UX Lead

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: UX Lead

Company: Ecolab

Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States

Job Type: Full time

Category: User Experience (UX) / Product Design Operations

Date Posted: September 08, 2026

Experience Level: 10+ years

Remote Status: On-site

🚀 Role Summary

• Drive the creation and adoption of consistent UX and UI standards across the ServiceNow platform, establishing a repeatable design practice.

• Lead the development of a comprehensive design system and component library to ensure scalable and high-quality user experiences.

• Transition the platform's user experience from a traditional ITSM mindset to a consumer-grade standard, focusing on genuine user adoption and satisfaction.

• Take ownership of the success and measurable adoption of shipped solutions, directly influencing product and business strategy through user-centric design.

• Perform hands-on design and front-end development using UI Builder, the Now Experience Framework, and React to build production-ready experiences.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned as a foundational leadership opportunity within Ecolab's ServiceNow platform. The emphasis on "establishing a formal UX practice from the ground up" and "owning the success and adoption" indicates a strategic, high-impact position requiring not only design and technical skills but also strong operational and change management capabilities. The inclusion of "consumer-grade" and moving "beyond a traditional ITSM mindset" signifies a transformation initiative where the UX Lead will be instrumental in redefining user engagement and platform perception.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Own, document, and enforce UX and UI standards for the ServiceNow platform, ensuring consistent application across all development teams.

• Build, maintain, and evolve a robust design system and component library to facilitate efficient and standardized front-end development.

• Define and implement design patterns, guidelines, and reusable components that elevate the baseline quality of all platform solutions.

• Conduct rigorous design reviews and establish clear standards to ensure adherence to defined quality benchmarks.

• Lead the strategic shift towards creating consumer-grade user experiences that move beyond the conventional ITSM paradigm.

• Define, measure, and drive user adoption metrics for platform solutions, leveraging data to inform and refine design decisions.

• Collaborate closely with product management and business stakeholders to ensure that user needs are accurately identified and addressed by delivered features.

• Benchmark platform experiences against leading consumer products to maintain an external perspective on quality and user expectations.

• Design and develop user experiences directly within ServiceNow's UI Builder and Now Experience Framework.

• Write and maintain front-end code using React, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS to create components, prototypes, and production experiences.

• Ensure seamless integration between design specifications and implemented solutions, minimizing discrepancies.

• Establish and maintain front-end engineering standards specifically for UX-related work on the platform.

• Implement and lead a user research practice, conducting usability testing and translating findings into actionable design improvements.

• Champion and ensure platform accessibility compliance with WCAG standards, integrating accessibility into the core design system.

• Elevate user research and accessibility from mere compliance tasks to integral components of the team's workflow.

• Extend the consumer-grade experience standard to mobile platforms, ensuring parity and quality across ServiceNow mobile apps and web.

• Establish a formal UX practice from inception, defining its structure, tools, rituals, and operational workflows.

• Recruit, lead, and mentor a team of UX designers and developers, fostering a culture of craft excellence and user obsession.

• Raise the overall standard of design and front-end development within the platform's ecosystem.

• Act as the primary advocate for user experience, aligning product, engineering, operations, and business teams around a unified quality standard.

• Communicate design rationale and decisions effectively to diverse audiences, including executive leadership, using persuasive and collaborative approaches.

• Articulate the business value and ROI of UX investments, demonstrating impact through adoption rates and key business outcomes.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities clearly indicate a "player-coach" role, requiring both strategic leadership and hands-on execution. The emphasis on building practices from scratch (UX practice, design system, user research) suggests a need for individuals with strong initiative, self-direction, and experience in operationalizing design functions within a complex enterprise environment. The integration of front-end development (React, JavaScript) directly into the UX lead role highlights a modern approach where design and development are tightly coupled for faster iteration and higher fidelity.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related field.

Experience: 8+ years in UX and UI design, with significant experience in a lead or player-coach capacity.

Required Skills:

• Proven experience with ServiceNow native UX capabilities, including UI Builder and the Now Experience Framework, applied across workspaces, portals, and Employee Center.

• Hands-on front-end development experience with React, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, demonstrating the ability to build production-ready experiences.

• Demonstrated success in building and owning a design system and component library that has been adopted across multiple teams.

• Proven track record of establishing and documenting UX and UI standards and driving their widespread adoption.

• Extensive hands-on user research experience, including conducting usability testing and effectively translating findings into design decisions.

• A strong portfolio showcasing consumer-grade enterprise experiences and the strategic judgment to evolve platforms beyond legacy and ITSM-era patterns.

