.

• Collaborate closely with Engineering teams to identify optimal technical implementations, including AI-driven approaches to accelerate design and development cycles.

• Manage the collection, analysis, presentation, and actioning of feedback on UX deliverables, ensuring continuous improvement of design assets.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned within the Digital Customer Experience team, indicating a strong focus on user-facing digital products and services. The emphasis on AI and design systems suggests a strategic initiative to modernize and scale design operations, making it a high-impact role for candidates looking to drive significant change.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Contribute to and evolve design system artifacts, patterns, and documentation, identifying opportunities to leverage AI for improved scalability, consistency, and efficiency.

• Explore, prototype, and advocate for the use of AI tools and workflows within UX design processes, enabling teams to automate repetitive tasks and enhance design quality and speed.

• Influence product owner decisions based on UX best practices, design principles, and research, utilizing agile methodologies.

• Collaborate with Engineering to find the most effective, expedient, and efficient ways to implement solutions, exploring AI-enabled approaches to accelerate design and development workflows.

• Collect, analyze, present, and action feedback, managing changes to UX deliverables to ensure ongoing relevance and quality.

• Present work clearly and compellingly to stakeholders, leveraging storytelling and presentation skills to convey design rationale and impact.

• Provide timely status updates, including work remaining, issues, and risks, using project management tools such as Rally, Jira, or Aha!.

• Communicate effectively with all team members to ensure seamless workflow and project completion.

• Design the visual style, interface, and interaction flow of applications and experiences that adhere to and evolve design system standards, patterns, and scalable design practices.

• Develop conceptual diagrams, wireframes, visual mockups, and prototypes that incorporate systems thinking, information architecture, and opportunities for reusable patterns and AI-assisted design workflows.

• Create research strategies based on desired outcomes and develop usability test plans, scripts, and scenarios for prototypes, formulating and testing hypotheses during design iterations.

• Utilize research techniques such as heuristic reviews, user interviews, and remote/in-person usability testing to assess ease-of-use and comprehension of designs.

• Lead end-to-end UX design processes, from ideation through execution, ensuring a cohesive and user-centric approach.

• Mentor and guide other Designers to foster growth, collaboration, and adherence to design system standards.

• Ensure designs are responsive and adaptive for both desktop and mobile platforms, adhering to accessibility standards.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a blend of strategic design system management and hands-on UX execution, with a significant emphasis on integrating emerging AI technologies. This suggests the role requires a candidate who can not only maintain existing design assets but also innovate and drive adoption of new tools and methodologies.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors Engineering, Computer Science, Visual Design, Library Sciences, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience or training. A Master's degree is preferred.

Experience: 5+ years of experience as a UX practitioner with a background in user experience design, interaction design, or similar. 3+ years specifically in UX design.

Required Skills:

• 5+ years of UX practitioner experience.

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience.

• Experience working closely with Engineers in an agile environment from inception through implementation.

• Experience collaborating effectively across disciplines, product lines, roles, geographical, and time zone boundaries.

• Knowledge and proficiency using remote unmoderated testing tools and moderated testing devices/platforms.

• Experience in responsive, adaptive, and accessible designs.

• Experience with design for mobile apps (iOS and Android), desktop, and web applications.

• Strong skills in modern design and prototyping tools such as Figma and Adobe Creative Suite.

• Understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other frontend development languages.

• Advanced analytical skills for complex data problems and implementing sustainable solutions.

• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and communicate effectively with non-technical users.

• In-depth understanding of both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

• Strong understanding of user-centered design principles and trends in web and app design.

• Proficiency in using project management tools (Rally, Jira, Aha!) to track progress and report status.

• Storytelling and presentation skills to effectively communicate design decisions. Preferred Skills:

• Master's degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience.

• 5+ years of experience as a UX practitioner with a background in user experience design, interaction design, or similar.

• Experience with accessibility standards, including WCAG 2.0+ AA compliance, localization, and inclusive design.

• Experience working with or contributing to design systems, including creating reusable patterns, documentation, and scalable design solutions.

