Experience Design Director -NJ

Experience Design Director

We are seeking a strategic and customer-focused Experience Design Director to lead the vision, strategy, and execution of end-to-end customer experiences across digital and physical touchpoints. This leader will oversee multidisciplinary teams responsible for user experience (UX), user interface (UI), service design, information architecture, interaction design, and customer journey optimization.

The Experience Design Director will partner closely with Product, Marketing, Digital Commerce, Technology, Analytics, Research, and Operations to create intuitive, engaging, and data-driven experiences that improve customer satisfaction, increase conversion, and support business growth.

The ideal candidate combines human-centered design thinking with operational leadership and business acumen to build scalable design capabilities while delivering measurable customer and commercial outcomes.

Experience Strategy & Vision

• Define and execute the organization's Experience Design strategy and roadmap.
• Develop customer-centric experiences across digital, mobile, eCommerce, retail, and omnichannel environments.
• Establish design principles, standards, and best practices that ensure consistency across all customer touchpoints.
• Champion user-centered design methodologies throughout the organization.
• Translate customer insights and business objectives into innovative design solutions.

Customer Journey & Experience Design

• Lead end-to-end customer journey mapping and service blueprint development.
• Improve user flows, navigation, information architecture, and interaction design.
• Optimize customer experiences throughout the discovery, evaluation, purchase, onboarding, and post-purchase lifecycle.
• Identify customer pain points and develop scalable solutions that improve satisfaction and engagement.
• Design experiences that support accessibility, usability, and conversion optimization.

Design Leadership

• Lead multidisciplinary teams including:
• UX Design
• UI Design
• Product Design
• Service Design
• Experience Research
• Information Architecture
• Interaction Design
• Visual Design
• Establish design systems, component libraries, and governance frameworks.
• Promote collaboration between design, engineering, product, and business stakeholders.

Customer Research & Insights

• Direct qualitative and quantitative customer research initiatives.
• Utilize usability testing, customer interviews, surveys, analytics, heatmaps, and behavioral data to inform design decisions.
• Translate research findings into actionable product and experience improvements.
• Develop customer personas and journey frameworks to support strategic initiatives.

Business Performance

• Drive measurable improvements in customer engagement, conversion, retention, and satisfaction.
• Partner with Product and Analytics teams to define KPIs and success metrics.
• Utilize A/B testing and experimentation to validate design decisions.
• Align design investments with strategic business priorities and growth objectives.

Operational Excellence

• Develop scalable design processes that improve speed, quality, and consistency.
• Manage project prioritization, resource allocation, and workflow planning.
• Implement design governance and quality assurance standards.
• Continuously improve team efficiency through tools, automation, and process optimization.

Cross-Functional Leadership

Collaborate closely with:

• Product Management
• Marketing
• Digital Commerce
• Technology
• Engineering
• Customer Experience
• Analytics & Insights
• Operations
• Executive Leadership

Serve as the primary Experience Design leader responsible for aligning customer needs with business objectives.

Team Development

• Recruit, mentor, and develop high-performing design professionals.
• Foster a collaborative, innovative, and customer-first culture.
• Establish career development plans and succession strategies.
• Conduct performance management and ongoing coaching.

AI & Emerging Technology

• Evaluate and implement AI-enabled design tools and workflows.
• Leverage automation to improve design scalability and efficiency.
• Partner with technology teams to incorporate emerging digital capabilities into customer experiences.
• Ensure design practices evolve alongside changing customer expectations and technology trends.

Success Metrics (KPIs)

Customer Experience

• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)
• Customer Effort Score (CES)
• User Engagement
• Task Completion Rate

Digital Performance

• Conversion Rate
• Customer Retention
• Bounce Rate Reduction
• Session Duration
• Digital Adoption

Design Effectiveness

• Usability Scores
• Accessibility Compliance
• Design System Adoption
• Time-to-Launch
• Design Quality

Operational Performance

• Project Delivery
• Workflow Efficiency
• Cross-Functional Satisfaction
• Resource Utilization
• Team Productivity

Organizational Health

• Employee Engagement
• Leadership Development
• Talent Retention
• Capability Maturity
• Cross-Functional Collaboration

Qualifications

Required Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), User Experience Design, Product Design, Graphic Design, Psychology, Industrial Design, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in UX, Experience Design, Product Design, Customer Experience, or Digital Design.
• 5+ years leading multidisciplinary design teams.
• Proven success delivering customer-centered experiences across web, mobile, eCommerce, SaaS, or omnichannel environments.
• Strong understanding of user research, information architecture, interaction design, design systems, accessibility, and usability principles.
• Experience collaborating with Product, Engineering, Marketing, and executive stakeholders.

Preferred Experience

• Experience leading enterprise-scale digital transformation initiatives.
• Background in retail, hospitality, consumer products, healthcare, financial services, or technology.
• Experience with design systems and enterprise UX governance.
• Familiarity with analytics platforms, experimentation frameworks, and AI-enabled design tools.
• Knowledge of agile product development methodologies.

Leadership Profile

We are seeking a strategic design leadernot simply a visual designer. The ideal candidate is capable of building high-performing teams, establishing scalable design capabilities, improving customer experiences, and translating design excellence into measurable business results.

Success in this role is defined by the ability to create intuitive, customer-centric experiences that strengthen brand loyalty, increase engagement, improve conversion, and drive long-term business growth.