• Demonstrable people leadership experience, including building or leading teams of designers and developers.

• Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills, with experience presenting to and influencing executive leadership.

• Proven ability to own the adoption and success of delivered solutions and to measure their impact.

• Proficiency with Figma or equivalent design and prototyping tools. Preferred Skills:

• ServiceNow certifications such as Certified System Administrator (CSA) or Certified Application Developer (CAD), or those related to UX and UI Builder.

• Hands-on experience with ServiceNow mobile capabilities, including Now Mobile and the mobile app builder.

• Experience establishing and operationalizing a UX or Design Operations practice within an organization that previously lacked one.

• Experience successfully revitalizing the design reputation of a platform or product that had become outdated.

• Familiarity with Employee Center Pro intranet and portal experiences.

• Experience with design system tooling such as Storybook, design tokens, and component documentation platforms.

• Skills in interaction design, motion design, UX writing, or content design.

• Experience working with large-scale enterprise design systems.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "10+ years" experience level, derived from the "8 years" requirement plus "meaningful time in a lead or player-coach capacity," suggests a senior-level role. The blend of UX/UI, ServiceNow platform expertise, and hands-on front-end development (React) is crucial for this position, indicating a need for a T-shaped or highly versatile candidate. The portfolio requirement explicitly mentions demonstrating the ability to move beyond legacy patterns, highlighting a key success factor for this role.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• Showcase case studies demonstrating the successful transformation of enterprise experiences towards a consumer-grade standard, highlighting the problem, your process, and the measurable outcomes.

• Include examples of a design system or component library you have built or significantly contributed to, detailing its adoption, impact, and evolution.

• Present documentation of UX/UI standards and guidelines you have established, illustrating how they were implemented and enforced.

• Demonstrate your hands-on front-end development capabilities (React, JavaScript) within the context of building production-ready components or experiences.

• Provide evidence of user research initiatives, including how findings were translated into actionable design improvements and their impact on user adoption. Process Documentation:

• Document your approach to establishing and formalizing a UX practice within an organization, including defining workflows, rituals, and collaboration models.

• Illustrate your process for designing and implementing reusable components and design patterns within a system, focusing on efficiency and scalability.

• Detail your methodology for measuring user adoption and demonstrating the business impact of UX initiatives, including key metrics and reporting.

• Showcase your process for managing stakeholder expectations and driving alignment around design quality and strategic objectives.

📝 Enhancement Note: Given this is a "UX Lead" role focused on building a practice from the ground up, the portfolio is paramount. It needs to go beyond showcasing individual designs to demonstrating leadership, operationalization, and measurable impact. The emphasis on moving "beyond legacy and ITSM era patterns" means candidates should highlight how they've successfully modernized outdated systems or introduced new paradigms.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $133,700.00 - $200,600.00 per year

Benefits:

• Annual bonus pay, based on performance and plan terms.

• Comprehensive and market-competitive benefits package designed to meet associate and family needs.

• Potential for additional benefits as detailed on the Ecolab Careers website.

Working Hours: 40 hours per week (standard full-time).

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is competitive for a senior-level UX Lead role in a major metropolitan area like Saint Paul, Minnesota, especially for a company of Ecolab's size and industry standing. The inclusion of "Many factors are taken into consideration when determining compensation, such as experience, education, training, geography, etc." indicates that the final offer will be highly individualized. The mention of compliance with "all minimum wage and overtime laws" is standard but confirms adherence to labor regulations. The benefits section points to a dedicated benefits page, suggesting a robust offering that may include health, dental, vision, retirement plans, and other perks.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Technology / Business Services (specifically focused on water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions). Ecolab operates within a critical sector that impacts public health and industrial efficiency globally.

Company Size: Large Enterprise (exact employee count varies, but Ecolab is a Fortune 500 company with tens of thousands of employees worldwide). This size implies a structured environment with established processes, but also opportunities for significant impact within specific divisions like the ServiceNow platform team.

Founded: 1923. Ecolab has a long history, suggesting stability, deep industry knowledge, and a culture that values long-term success and innovation.

Team Structure:

• The UX team for the ServiceNow platform is being established from scratch, meaning the UX Lead will be instrumental in defining its structure, reporting lines, and initial composition.

• The role reports into a leadership position overseeing the ServiceNow platform, with expectations to collaborate extensively with Product Management, Engineering (both native ServiceNow and front-end developers), and various Business Operations teams.