• Proven ability to work in Product and DesignOps environments to meet evolving organizational needs.

• Strong organizational skills and the ability to intelligently build flows and wireframes for complex computer applications.

• Experience or strong familiarity with emerging technologies such as generative AI, including applying AI tools to design workflows, prototyping, or research activities.

📝 Enhancement Note: The mandatory requirement for 5+ years of UX practitioner experience coupled with specific experience in design systems and AI workflows indicates a need for a seasoned professional. The preference for a Master's degree and specific experience in accessibility, localization, and DesignOps suggests a desire for a candidate with a deep and broad understanding of modern UX practices.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Demonstrable experience in designing and evolving enterprise-level design systems, showcasing component libraries, reusable patterns, and comprehensive documentation.

• Case studies that highlight the application of AI-enabled workflows within the UX design process, illustrating improvements in efficiency, scalability, or design quality.

• Examples of complex wireframes, prototypes, and visual mockups that reflect systems thinking and information architecture principles.

• Evidence of user research methodologies applied, including usability testing results, heuristic reviews, and user interviews, with clear articulation of insights and design iterations.

• Projects showcasing responsive, adaptive, and accessible design solutions across various platforms (desktop, mobile, web).

• Examples of collaboration with engineering teams, demonstrating successful implementation of designs and problem-solving during the development lifecycle. Process Documentation:

• Showcase documentation of design system contributions, including pattern definitions, usage guidelines, and version control strategies.

• Evidence of process improvement initiatives, particularly those involving AI tools to streamline design workflows, automate repetitive tasks, or enhance design-to-development handoffs.

• Examples of research strategy development and execution, including usability test plans, scripts, and analysis of findings.

• Documentation of collaboration processes, illustrating how feedback was managed, changes were implemented, and stakeholder alignment was achieved.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given the role's focus on design systems and AI, the portfolio should strongly emphasize how the candidate has contributed to or owned design system components, scaled design practices, and integrated new technologies like AI into their workflow. Quantifiable results and clear articulation of process improvements will be crucial.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: As this is a W2 Contract position without benefits, the compensation will likely be structured as an hourly rate. Based on industry standards for a UX Design System Designer with 5-10 years of experience in Fort Worth, TX, specializing in AI and design systems, the estimated hourly rate could range from $60 to $90 USD per hour. This estimate is derived from research on similar contract roles in major metropolitan areas, considering the specialized skills in AI and design systems.

Benefits:

• Contractual Engagement: This is a W2 contract role, meaning employment is through ICSI.

• No Benefits Provided: As explicitly stated, this contract does not include benefits such as health insurance, paid time off, retirement plans, or other typical employee benefits.

Working Hours: Standard full-time hours are expected, typically around 40 hours per week. The role operates within an agile methodology, which may involve flexible scheduling for team collaboration, but overall, a commitment to a full work week is anticipated.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "W2 Contract - No Benefits" designation is critical. Candidates should expect to be responsible for their own health insurance, retirement savings, and paid time off. The estimated salary range reflects a market rate for contract roles, which often command higher hourly wages to compensate for the lack of benefits.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Aviation & Aerospace (specifically within Digital Customer Experience at American Airlines, managed through ICSI as a contractor).

Company Size: ICSI is a staffing and recruitment agency that places contractors. The role is for American Airlines, a large enterprise. American Airlines' Digital Customer Experience team is likely a significant department within a large organization, with numerous cross-functional teams and stakeholders.

Founded: ICSI was founded in 2014. American Airlines has a much longer history, founded in 1926.

Team Structure:

• This role is part of the Digital Customer Experience team within the broader Customer Experience Organization at American Airlines.

• It operates within a cross-functional team structure, collaborating closely with Product Owners, Engineering, and potentially other design disciplines.

• The role involves influencing product and design decisions, suggesting a degree of autonomy and impact within the team's scope.

• Mentoring and guiding other Designers is a stated responsibility, indicating a potential for senior or lead-like contributions within the team. Methodology:

• The team operates using agile methodologies, requiring adaptability and iterative development.

• There is a strong emphasis on user-centered design principles, supported by user research and usability testing.

