Senior Manager – User Experience & Design

JOB SUMMARY

With every journey, travel has the power to shape us and our world. Begin your journey as the Senior Manager User Experience & Design. This role is responsible for designing loyalty-focused mobile app products ranging from near-term tactical to longer-term strategy with a keen focus on data-driven, best-in-class product design. They will contribute to digital experiences that deliver on enrollments, onboarding, and member engagement to support business outcomes. Partnering closely with the Director of User Experience, product management and technology colleagues to meet needs across our business, leisure, member and non-member customers.

This position requires the ability to produce as an individual contributor and execute on design direction from concept to completion. Your portfolio should showcase experience in UX and interaction design in loyalty solutions, particularly highlighting expert UI design that focuses on simplicity, and ease-of-use.

 

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Education and Experience

· 5+ years of relevant experience in digital product design

· 4-year undergraduate degree, or relevant experience

· Experience in multiple of the following user experience disciplines: visual design and interaction design

· Strong grounding in general usability and transactional design best practices

· Experience with major, large-scale global digital apps, web sites, or other digital products within the loyalty space

· Well versed in industry best practices for increasing enrollments and member retention

· Strong grounding in customer segmentation, personalization, general usability and design best practices

· Proven experience delivering concepts, user journeys, wireframes, high fidelity designs, prototypes, development-ready designs with specifications etc. for mobile apps.

You’re exactly who we’re looking for if you:

· Champion elevated user experiences and UI without sacrificing enrollment and member retention

· Promote UX best practices drawn from a variety of disciplines (within and beyond hospitality)

· Communicate through compelling visuals and deliverables

· Demonstrate self-confidence, energy, and enthusiasm in leading and influencing teams

· Showcase strong presentation, negotiation, and persuasion skills

· Thrive in a fast-paced environment, with the ability to simultaneously manage multiple projects

Nice to Have:

· Superior communication and interpersonal skills including discovery facilitation, presentation, and storytelling

· Experience with Agile / SAFE development methodologies

 

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES

Demonstrating and Applying Discipline Knowledge

· Produces sketches, wireframes, personas, journey maps, flows, designs, motion specs, prototypes and/or presentations as needed to communicate experience design

· Provides subject matter expertise on key functional systems to help shepherd strategic initiatives from idea to feasible implementation

· References Design System for appropriate patterns, components, and styles in the course of user experience design work; attends Design System office hours for feedback and follows procedures to propose new elements when necessary

· Produces both innovative high-level design concepts / strategy visualizations as well as development-ready designs with specifications

· Ensure a quality experience on live digital products by participating in the user acceptance testing process

· Uses software including: Adobe Creative Suite; Figma; Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint

· Keeps skills up-to-date on industry trends and applies new knowledge to job, identifying strategic opportunities for competitive advantages through those findings

· Clearly present your work citing industry best practices, qual and quant data to support your decisions

· Be a thought partner providing recommendations based on research and data for experience enhancements across all digital touchpoints

· Collaborates with a variety of user experience disciplines within the team (Information Architecture, Design System/Standards, User Research, Copywriting) to advance your work

 

Managing Work, Projects, and Policies

· Provides accurate estimates as to needed time to complete work to feed project plans (and therefore personal deadlines)

· Meets deadlines once agreed upon

· Reports impediments to completing work and meeting deadlines

· Provides regular status updates to manager

· Successfully manages multiple assignments

· Accepts critique and critiques work of others in a helpful and professional manner

· Communicates in a timely and appropriate manner with teammates

 

Additional Responsibilities

· Works independently with minimal supervision, but knows when issues should be escalated to manager

· Develops relationships with members of other teams, and leverages those relationships to advance team initiatives

· Presents work with clarity and confidence; explains complex matters so that others can understand them

· Performs other reasonable duties as assigned by manager

FAQ

1. What is the primary scope of a Senior Manager, User Experience & Design?
This role leads the strategy, execution, and evolution of user experience and design across products or platforms. It involves overseeing UX research, interaction design, and visual design to ensure cohesive and user-centered outcomes. The position also aligns design initiatives with business and product goals.

2. How much leadership and team management is expected in this role?
The role typically includes managing and mentoring a team of UX designers, researchers, and possibly content strategists. It involves setting design standards, guiding career development, and fostering a strong design culture. Leadership also includes influencing cross-functional teams without direct authority.

3. What is the balance between strategy and hands-on design work?
The role is primarily strategic, focusing on design direction, frameworks, and governance. However, some hands-on involvement may be required for critical projects or reviews. The emphasis is on guiding teams rather than executing all design tasks personally.

4. How does this role collaborate with product and engineering teams?
Close collaboration with product managers and engineering teams is essential to align user experience with technical feasibility and business priorities. The role ensures design is integrated early in the product development lifecycle. It also helps resolve trade-offs between usability, performance, and delivery timelines.

5. What tools and design systems are commonly used in this role?
Common tools include design platforms like Figma, Sketch, or Adobe XD, along with prototyping tools and usability testing platforms. The role often involves managing or evolving a design system to ensure consistency. Collaboration tools and research platforms are also widely used.