UX/UI Design Associate Director Job at Awwwards in New York

About the Role
We’re looking for an Associate Director UX/UI to lead and elevate digital design at Bald, with a strong emphasis on web experience design.

This is a senior, hands‑on leadership role for someone who combines big‑picture thinking with meticulous craft. You will be accountable for the quality of UX and UI across multiple web‑driven engagements while actively designing, reviewing, mentoring, and presenting.

You bring deep experience designing complex marketing websites, conversion‑focused platforms, and scalable web systems. You understand responsive behavior, accessibility standards, CMS constraints, and how design decisions translate into development realities.

This is not a strategy‑only or oversight role. We’re looking for someone who:

Designs regularly and sets the standard for web UX and UI craft

Leads client conversations with authority and clarity

Mentors designers toward stronger thinking and execution

Shapes digital best practices across the agency

Balances systems‑level thinking with hands‑on delivery

You’ll work closely with strategy, creative, and development teams to ensure the web experiences we create are intuitive, scalable, conversion‑aware, and thoughtfully executed.

What You’ll Do
You’ll lead UX/UI design across multiple web engagements, guiding projects from early discovery through wireframing, interaction design, high‑fidelity UI, and final delivery.

You’ll ensure clarity of thinking, structural rigor, and visual excellence at every stage.

You’ll define and uphold standards around:

Responsive web behavior

Accessibility best practices

Conversion‑focused interaction design

Design systems and reusable component logic

Scalability within CMS‑driven environments such as HubSpot, WordPress, and Webflow

You’ll actively review work, provide actionable creative direction, and ensure final output reflects both strong UX logic and refined UI craft.

You’ll mentor and develop UX/UI designers, strengthening their ability to:

Define problems clearly

Document process and rationale

Build coherent user flows and sitemaps

Translate structure into polished, usable interfaces

You’ll play a visible and authoritative role in client presentations, workshops, and working sessions, clearly articulating design rationale, framing decisions strategically, and guiding stakeholders through complex UX considerations.

At Associate Director level, you will also:

Help shape UX/UI standards and frameworks across the agency

Contribute to digital capability development and hiring input

Partner with the Creative Director of Design on long‑term quality and growth

Refine ways of working across strategy, creative, and tech

What You’ll Bring
You bring 7 to 10 years of experience in UX/UI or digital product design, with meaningful leadership exposure and deep web expertise.

Required: Strong Web Portfolio
Your portfolio must clearly demonstrate:

End‑to‑end web experience thinking

Problem definition and UX rationale

User flows, sitemaps, and information architecture

Interaction thinking and behavioral design

High‑fidelity UI execution

Responsive layouts across desktop and mobile

Design system logic and reusable components

Clear documentation of process and decision‑making

We are specifically looking for case studies that show both:

UX capability including research synthesis, structural thinking, usability logic, and decision rationale

UI capability including refined interface craft, typography, hierarchy, spacing, and scalable systems thinking

This should not be a purely visual portfolio. We want to see how you think, how you solve, and how you lead design decisions.

Leadership and Communication
You are a strong, confident presenter with executive‑level communication skills. You can lead workshops, frame problems clearly, and guide senior stakeholders through complex UX and UI decisions with clarity and authority. You know how to simplify technical thinking without diluting it, handle pushback constructively, and build alignment around digital direction.

You are comfortable leading high‑stakes client conversations, navigating ambiguity, and defending design decisions while remaining collaborative and solutions‑focused.

You bring a calm, considered leadership style. You elevate the room without dominating it.

Technical and Craft Expectations
You are highly proficient in Figma and comfortable:

Building and maintaining structured component libraries

Designing within and evolving design systems

Preparing files for clean development handoff

Collaborating directly with developers

Designing within CMS constraints and understanding implementation realities

You understand how design decisions impact performance, scalability, usability, and long‑term maintainability.

Who You Are
You are a design leader who balances strategy with delivery.

You:

Lead by example

Hold a high bar for web craft and usability

Give precise, constructive feedback

Create accountability without ego

Build trust with clients and internal teams

Take ownership of quality and consistency

You are accountable for the digital experiences you lead, not just how they look, but how they work.

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