• Systems thinking is crucial, with a focus on creating scalable design systems and reusable patterns.

• The integration of emerging technologies, particularly AI, is a key area of focus for improving efficiency and scalability.

Company Website: http://www.icsicad.com (for ICSI), and implicitly American Airlines' digital platforms.

📝 Enhancement Note: While ICSI is the employer of record for the contract, the cultural context is primarily that of American Airlines' Digital Customer Experience team. Candidates should research American Airlines' corporate culture, particularly its digital transformation efforts and approach to innovation. The AI focus suggests a forward-thinking environment within a traditional industry.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is positioned as an experienced UX Designer with a specialization in Design Systems and AI. It requires a minimum of 5 years of experience, indicating a mid-to-senior level position. The responsibilities include influencing decisions and mentoring others, suggesting potential for growth into lead or principal designer roles within design systems or AI-focused UX initiatives.

Reporting Structure: The role reports into the Digital Customer Experience team at American Airlines. While specific reporting lines aren't detailed, it's typical for UX Designers to report to a UX Manager, Director of UX, or Head of Digital Experience. The cross-functional nature means frequent interaction with Product Owners and Engineering leads.

Operations Impact: This role has a direct impact on the scalability, consistency, and efficiency of digital product design for American Airlines. By evolving the design system and integrating AI, the designer will contribute to faster development cycles, a more cohesive user experience across platforms, and ultimately, enhanced customer satisfaction and operational efficiency in digital product delivery. The focus on AI also positions the individual at the forefront of technological innovation within the UX domain.

Growth Opportunities:

• Design System Leadership: Opportunity to take ownership of specific areas of the design system, leading its evolution and adoption.

• AI in UX Specialization: Deepen expertise in applying AI tools and methodologies to UX design, becoming a go-to resource for AI-driven design innovation.

• Cross-functional Influence: Gain experience influencing strategic product and design decisions across a large enterprise.

• Mentorship: Develop leadership and mentoring skills by guiding junior designers.

• Project Management: Enhance skills in managing complex projects and stakeholder communication within an enterprise agile environment.

📝 Enhancement Note: As a contract role, formal career progression paths might be less defined than with a permanent position. However, the opportunity to gain significant experience in cutting-edge areas like AI-powered design systems within a major corporation like American Airlines offers substantial resume-building potential and can be a springboard for future senior or lead roles.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: The role is designated as "On-site" in Fort Worth, TX. This suggests a traditional office environment where physical presence is expected for collaboration and workflow.

Office Location(s): Fort Worth, Texas. This is a major hub for American Airlines, implying a potentially large and well-resourced corporate campus or office space.

Workspace Context:

• Collaborative Environment: The role emphasizes collaboration with cross-functional teams, suggesting an open-plan office or dedicated team spaces designed for interaction.

• Tools and Technology: Access to modern design and prototyping tools (Figma, Adobe CC), project management software (Rally, Jira, Aha!), and potentially AI tools will be available.

• Team Interaction: Frequent interaction with designers, product managers, engineers, and stakeholders is expected, facilitated by the on-site presence.

Work Schedule: The role is expected to adhere to standard full-time working hours (approximately 40 hours per week). While agile methodologies can sometimes allow for flexible scheduling, the on-site requirement and the nature of collaborative design work suggest a structured work week.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "On-site" requirement in Fort Worth means candidates must be willing and able to work from the designated office location. This is a key consideration for remote candidates. The environment is likely geared towards high collaboration and efficient workflow, typical of large enterprise digital teams.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: Likely conducted by ICSI to assess basic qualifications, experience alignment, and contract expectations.

• Hiring Manager/Team Interview: A more in-depth discussion with the hiring manager and potentially key team members to evaluate UX skills, design system expertise, AI familiarity, and cultural fit. This stage may involve portfolio review.

• Portfolio Presentation: Candidates will likely be asked to present their portfolio, focusing on relevant projects that demonstrate their experience with design systems, AI integration, and end-to-end UX processes.

