Associate Director, UX Design Job at Horizontal Digital in Minneapolis

At Horizontal Digital, we hold ourselves to one key belief: You're only as good as your worst customer experience. This mantra is what drives our digital consultancy to think beyond the easy answers and instead create websites, apps, portals and other experiences that solve customer needs for Fortune 500 companies in intuitive and empathetic ways. And we make this lofty standard a reality by fusing strategy, data, design and technology together to arrive at solutions that set the bar higher for everyone.

Our digital product solutions are driven by our CX Strategy, Design and Engineering teams - and powered by technical platforms like Sitecore, Salesforce, Acquia and other enterprise technology solutions. Get a deeper look at our expertise today by visiting the Work section of our website.

Our Creative, UX, and Design (CXD) team is strategically growing to meet our company growth, industry expectations, and to fulfill our team's vision as being a superior partner who provides our global clients with great design taste, clear vision and flawless execution.

We use these values to fuel superior results:

Lock arms
We forge relationships that make our impact 1,000x stronger. This means working across departments and engaging both our clients and our communities to deliver the greatest good.

Show hustle
We're not ones to sit on our hands and wait. Instead, we anticipate opportunities, collectively roll up our sleeves and find ways to execute the exceptional.

Embrace change
From new technologies to workplace philosophies, we welcome the unexpected and constantly anticipate what's next.

Elevate empathy
We listen before we take action. This means understanding a variety of perspectives and holding ourselves to a higher standard of accountability.

Never settle
We motivate each other to push past the easy answers and collectively arrive at bigger, more inspiring ideas.

But enough about us. Let's talk about you.

As Associate Director, User Experience (UX) Design, you will help lead our UX team in crafting intuitive, user-centric digital experiences that exceed customer expectations. You will play a pivotal role in acquiring new clients, driving innovation, and ensuring seamless execution across all digital platforms.

What you'll do:

Leadership and Delivery

• Take charge and own the experience design vision, inspiring internal partners and external clients to believe in your ideas and executions that align with business objectives.

• Lead and inspire a team of UX designers, providing guidance, mentorship, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth. Also help with recommending resource assignments for projects.

• Build trusted relationships with clients through your ability to understand their needs, collaborate effectively, provide thoughtful recommendations, and execute flawlessly.

• Juggle multiple client engagements, where a need for both individual client contribution and oversight of the delivery of other practitioners may be required, while maintaining the balance between defining great experience enhancements that meet user and business goals, and remaining within established timelines and budgets.

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including product management, engineering, marketing, and customer support, to integrate UX best practices throughout the product development lifecycle.

• Lead the process, connecting the dots between client objectives and strategy, strategy and design/creative, and finally creative and development.

• Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and competitive landscape to drive innovation and maintain our competitive edge.

• Evaluate evolving UX approaches and delivery models, on the basis of innovation and increased efficiency, and advocate for their adoption within the team

• Contribute to new business pursuits by showcasing UX deliverables and processes, initial audience insights and conceptual solution options that are informed by customer needs, industry research and experience innovation. In addition, contribute to decisions about what activities to include and cost / timeline estimations.

UX Design and Definition

• Oversee the end-to-end UX design process, from concept development to execution, ensuring consistency and quality across all touchpoints.

• Coordinate and maintain team library of past work and assets, updating best in class examples and coordinating deliverable definition and sell sheets for use in new business pursuits

• Conduct user research, including leading user interviews, usability testing, and data analysis, to gain deep insights into user needs, behaviors, and pain points.

• Translate user insights into actionable design solutions, wireframes, prototypes, and user flows that optimize user engagement and satisfaction.

• Partner closely with our content strategy experts to define logical and intuitive information architecture and content taxonomies.

• Champion user-centered design principles and advocate for the user throughout the organization.

Collaboration and Communication

• Communicate UX strategies, solution recommendations, and design decisions effectively to stakeholders at all levels, fostering alignment and buy-in.

• Foster strong cross-functional relationships and cultivate a collaborative working environment where diverse perspectives are valued and integrated.

• Share lessons learned with internal team members and refine/maintain library of assets and artifacts for efficient reference and access.

Who you are:

• An autonomous digital visionary, with an eye towards the future, that can apply creative and strategic insights to difficult business problems and customer needs with minimal guidance or oversight

• A digital expert with excellent awareness of what makes an experience great.

• A leader who can independently take the reins on any project and make an impact, guiding internal teams and clients toward the execution of elevated digital deliverables.

• A collaborative creative with undying empathy for the needs and objectives of our clients and their customers when it comes to creating digital experiences and solutions.

• A confident salesperson, able to sell concepts and executions to both internal and external stakeholders.

• Though experienced, you are eager to learn and grow. If you are not working on a project, you are likely reading about the latest digital trends or competitor innovations.

• You are a proactive problem-solver who requires minimal direction.

• You are flexible with the ability to handle multiple demands, shifting priorities and rapid change. Ambiguity is not something that scares you.

• You can roll with the punches while carrying a positive, can-do attitude throughout the entirety of a project.

What you bring:

• Great portfolio of customer experience examples and storytelling, featuring user research activities, audience definition and experience mapping, site/app-mapping, wireframing,
  prototyping, and functional spec writing

• 7+ years' experience as a UX professional, skilled in human centered design; able to demonstrate expertise in Customer Research, Audience and User Journey definiton, Service Design, Information Architecture, Taxonomy definition and digital interactive experience design for component driven, responsive web and mobile applications with 3+ years in a leadership or management role

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Interaction Design, Graphic Design, or a related field is preferred

• Experience supporting new business efforts and conceptual thinking

• Proven experience "owning" and/or successfully leading UX design projects from concept to launch, with a focus on web and mobile applications

• Ability to lead UX workshops with team members and clients

• Familiarity with overseeing the work of others and providing guidance with execution in alignment with and established road map

• Experience with using research and data to guide your recommendation

• Experience designing complex and/or task-based applications for content-heavy as well as transactional websites

• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex concepts clearly and persuasively

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a deep understanding of user-centered design principles and methodologies

• Proficiency with Figma. Sketch and Adobe Creative Cloud experience is a plus

• Knowledge of the best practices for UX and interaction design for responsive experiences

• An understanding of accessibility design issues and best practices