Lead Product Designer

Job title: Lead Product DesignerLocation: NYC 51 Madison Hybrid - 3 days per week - Preferred candidates are local to the NYC Home Office; however, we are open to hybrid or fully remote candidates located anywhere in the U.S. for the right individual.Contract Duration: 12 monthsInterviews: 1st:Screening w/mgr2nd: Portfolio/Case study presentation panel interview3rd: Design Leadership 4th: Product Partner*Please note: 3rd & 4th might flow back-to-backsWhat you’ll do Turn ambiguous, cross-cutting problems into clear user flows and high-fidelity prototypes for core NYL360 workflows (e.g., navigation, dashboards, servicing tasks, forms, document and data review, and key decision points).Set and govern the design quality bar: production-ready prototypes (component usage, states, responsive behavior, content guidance, accessibility notes, and edge cases), Dev Mode handoff, and design QA against intent.Lead use of Madi: apply and extend components and patterns, drive contributions through the contribution process, and keep documentation current so the team moves faster with each release.Influence the roadmap and drive delivery in SAFeInfluence roadmap and prioritization with Product Owners/Managers and leadership; contribute to PI planning and sprint ceremonies and keep design ahead of development across concurrent sprints.Collaborate daily with Product, Engineering, and Implementation teams; manage stakeholder conflict, make pragmatic tradeoffs, and unblock engineers during build.Work from analytics, usability research, support drivers, and stakeholder input to identify friction, prioritize fixes and enhancements, and translate findings into designs that move the numbers.Identify delivery, compliance, and experience risks early and escalate them with clear options.Lead co-creation and mentor the teamFacilitate working sessions (story mapping, journey mapping, design studios, and critique) to align on problems, explore options, and land decisions quickly.Coach and mentor designers on the NYL360 squad through critique and feedback, raising craft and consistency across the team’s work.Present design strategy, rationale, and impact to senior and executive stakeholders, framing decisions in terms of business value.Ship for outcomes, not outputAdvocate for the user in cross-functional discussions, using evidence to align stakeholders on the right problems to solve.Bring AI-assisted workflows into the team’s practice and guide design for AI-powered NYL360 capabilities with transparency, accessibility, and compliance in mind.You should have Portfolio required: Please include a portfolio or case studies as a document or link with your resume when applying (including any passwords). Please do not use Dropbox or other file-sharing tools we cannot accessSkills Strong command of interaction design, visual design, and UX writing collaboration, including content architecture across journeys.Fluent in AI-augmented design workflows (e.g., Figma AI, Claude Design, ChatGPT, NotebookLM) with measurable efficiency gains; able to review AI-generated outputs for quality and compliance and lead AI toolset adoption across the team.Expert in Figma (components, variables, auto layout, prototyping, and Dev Mode handoff), able to set standards and train others. Proficient with FigJam and Miro; comfortable with Adobe Creative Suite.Familiarity with technical architecture concepts (service-oriented architecture, micro-services, data models) and front-end basics (HTML, CSS).Strong understanding of accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 AA) and inclusive design, with the ability to define accessibility standards for a product portfolio.Executive-level communication skills; able to align cross-functional leaders and give engineers and designers clear, actionable direction.Meticulous attention to detail across states, edge cases, and content, with a pragmatic sense of what to ship now versus later.Comfortable using qualitative + quantitative inputs (e.g., usability testing, Qualtrics, Adobe Analytics/GA4) and OKR-based metrics to prioritize and iterate on live features.Education Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Design, Interaction Design, Fine Arts, HCI) or equivalent practical experience.Nice to have Experience in life insurance, financial services, or other highly regulated industries designing complex application or servicing experiences.Experience architecting agentic or conversational UX patterns (e.g., goal-oriented flows, fallback states, trust and transparency, and AI-to-human handoff) with attention to Responsible AI and privacy-by-design practices.Experience shipping designs across a range of front ends (e.g., content management systems, low/no-code platforms, framework-based front ends, native apps).Experience with experimentation (A/B testing), personalization, and optimization of key journeys (adoption, task completion, and engagement).Advocates for accessibility best practices, with deep knowledge of ADA compliance and WCAG guidelines, and experience embedding them into design solutions.Applicant Notices & DisclaimersFor information on benefits, equal opportunity employment, and location-specific applicant notices, click hereAt SPECTRAFORCE, we are committed to maintaining a workplace that ensures fair compensation and wage transparency in adherence with all applicable state and local laws.This position's pay range is $65.00/hr - $75.00/hr.