• Technical/Skills Assessment (Potential): A design challenge or scenario-based question to assess problem-solving abilities, design thinking, and application of specific tools (e.g., Figma).

• Final Interview: May involve a broader team or stakeholder discussion to confirm fit and suitability.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Tailor to the Role: Highlight projects that specifically showcase design system contributions, AI workflow exploration or implementation, and your role in scaling design practices.

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use metrics to demonstrate the success of your design solutions (e.g., improved efficiency, reduced design time, increased consistency).

• Showcase Process: Clearly articulate your design process, from problem definition and research to ideation, prototyping, testing, and implementation, with a focus on your role in each step.

• Explain AI Integration: Be prepared to detail how you've experimented with or implemented AI tools in your design workflow, the challenges faced, and the outcomes achieved.

• Storytelling: Frame your projects as compelling narratives, explaining the problem, your approach, the challenges, and the solution, emphasizing your unique contributions.

• Design System Components: Provide examples of well-documented, reusable design system components and patterns you've created or contributed to.

Challenge Preparation:

• Design System Thinking: Be ready to discuss how you would approach evolving or building a design system, considering scalability, governance, and adoption.

• AI Application: Prepare to brainstorm ways AI could be leveraged within a design system or general UX workflow.

• Problem-Solving Scenarios: Anticipate questions about how you would handle design challenges, stakeholder disagreements, or technical constraints.

• Agile Collaboration: Be prepared to discuss your experience working in agile teams and collaborating with engineers.

📝 Enhancement Note: The emphasis on AI and design systems means the portfolio review will be critical. Candidates should be ready to deep-dive into specific projects that demonstrate these skills, not just general UX work. Demonstrating an understanding of how to scale design and integrate new technologies will be key.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (mandatory, advanced skills required), Adobe Creative Suite (e.g., Photoshop, Illustrator).

• Project Management: Rally, Jira, Aha! (proficiency required for status updates and tracking).

• AI Tools: Experience or familiarity with generative AI tools relevant to design workflows, prototyping, or research (e.g., Figma AI, AI-assisted design plugins, prompt-based systems).

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not explicitly listed, experience with analytics tools for user behavior tracking (e.g., Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics) and reporting dashboards (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) would be beneficial for understanding user feedback and design impact. CRM & Automation:

• Not directly mentioned, but understanding how design systems integrate with broader CRM and automation platforms could be valuable for enterprise-level impact.

📝 Enhancement Note: Figma is highlighted as a mandatory skill with advanced requirements, indicating it's the primary design tool. The explicit mention of project management tools suggests their integral role in daily operations. The AI component implies a need for curiosity and foundational knowledge in emerging AI design tools.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Design Excellence & Consistency: A commitment to high-quality, user-centered design that adheres to and evolves established design system standards.

• Innovation & Adaptability: A proactive approach to exploring and integrating emerging technologies like AI to improve processes and outcomes.

• Collaboration & Communication: Strong emphasis on working effectively within cross-functional teams, sharing knowledge, and communicating clearly with diverse stakeholders.

• Scalability & Efficiency: Focus on creating reusable patterns and optimizing workflows to ensure design practices can scale across the enterprise.

• Data-Driven Decision-Making: Utilizing user research and feedback to inform design decisions and measure impact.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Close partnerships with Product Owners and Engineering teams are essential, requiring a collaborative and problem-solving mindset.

• Agile Workflow: Embracing iterative design processes, regular feedback loops, and adaptive planning.

• Mentorship and Knowledge Sharing: A culture where senior designers guide and support junior team members, and knowledge is actively shared to elevate the team's overall capabilities.

• Stakeholder Engagement: Effectively presenting and advocating for design decisions to a range of stakeholders, building consensus and driving adoption.

📝 Enhancement Note: The culture appears to value both rigorous design craft and forward-thinking innovation. Candidates who can demonstrate a balance of strong UX fundamentals, a passion for design systems, and an eagerness to explore AI's potential will likely thrive.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Scaling Design Systems: Evolving an enterprise-level design system to meet the needs of a large organization while maintaining consistency and adoption can be complex.

