The Group

The Morningstar design team is dedicated to creating thoughtfully-designed financial products and services so that people across the world can make the best investing decisions for themselves and their clients. We synthesize complex financial information into experiences that empower our users to deliver better outcomes. We do this by not only creating the look and feel of a product, but also driving product direction: prioritizing the biggest opportunities to support our users and the business, while maintaining a strong sense of product ownership and its resulting success. The design organization is made up of several disciplines—visual, UX, communications, content, and research—united to help each other, and the whole company, grow. We’re always seeking designers who are motivated, are driven to deliver user-centered outcomes, and are equally committed to craft and compassion.

The Role

We are looking for a senior designer with exception design experience to join our Chicago team. As a Senior Designer you are a master of your craft and demonstrate strong cross-functional collaboration. Success in this role requires a shift in mindset toward the interpersonal aspects of work. Understanding the business context in which you operate is a crucial driver in helping drive.

Primary Focus

• Work on and guide others in solving diverse scope problems, requiring analysis of multiple factors such as timeline, customer need, business, and technical feasibility.
• Model meticulous attention to detail while consistently delivering high-quality solutions that balance all these factors.
• Help others identify opportunities, clarify risks, and avoid unproductive conflict through design thinking, processes, and artifacts.

Leadership

• Provide art direction and feedback to other designers and help the cross-functional team discern how and when to consider stakeholder and customer feedback.
• Guide other designers on design standards and design strategy.
• Manage your workload and guide others to deliver high-quality work within constraints.
• Communicate problem space and constraints to others in the cross-functional team.
• Reinforce design and quality standards during work reviews.

Collaboration

• An individual contributor who can define the scope of projects and initiatives; clarify how decisions impact business goals; and execute design direction.
• Consistently incorporate feedback from customers, users, and partners into the day to day workflow without being reminded to do so.
• Contribute to the improvement of the Morningstar design systems, processes, and standards.
• Able to align work with organizational goals—within the business unit, the design function, and Morningstar corporate goals.
• Understand business strategy and engage with the cross-functional team to identify opportunities to achieve a plan within project parameters of scope, timeline, budget and quality.
• Juggle multiple projects supporting one or more development squads.
• Proactively develop strong relationships.
• Proactively communicate status with the team, manager, and design group

User Focus

• Proactively pursue an understanding of our users, their needs, and translate that understanding into design strategy and solutions.
• Set the environment for collaboration internally and externally by coordinating the cooperation of internal development squads, clients, and end-users.
• Advocating for proven user-centered design and development processes.

Autonomy and Ownership

• Work both autonomously and with direction from your manager.
• Typically receive little instruction on daily work, general instructions on new assignments.
• Demonstrate good judgment in selecting design methods, collaborating with others, and communicating your approach.
• Take initiative to solve medium-scale obstacles and identifies opportunities for customers and our business.
• Own your decisions and outcomes.

The role will report to the Design Manager - Credit Products, and will be based in Chicago.  

Requirements

• 5+ years specializing in user experience design across digital platforms.
• Have worked in a progressive, creative-driven environment that has embraced digitally-led thinking and UI/UX principles as part of the core creative process.
• Proficiency in using Sketch and InVision.
• Ability to create conceptual prototypes that convey motion and behavior.
• Strong conceptual thinking, as well as a solid understanding of designing intuitive functionality, interactions, architectures, and usability principles.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience performing user research, user mapping, and presenting results.
• Familiarity and experience working with WCAG accessibility standards.
• Experience working in an Agile environment.
• Working knowledge of front-end development technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript etc.) is a plus.

How to apply:

Include a link to your online portfolio or attach pdf samples along with your resume.

Morningstar is an equal opportunity employer

About Us

DBRS Morningstar is a global credit ratings business, currently with 700 employees in eight offices globally. Formed through the July 2019 acquisition of DBRS by Morningstar, Inc., the ratings business is the fourth-largest provider of credit ratings in the world.

DBRS Morningstar is committed to empowering investor success, serving the market through leading-edge technology and raising the bar for the industry. DBRS Morningstar is a market leader in Canada, the U.S. and Europe in multiple asset classes.

DBRS Morningstar rates more than 2,600 issuers and 54,000 securities worldwide and is driven to bringing more clarity, diversity of opinion, and responsiveness to the ratings process. DBRS Morningstar’s approach and size provide the agility to respond to customers’ needs, while being large enough to provide the necessary expertise and resources.