Job SummaryKey Deliverables and ResponsibilitiesCambridge Investment Research is seeking a Manager, Product Design to lead, scale, and mature Product Design as a strategic enterprise capability within Cambridge's Product Operating Model. This leader will manage and develop the Product Design team, serve as a key member of the Product Strategy leadership team, establish the standards and operating rhythms that enable high-quality product discovery, and strengthen the partnership between Product, Design, Engineering, Data, Operations, Compliance, and business stakeholders.
This player-coach role dedicates approximately 60-70% to team leadership, design strategy, governance, stakeholder influence, and capability building, and 30-40% to hands-on discovery, journey framing, design reviews, experience storytelling, and high-impact initiatives.
What You'll Do Leadership, Strategy, Operating Model & Governance - Lead Product Design as an enterprise capability aligned to Cambridge's product taxonomy, portfolio priorities, product operating model, and enterprise product strategy.
- Set the vision, standards, and operating expectations for interaction design, visual design, information architecture, service design, usability, accessibility, research quality, and design governance.
- Strengthen Product, Design, and Engineering partnership by clarifying decision rights, promoting shared accountability for outcomes, and improving product triad effectiveness.
- Advance the shift from late-stage design handoffs to continuous discovery, evidence-based decision-making, and outcome-oriented product development.
- Build and improve DesignOps practices for intake, capacity planning, prioritization, design rituals, review processes, operational metrics, and governance.
- Represent Product Design in product strategy discussions and provide leadership-level guidance on customer experience quality, product discovery, and design maturity.
Team Leadership & Talent Development - Lead, mentor, and develop Product Designers while setting clear expectations for design craft, collaboration, discovery, accountability, and measurable product impact.
- Build career frameworks, competency models, coaching practices, growth paths, succession plans, and future design leadership capability.
- Recruit, hire, onboard, retain, and develop high-performing design professionals who can operate effectively in a regulated, product-led environment.
- Create a team culture focused on quality, customer outcomes, learning, inclusion, accountability, and strong cross-functional partnership.
- Guide performance management, workload planning, and team effectiveness while ensuring designers are focused on the highest-value product priorities.
Executive Influence & Cross-Functional Partnership - Partner with Product, Engineering, Data, Operations, Compliance, and business stakeholders to translate customer insights, workflow needs, and business priorities into practical product direction.
- Facilitate alignment with senior stakeholders through clear framing of customer problems, opportunity areas, tradeoffs, experience principles, and recommended product direction.
- Use design reviews, discovery readouts, experience narratives, and executive-ready recommendations to improve decision quality and build confidence in product direction.
- Serve as a change leader who can influence adoption of product operating model practices, design standards, research methods, and stronger discovery habits across teams.
Selective Hands-On Design Leadership - Provide hands-on design leadership for strategic, complex, ambiguous, or high-priority product initiatives where senior judgment and facilitation are needed.
- Lead or guide discovery workshops, journey maps, service blueprints, workflow models, concepts, prototypes, usability tests, and research synthesis when the work requires leadership-level involvement.
- Model strong design practices through targeted participation in product discovery, customer validation, design critiques, and executive-ready experience storytelling.
- Ensure design artifacts are decision-ready, evidence-based, accessible, and aligned to customer outcomes, compliance expectations, and business priorities.
Research, Systems, Accessibility & Emerging Experiences - Establish scalable user research practices, templates, repositories, governance, and insight-sharing routines that help teams make better product decisions.
- Lead design system governance, reusable patterns, component standards, and experience guidelines in partnership with Engineering.
- Establish accessibility and inclusive design practices appropriate for a regulated financial services environment.
- Guide design strategy for AI-enabled experiences, intelligent workflows, recommendations, insights, automation, and responsible human-centered AI.
What We Are Looking For- Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, UX Design, Product Design, Human Factors, Psychology, Information Architecture, Interaction Design, or a related field. Equivalent practical experience may be considered.
- 10+ years of Product Design, UX Design, Service Design, Design Strategy, Product Strategy, Design Operations, or related experience.
- 5+ years leading Product Design teams, including coaching, performance management, hiring, talent development, organizational planning, and leadership of design capability maturity.
- Demonstrated ability to build and mature design teams, standards, governance, DesignOps, research operations, design systems, design reviews, and product discovery practices.
- Proven executive communication, facilitation, stakeholder management, organizational influence, and change leadership skills.
- Strong portfolio or work samples demonstrating strategic design leadership, product discovery, customer research, experience strategy, service design, and enterprise experience design.
- Ability to operate as a leadership-oriented player-coach by setting direction, developing people, improving operating practices, and selectively contributing to high-impact design work when needed.
- Current FINRA Series 99 and/or Series 7 license, or ability and expectation to successfully obtain required FINRA licensing within 12 months of employment.
Preferred Qualifications - Experience in Financial Services, Wealth Management, Broker-Dealer, RIA, Custody, Advisory, Investment Management, FinTech, or another regulated industry.
- Experience with advisor workstations, onboarding, account opening, service requests, CRM, practice management, advisory operations, financial planning, portfolio management, compliance review, or client servicing workflows.
- Experience leading enterprise SaaS, platform environments, digital transformation, complex workflows, product operating model transformation, DesignOps, research operations, AI-enabled products, automation, or data-rich enterprise experiences.
- Master's degree, MBA, MS in HCI, Human Factors, Design Strategy, Organizational Leadership, Product Strategy, or related advanced degree preferred.
Preferred Certifications or Training - Nielsen Norman Group UX Certification
- Human Factors International CUA
- IAAP CPACC or Web Accessibility Specialist
- IDEO Design Thinking, LUMA Institute, or Design Sprint Facilitation
- Product Discovery, Product Strategy, Product Operations, Pragmatic Institute, Product School, Continuous Discovery, or leadership development training
Leadership Competencies Strategic & Product Leadership - Connects design strategy to product strategy, portfolio priorities, customer outcomes, business value, and evidence-based decisions.
- Sets the direction, governance, rituals, and standards that improve design maturity and product operating model effectiveness.
People & Change Leadership - Coaches designers, develops talent, builds career paths, strengthens accountability, and grows future design leadership capability.
- Influences leaders and cross-functional teams through clear experience framing, strong facilitation, and practical change leadership.
Craft Judgment & Design Quality Leadership - Maintains high standards for design quality while using direct hands-on involvement selectively to model good practice, unblock ambiguity, and improve strategic product decisions.
What Success Looks Like - Increased Product Design maturity, standards adoption, governance effectiveness, leadership bench strength, and design team capability.
- Stronger Product, Design, and Engineering partnership, improved product triad effectiveness, continuous discovery adoption, customer research usage, usability testing, and evidence-based decision-making.
- Improved design quality, consistency, accessibility, usability, and design system adoption across Cambridge product experiences.
- Clearer prioritization, intake, capacity planning, design review practices, and executive-ready product experience recommendations.
- Measurable contribution to customer and business outcomes, including adoption, engagement, satisfaction, workflow efficiency, reduced friction, and stronger product experiences.
Location: Phoenix, AZ or Fairfield, IA (hybrid attendance model)
Cambridge has competitive benefits and promotes a work/life balance to encourage individual success.
- Premium benefit package including medical, vision, dental, life and long-term disability insurance
- 401K retirement plan with company matching program
You can find more details about our comprehensive benefits package here.