• Integrating AI: Effectively identifying, testing, and integrating new AI tools into established design workflows presents both technical and process challenges.

• Cross-functional Alignment: Ensuring buy-in and consistent application of design system standards across diverse product teams and stakeholders.

• Balancing Innovation with Tradition: Introducing new AI-driven approaches within a large, established company like American Airlines may require navigating organizational inertia.

• Contract Role Dynamics: Adapting to a contract engagement, which may involve different onboarding processes and benefit structures compared to permanent roles.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• AI in Design Specialization: Becoming an expert in applying generative AI and other AI tools to UX design and design systems.

• DesignOps Practices: Gaining exposure to and contributing to Design Operations initiatives that focus on optimizing design team efficiency.

• Enterprise-Scale Design Systems: Deepening knowledge of the challenges and best practices for managing and scaling design systems in large organizations.

• Advanced UX Research: Utilizing a variety of research methods to inform complex design problems and validate AI-driven solutions.

• Mentorship and Leadership: Developing leadership skills through guiding other designers and influencing strategic decisions.

📝 Enhancement Note: The role is designed for someone who thrives on tackling complex challenges and sees them as opportunities for growth. The integration of AI into design systems is a cutting-edge area, offering significant potential for professional development and specialization.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "How would you approach evolving our enterprise design system to incorporate AI-generated components or workflows? What are the potential benefits and risks?"

• "Describe a time you influenced product or engineering decisions based on UX best practices or research. How did you manage stakeholder pushback?"

• "Walk us through your process for identifying opportunities to leverage AI within a UX design workflow. What are some specific tools or techniques you'd consider?"

• "How do you ensure design system consistency and adoption across multiple product teams in an agile environment?"

• "Describe your experience with accessibility standards (WCAG 2.0+ AA) and how you ensure designs are inclusive and adaptive." Company & Culture Questions:

• "What do you know about American Airlines' digital customer experience initiatives and how do you see a design system contributing to them?"

• "How do you stay current with emerging technologies like generative AI and incorporate them into your design practice?"

• "Describe your ideal collaborative environment when working with Product Owners and Engineers."

• "How do you approach mentoring junior designers or sharing your expertise within a team?" Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Structure: Organize your presentation logically, starting with an overview of your experience and then diving into 2-3 key projects that best highlight your design system, AI, and enterprise UX skills.

• Narrative: For each project, tell a story: the problem, your role, the process, the challenges, the solutions, and the outcomes. Quantify results where possible.

• Focus on Design Systems & AI: Dedicate significant time to projects where you directly contributed to a design system or explored/implemented AI workflows. Clearly articulate your specific contributions.

• Visuals: Use high-quality visuals of your work (wireframes, mockups, prototypes, system components). Ensure clarity and readability.

• Process Emphasis: Explain why you made certain design decisions, referencing user research, design principles, and system constraints.

• Q&A Readiness: Be prepared to answer detailed questions about your process, tools, and decision-making.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interviewers will be looking for a blend of strategic thinking (how AI impacts design systems) and tactical execution (proficiency in Figma, research methods). Candidates should be ready to articulate their understanding of both the "what" and the "how" of design systems and AI integration.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations position:

• Submit your application through the provided application link on the ICSI platform.

• Portfolio Customization: Curate your portfolio to prominently feature projects demonstrating your expertise in design systems, AI workflow integration, and enterprise-level UX design. Prioritize case studies that showcase scalability, efficiency improvements, and cross-functional collaboration.

• Resume Optimization: Tailor your resume to highlight keywords from the job description, such as "Design Systems," "Figma," "Generative AI," "UX Design," "Agile," "WCAG," and "Rally/Jira." Quantify achievements and responsibilities where possible.

• Interview Preparation: Practice articulating your design process, highlighting your contributions to design systems and your experience with AI tools. Prepare to present your portfolio confidently and answer scenario-based questions related to UX challenges and collaboration.

• Company Research: Familiarize yourself with American Airlines' digital presence, customer experience goals, and any public information regarding their technology adoption and design initiatives. Understand the context of ICSI as a contract provider.

⚠️ 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.