• Cross-functional collaboration is central, requiring the UX Lead to bridge gaps between technical development, business requirements, and user needs. Methodology:

• Data analysis and insights will be crucial for driving design decisions, particularly in understanding user behavior, adoption rates, and the impact of UX improvements.

• Workflow planning and optimization strategies will be employed to establish the new UX practice and integrate it seamlessly into existing development cycles.

• Automation and efficiency will be key themes, especially through the development of a design system and reusable components to streamline development and ensure consistency.

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

📝 Enhancement Note: Ecolab's industry focus on essential services like hygiene and infection prevention suggests a corporate culture that values responsibility, reliability, and impact. While the specific culture of the ServiceNow platform team is being shaped by this new UX Lead role, the broader company context implies a professional, results-oriented environment. The "large enterprise" size means navigating existing structures while building something new.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is a senior leadership position, specifically a "Lead" role within the UX/Product Design discipline, focused on establishing and building a critical function for the ServiceNow platform. It sits at the intersection of design strategy, operational execution, and technical implementation.

Reporting Structure: The UX Lead will likely report to a Director or VP level executive responsible for the ServiceNow platform or Digital Transformation initiatives. They will be responsible for leading a newly formed team of UX designers and front-end developers.

Operations Impact: The UX Lead's impact is directly tied to improving the usability, efficiency, and adoption of the ServiceNow platform, which is critical for Ecolab's internal operations, employee productivity, and potentially customer-facing services. Success in this role will demonstrably improve user workflows, reduce support costs, and enhance overall employee experience, contributing to the company's operational excellence.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Expansion: Potential to grow the UX team, manage larger design initiatives, and potentially expand the scope of UX responsibilities across other platforms within Ecolab.

• Strategic Influence: Opportunity to shape the digital experience strategy for a core enterprise platform, influencing technology adoption and business outcomes at a high level.

• Skill Development: Deepen expertise in enterprise UX transformation, design systems at scale, and front-end development within the ServiceNow ecosystem, potentially leading to specialization or broader architectural roles.

• Industry Recognition: Contributing to a successful platform transformation can lead to recognition within the UX and ServiceNow communities.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "player-coach" nature and the mandate to build a practice from the ground up suggest this role is a significant career step. It offers a unique opportunity to define a function, build a team, and leave a lasting impact on a critical enterprise system. The growth path is clearly towards broader leadership and strategic influence within Ecolab's digital transformation efforts.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: This role is designated as "On-site," implying a traditional office-based work environment. The location is Ecolab's Corporate Headquarters in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Office Location(s): Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, specifically at 1 Ecolab Place, which is the company's corporate headquarters. This location likely offers a professional, corporate campus-like setting with amenities.

Workspace Context:

• The environment is expected to be collaborative, with frequent interaction with product managers, engineers, and business stakeholders.

• The office setting will provide access to the necessary technology and tools for design, development, and research.

• Opportunities for direct team interaction, brainstorming sessions, and cross-functional workshops are inherent to an on-site role.

Work Schedule: Standard 40-hour work week, typical for a full-time corporate role. Given the hands-on and leadership nature, some flexibility may be expected around project deadlines, but the core work will likely adhere to standard business hours.

📝 Enhancement Note: The "On-site" designation is critical. For a role focused on building a practice and leading a team, being physically present at the corporate headquarters can facilitate stronger relationships, more spontaneous collaboration, and a clearer understanding of the organizational culture and dynamics. This contrasts with hybrid or remote roles where building these connections requires more deliberate effort.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: HR or recruiter call to assess basic qualifications, role understanding, and logistics.

• Hiring Manager Interview: In-depth discussion with the hiring manager to evaluate experience, leadership style, and strategic alignment with the role's objectives. This will likely cover your approach to building a UX practice and driving platform transformation.

• Portfolio Review & Technical Deep Dive: Presentation of your portfolio, focusing on case studies that demonstrate your ability to deliver consumer-grade enterprise experiences, build design systems, and conduct user research. Expect technical questions about your front-end development skills (React, JavaScript) and ServiceNow platform familiarity.

• Team/Stakeholder Interviews: Meetings with key stakeholders (Product Managers, Engineering Leads, Business Representatives) to assess collaboration skills, communication style, and ability to align diverse perspectives around UX quality.

• Final Round: Potentially a final interview with senior leadership to confirm fit and strategic alignment.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Structure: Organize your portfolio by key projects, clearly outlining the problem, your role and process, the solutions designed and built, and the measurable outcomes (adoption, efficiency, user satisfaction).

