Principal UX Designer

Position Summary:

The Principal UX Designer owns the university’s web design system and is accountable for the designworkthatshapeshowaudiencesexperiencetheuniversityonline,directingasmallteam of two freelance designers to deliver it.

Reporting to the Web Engineering and Ops Lead, the Principal UX Designer maintains and evolves the design system currently built in Figma, advancing it toward a tokenized, scalable foundation that the web development team can build against efficiently. This role partners closelywithwebdevelopmenttoresolveexistingusabilityissuesandtokeepthedesignsystem and the live product in sync as both continue to mature.

Beyond the design system, the Principal UX Designer plans usability testing, contributes to journey mapping and conversion rate optimization, and brings AI-assisted design tools into the team’s workflow to expand capacity and speed. Design work runs in agile sprints alongside the web development team, and the Principal UX Designer directs freelance designers, setting priorities, delegating production, and reviewing output to ensure consistency and quality. The role calls for steady, iterative delivery: making sound design decisions with incomplete information,workingwithintheestablisheddesignsystem,brand,andtechnicalconstraints,and moving work through short sprint cycles.