Design Principal at ustwo

At ustwo, we design and build digital products, services, and immersive experiences that people love and lead to business growth. Increasingly, we help our clients boost their digital culture and capabilities.

ustwo is looking for a Design Principal to join our design team in the NYC studio. We are a global studio committed to making a measurable positive impact on people's everyday lives. We work across the entire product lifecycle, from visioning and discovery, validating propositions to launching products and services that are valuable to both users and businesses. As a result, we have a lasting and transformative effect on the companies and organizations we work with.

To meet these opportunities, our design team is made up of versatile designers who have and are constantly developing and broadening their wide skill sets and deepening their process knowledge. Our designers are skilled, confident, and multi-faceted, collaborating across all disciplines involved in the product and service development process.

We believe passionately that diverse teams help us make better services and products. We actively hire for cultural growth. We welcome people of all ages, stories and backgrounds. It adds value and impact to our clients and industry.

About the role

As a Design Principal at ustwo, you will partner with global design leadership and global and local design teams to enable a differentiated design service that delivers measurable value to our clients and our business.

Your experience spans winning new business, delivering brilliant, impactful work, and fostering a strong design culture and teams. 

We will look to you to create deep, effective partnerships with our clients, to define and deliver work that creates lasting value, and to have an inclusive and inspirational leadership style essential to maintaining a diverse, inclusive culture within project teams. As someone skilled at managing others, you are comfortable adapting your approach to the needs of each member without compromising on honest feedback and keeping fairness front and center.

Location

This role is based in our Brooklyn studio at 20 Jay Street. We have a hybrid policy: you're required to be in the studio on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and you can choose between studio or remote work for the rest of the week. Able to travel, from time to time.

Design & Leadership Responsibilities 

In this position, you will:

• Drive project vision, align the team towards future goals and contributing to both design strategy and client outcomes.
• Work across the full breadth of our product and service portfolio, spanning discovery and delivery projects and pushing the boundaries.
• From practical tools to hands-on support, you'll guide teams through complex problem-solving and equip them to create breakthrough experiences.
• Plan and execute research initiatives, bringing empathy for the end user, and driving user-centered design solutions that balance business goals with user needs.
• Be an expert practitioner leveraging and/or creating new methods and processes to drive creative ideation and refinement.
• Bring a highly developed sense of brand expression and visual finesse to push the boundaries of all design applications and deliverables.
• Develop comprehensive project plans, including resource allocation, timelines, and deliverables, ensuring alignment with client needs and business goals.
• Lead community initiatives within Design, nurturing a thriving, self-driving community and being a critical external voice for ustwo where applicable. 
• Be confident in identifying, driving, and converting new business opportunities.
• Demonstrate excellent storytelling and presentation skills to guide clients and teams through compelling narratives that strongly position our work and thinking.
• Deputise for our Exec Design Director and be a human voice for your community, representing all perspectives in your decision-making.
• Keep up-to-date on emerging design tools and technologies, staying at the forefront of digital design innovation. (An interest in gaming/play is a bonus!)

Who we're looking for 

We're seeking a designer who embodies the following distinguishing qualities:

• Able to flex between delivering across a few projects to being immersed on one project, prioritising both your time effectively and clarifying ownership of tasks.
• Highly collaborative, able to lead multidisciplinary teams of designers, developers and product managers, ensuring alignment on goals and outcomes, while quickly identifying and resolving any issues in teamwork. using Agile and Lean principles. You have experience of working across multiple projects.
• An inspiring communicator capable of conveying ideas, storytelling and breaking down concepts clearly to a diverse range of audiences.  You are confident at managing senior stakeholders and navigating them through the design process and commercial decisions.  (verbally and written). 
• Actively participates in studio culture and supports a trusting, respectful, and inclusive environment.
• Thrives under pressure in dynamic, fast-moving environments. Comfortable with ambiguity, able to switch contexts, and confident making and facilitating rapid decisions. able to apply design practice across a range of industries and different deliverables and goals. 
• Want to grow. You encourage continuous growth, seek out opportunities to learn, fostering psychologically safe environments and advocate constructive good feedback with those you work with.
• Inspire others with your passion and drive for excellence. 
• You take great pleasure, and have success, in developing individuals, and inspiring career growth through role modelling, feedback, and strong management skills.
• A team builder accountable for design discipline recruitment processes, evaluating candidates, and considering the team as a whole and talent gaps.
• Capable of mediating difficult disciplinary and interpersonal conversations. Should feel comfortable acting as the final escalation point.

Compensation and benefits

The base salary range for this full-time role is between $170,000 and $205,000. The actual salary amount within this range will depend on the candidate's experience, skillset, market knowledge, and the salaries of current employees in similar roles. We benchmark our salaries regularly against competitive market data, so these ranges are subject to change. 

Full-time employees also qualify for ustwo's Profit Share Scheme, in which the studio group shares up to one-third of operating profits with all employees, subject to hitting certain safety thresholds and targets.

Additionally, all full-time employees are eligible for the following benefits: 

• Fully paid Medical, Vision, and Dental coverage
• 401k with up to 5% company matching
• 20 Days PTO 
• Up to 15 additional closed days per year, including the last week of the year
• Hybrid working model
• Transit and Health FSA programs
• Citibike membership
• One Medical and Talkspace Memberships
• 16 weeks of paid parental leave
• Annual Growth & Development Budget
• Monthly Wellness & Cell Phone Contributions

Please provide a link to your online portfolio and any released products or experiences you have contributed to.

Interested but think your experience doesn’t perfectly align with this job description? That’s ok. Research shows underrepresented groups in particular are less inclined to apply for jobs where they don’t meet 100% of the requirements listed. We’d still love to hear from you if you feel passionate about this role! We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for our colleagues, clients, community, and the users of our products. We don’t have all the answers, but we’re on a journey, and we are learning together