• Focus on Transformation: Highlight projects where you moved an experience from a legacy state to a modern, user-centric one. Emphasize your ability to evolve platforms beyond traditional ITSM patterns.

• Design System Emphasis: Dedicate a section to your experience with design systems – show examples of components, documentation, and how adoption was driven.

• Hands-on Evidence: Clearly demonstrate your front-end development contributions (React, JavaScript code snippets or links to interactive prototypes if possible) and your direct involvement in UI Builder/Now Experience Framework.

• Research & Metrics: Showcase how user research informed your decisions and present data/metrics that prove the impact of your work (e.g., increased task completion rates, reduced error rates, higher adoption).

• Storytelling: Be prepared to articulate the "why" behind your design choices and the narrative of each project, especially how you managed stakeholders and overcame challenges.

Challenge Preparation:

• UX Practice Blueprint: Be ready to discuss how you would establish a formal UX practice from scratch, including essential components, team structure, and initial priorities.

• Design System Strategy: Prepare to outline your strategy for building and scaling a design system for the ServiceNow platform, including tools, governance, and adoption tactics.

• User Research Implementation: Detail your plan for setting up and integrating user research and accessibility into the team's daily workflow.

• Stakeholder Alignment Scenarios: Think through how you would handle common scenarios involving conflicting priorities between product, engineering, and business needs regarding UX.

📝 Enhancement Note: The interview process emphasizes both strategic vision and tactical execution. The portfolio review is a critical gate, requiring candidates to prove their ability to design, build, and operationalize. Specific preparation around building practices from scratch and handling stakeholder alignment will be key.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• ServiceNow Platform: Deep expertise required in UI Builder, Now Experience Framework, Workspaces, Portals, and Employee Center.

• Front-end Development: Proficiency in React, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS is essential for hands-on building and setting standards.

• Design & Prototyping: Figma (or equivalent like Sketch, Adobe XD) for wireframing, high-fidelity design, and prototyping.

• Design System Tooling (Preferred): Experience with tools like Storybook for component documentation and management, design tokens, and related utilities.

Analytics & Reporting:

• While not explicitly listed, expect to utilize ServiceNow's built-in reporting capabilities and potentially integrate with broader enterprise analytics platforms to track user adoption and platform performance metrics. CRM & Automation:

• ServiceNow itself acts as a core platform for many operational workflows, so understanding its capabilities in automation and data management is key.

📝 Enhancement Note: The technology stack is heavily centered around the ServiceNow ecosystem and modern front-end development practices. Candidates must demonstrate not only proficiency with these tools but also the ability to leverage them to build scalable design systems and user experiences. The "player-coach" aspect means hands-on experience with these tools is non-negotiable.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• User Obsession: A deep commitment to understanding and serving user needs, driving design decisions based on empathy and evidence.

• Craftsmanship & Quality: A dedication to high standards in both design execution and front-end development, ensuring polished and reliable experiences.

• Collaboration & Alignment: A belief in working closely with cross-functional teams (Product, Engineering, Business) to achieve shared goals and build consensus.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Utilizing research, analytics, and feedback to inform design choices and measure impact, moving beyond subjective opinions.

• Ownership & Accountability: Taking responsibility for the success and adoption of delivered solutions, proactively addressing challenges and driving outcomes.

• Innovation & Continuous Improvement: A mindset of constantly seeking better ways to design, build, and optimize user experiences, embracing new technologies and methodologies.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-functional Integration: Expected to be a key integrator, working closely with Product Management to define requirements and with Engineering to ensure feasibility and quality implementation.

• Process Improvement Culture: Fostering an environment where design and development processes are continuously reviewed and optimized for efficiency and effectiveness.

• Knowledge Sharing: Encouraging the sharing of best practices, design patterns, and learnings across the team and with other development groups within Ecolab.

📝 Enhancement Note: The stated values emphasize a blend of user-centricity, technical excellence, and collaborative execution. For a role focused on building a new practice, embodying these values will be critical for establishing credibility and driving adoption within the organization.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Establishing a New Practice: Building a formal UX practice, design system, and user research function from the ground up within a large enterprise requires significant initiative, persuasion, and operational planning.

• Cultural Shift: Moving an established platform and its user base from a traditional ITSM mindset to a consumer-grade experience requires significant change management and advocacy.

• Platform Complexity: Navigating the intricacies of the ServiceNow platform and its development frameworks (UI Builder, Now Experience) to deliver sophisticated, user-friendly experiences.

