Director, User Experience, Application Platform

Summary

Are you a visionary UX leader passionate about shaping exceptional experiences for developers? Do you thrive on building and nurturing talented teams, all while driving innovation in a dynamic cloud environment? If so, then we invite you to join Guidewire, the leading provider of software solutions for the P&C Insurance industry, as our next Director, User Experience, Application Platform!

At Guidewire, we know that staying at the forefront of our industry means continuously delivering incredible products and services. That's where you come in. As our UX Director, you'll be the guiding force behind the design and user experience strategy for our cutting-edge application platform. This platform empowers developers to extend Guidewire’s Insurance Suite with powerful cloud services like Workflow, Rules, Extensions, and Business Functions – and your expertise will ensure these interactions are intuitive, efficient, and truly delightful.

This isn't just a management role; it's an opportunity to collaborate deeply with product directors, developers, and a diverse range of stakeholders. You'll lead and mentor a talented team of UX designers, guiding them through every stage of the design journey, from initial research and ideation to final implementation and testing.

As a vital part of our UX Management team, you'll play a key role in defining and implementing UX best practices, managing exciting design initiatives, and strategically prioritizing design requests.

Job Description

This will be a hybrid role out of our Mississauga office with an expectation to be in the office 2 days per week.

What you'll bring to the table and achieve in this role:

• Team Leadership: You'll build, develop, and mentor high-performing UX design teams, fostering a truly collaborative and inclusive environment where creativity flourishes.
• Strategic Vision: You'll be a key contributor to the overall product strategy and roadmap for our application platform, ensuring our designs are perfectly aligned with our business objectives.
• User-Centered Design: You'll champion the user, ensuring that all design decisions are deeply informed by insightful user research, robust data analysis, and a profound understanding of our customers' and users' needs.
• Collaboration: You'll partner seamlessly with product Directors, engineers, and other stakeholders, co-creating cohesive and impactful design solutions that truly make a difference.
• Design Process Management: You'll oversee the entire design process with expertise, from sparking initial ideas and creating prototypes, to thorough testing, seamless implementation, and tracking key user metrics.
• Innovation: You'll constantly seek out exciting opportunities to elevate the user experience and drive groundbreaking innovation in the platform's design.
• Communication: You'll articulate design vision, strategies, and progress with clarity and enthusiasm to a diverse audience of stakeholders.
• Performance Management: You'll evaluate team performance, provide constructive feedback, and passionately support individual and team growth.
• Advocacy: You'll be a passionate advocate for user-centered design principles and best practices, embedding them deeply within our organization's culture.

A Glimpse Into Your Day-to-day As a UX Director

• You'll provide expert oversight and guidance for the design and user experience strategy of our application platform.
• You'll align closely with stakeholders and your UX team on design goals and execution.
• You'll manage and mentor your team of UX designers, fostering a supportive and collaborative atmosphere.
• You'll empower your design team to master the design process, from initial research and ideation all the way through to final implementation and testing.
• You'll skillfully manage ongoing design initiatives and strategically prioritize design requests.
• You'll ensure design decisions are rooted in solid user research, data analysis, and empathy for user needs, and drive measurable impact.
• You'll support your designers in task estimation and sprint planning activities, ensuring smooth project flow.
• You'll evaluate team performance, providing valuable feedback to fuel individual and team growth.
• You'll champion user-centered design principles and best practices throughout the organization.

What Will Make You Shine In This Role

• 7+ years of impactful experience as a UX designer, interaction designer, information architect, or a similar influential role.
• 5+ years as a senior manager or director of a UX team within a B2B product or enterprise cloud platform environment.
• A compelling portfolio that showcases your proven ability to lead design projects that solve complex business problems and deliver intuitive experiences for technical users (like business analysts and developers).
• A natural talent for building rapport, establishing mutual respect, and fostering close collaboration with Product Management and Engineering teams.
• A demonstrated ability to design cloud enterprise software solutions specifically for technical users.
• A strategic mindset, with the ability to grasp the big picture, understand connections across related programs with diverse stakeholders, and expertly balance UX team priorities.
• Exceptional communication, interpersonal, and analytical skills, including the power to present design concepts clearly and persuasively to colleagues, stakeholders, and senior executives.
• Program management and organizational skills, enabling you to successfully drive design activities across multiple, concurrently running programs.
• The ability to balance innovation with technical realities, and user needs.
• Experience with sprint and Kanban ceremonies and tools (such as Jira) is a plus.
• A Bachelor's or Master’s (preferred) degree in design, human-computer interaction (HCI), or equivalent professional experience.

Join us at Guidewire and help us continue to shape the future of insurance technology with truly exceptional user experiences!

Key skills/competency

• UX Design Leadership
• Enterprise Cloud Platform
• User Research & Data Analysis
• Product Strategy Alignment
• Team Mentoring & Development
• Design Process Management
• Stakeholder Collaboration
• Developer Experience (DX)
• Innovation & Advocacy
• B2B Software Design