Reports to
The User Experience Design Director will report to the Head of UX & Product.
Location
This position will report to our Calgary office, but we are open to being remote across Canada.
Job overview
As a UX Design Director, you are our player-coach: you deliver exceptional work while representing all UX & Product disciplines at the account level. You build relationships with clients and across internal departments, drive cross-functional process and efficiency, and identify growth opportunities, all while elevating the craft and developing the people around you.
If the person below sounds like you, you should definitely apply.
- You have a deep understanding of the iterative user experience design process. You know how to define and evolve processes for a team. You think ahead to see how solutions will function for disparate audiences and environments.
- You're proficient with typical software like Figma, Miro, JIRA, and Notion, for workshopping, designing, and prototyping. Bonus marks if you're using AI for ideation and prototyping. You also understand and have experience with agile work processes.
- You're a program lead. You work across departments to improve cross-functional teamwork, raise the quality of our deliverables, and identify growth opportunities within an account.
- You're a people leader. You manage and grow a team of one to three UX designers and researchers, focused on performance, mentorship, and career pathing. You hold regular one-on-ones and are comfortable collecting, relaying, and acting on performance feedback.
- You communicate design decisions and user insights clearly and persuasively to cross-functional teams, leadership, and clients. You adapt your communication style to suit technical and non-technical audiences.
- You're accountable to the numbers. You provide estimates and take responsibility for the design team delivering within the project scope and budget.
- You're flexible. You know when to hold your ground and when to adapt your approach or recommendations. You win the hearts and minds of clients by helping them ask the right questions, probing when necessary, and developing tailored strategies.
A day in the life
Working at an agency, you'll have the opportunity to work simultaneously with various clients across a range of industries. One day, you might be shaping account strategy for a client site with over 50 million unique monthly visitors. Another day, you might be coaching a designer through a client presentation while scoping a growth opportunity within the same account. No two days are the same.
That said, here are a few activities that will likely take up most of your time:
- Represent the UX & Product practice at the account and project level, building relationships with clients and across internal departments.
- Own the UX & Product point of view on project planning, account strategy, and growth, working directly with clients and project leads.
- Manage a team of one to three UX designers and researchers, conducting regular one-on-ones, offering feedback, mentorship, and career pathing.
- Improve cross-functional processes, teamwork, and the quality of our deliverables.
- Provide estimates and ensure the design team delivers within them.
- Define process, mentor others, and push the practice forward with new ideas, techniques, and technologies.
What's in it for you
- Salary range: $130-140K (subject to experience level).
- Benefits: You'll be on our plan and will receive extended health and dental benefits, a health spending account, and GRSP matching.
- Culture & lifestyle: We're an agency, and we work hard, but life is also for living. We strive to provide a respectful and inclusive workplace that welcomes everyone. We're also not much for micromanaging-you'll have a lot of flexibility to deliver great work in ways that make sense to you.
- Office availability: Our Calgary office is an amenity, not a mandate. It's there for you whenever you'd like.
- Stuff: A laptop and a phone allowance will be provided.
What we'll ask
There are a couple of things we'll ask for as part of the hiring process:
- Cover letter: Tell us a little about yourself and your fit for the job (it's true that companies don't look at applications that don't include cover letters).
- Portfolio/case study presentation: If you make it to the interview stage, we'll request that you present your portfolio and/or applicable case studies.