• Balancing Design and Development: Effectively managing hands-on design and coding responsibilities while also leading a team and influencing stakeholders.

• Driving Adoption: Ensuring that the newly designed experiences are not only built but also widely adopted and utilized by the target user base.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Deep Dive into Enterprise UX Transformation: Gain unparalleled experience in transforming user experiences within a large-scale enterprise software environment.

• ServiceNow Ecosystem Expertise: Become a subject matter expert in ServiceNow's UX capabilities and best practices for application development.

• Design System Leadership: Develop advanced skills in architecting, implementing, and scaling design systems for complex platforms.

• Building and Leading Teams: Hone leadership and team-building skills by establishing and growing a new UX function.

• Industry Conferences & Certifications: Opportunities to attend relevant UX, design ops, and ServiceNow conferences, and potentially pursue advanced certifications.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenges are significant but directly tied to the growth opportunities. Overcoming these will require strong problem-solving, strategic thinking, and resilience. The role offers a unique chance to shape a critical function and gain highly sought-after expertise in enterprise UX modernization.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe your approach to establishing a formal UX practice within an organization that currently lacks one. What are your top priorities in the first 90 days?" (Focus on phased implementation, stakeholder buy-in, foundational elements like design systems and research.)

• "How would you drive the adoption of a new design system and UX standards across multiple development teams working on the ServiceNow platform?" (Discuss communication strategies, training, integration into workflows, and ongoing governance.)

• "Walk me through a complex enterprise UX challenge you faced where you had to move a platform beyond its legacy patterns. What was your strategy, what did you build, and what were the measurable results?" (Use a STAR method approach, highlighting your portfolio's strengths.)

• "How do you balance the need for hands-on design and development with your leadership responsibilities?" (Emphasize delegation, prioritization, and empowering your team while staying technically grounded.) Company & Culture Questions:

• "What is your understanding of Ecolab's mission and how do you see UX contributing to it, particularly within the ServiceNow platform?" (Research Ecolab's values and connect them to user efficiency and operational excellence.)

• "How would you foster a culture of user obsession and design craftsmanship within a newly formed UX team and across the broader platform development group?" (Discuss team rituals, feedback loops, and recognition.)

• "Describe a time you had to influence executive leadership on the importance of UX investment. What was your approach and the outcome?" (Focus on articulating business value and ROI.) Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Narrative Arc: For each project, tell a compelling story: the problem, your specific role and actions, the solutions (design and built), and the impact (quantifiable where possible).

• Demonstrate Hands-On Skills: Clearly show your direct contributions in UI Builder, React, and Figma. Be prepared to discuss technical implementation details.

• Highlight Design System Work: Showcase your experience building or contributing to design systems. Explain its structure, benefits, and how you drove adoption.

• Emphasize Transformation: Select projects that clearly demonstrate your ability to modernize user experiences and move beyond dated patterns.

• User Research Integration: Explicitly show how user research informed your design decisions and impacted outcomes.

• Conciseness: Focus on the most impactful projects and be prepared to answer questions deeply rather than trying to cover every single piece of work.

📝 Enhancement Note: Interview preparation should focus on demonstrating leadership in building, strategic vision for transformation, and proven hands-on technical ability within the specified tech stack. Candidates need to be ready to articulate their process, decision-making, and measurable impact, especially concerning enterprise software modernization and design system implementation.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this operations position:

• Submit your application through the official Ecolab Careers portal via the provided link.

• Curate Your Portfolio: Select 2-3 key projects that best demonstrate your experience in enterprise UX transformation, design system development, hands-on front-end coding (React), and user research. Ensure each case study clearly outlines the problem, your process, the solution (including design and code aspects), and measurable outcomes. Tailor the presentation to highlight your ability to build a UX practice from scratch and move beyond legacy ITSM patterns.

• Optimize Your Resume: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your years of experience in UX/UI design and front-end development, specifically mentioning ServiceNow, UI Builder, React, JavaScript, and design systems. Quantify achievements with metrics wherever possible (e.g., "Increased user adoption by X%," "Reduced development time by Y% through design system implementation").

• Prepare for Technical & Strategic Discussions: Rehearse your responses to common UX leadership and technical questions. Practice presenting your portfolio concisely and engagingly, preparing to discuss your approach to establishing UX practices, managing stakeholders, and driving platform-wide improvements.

• Research Ecolab: Familiarize yourself with Ecolab's mission, values, and recent initiatives, particularly those related to digital transformation and employee experience. Understand how the ServiceNow platform supports their core business operations.

⚠️ 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.

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