Director, Experience Design

UX Lead I
The Design Director sets the vision for the best user experience. You will create a space for cross-functional partners to collaborate effectively. You will use your knowledge of and experience in the Design Thinking process to collaborate with partner teams, facilitate conversations, create concepts, run design sprints, and build rapid prototypes to test and learn from users and inform prioritization and impact. While working with partners to determine a shared plan forward that balances business, user, and technology considerations, you will create and champion an experience that is highly engaging and usable and deliver pixel-perfect detailed design with your team. By innovating on one of the world's biggest stages, you will have the chance to shape the future of retirement. If you are motivated by complex, purposeful, and engaging challenges, then we invite you to join us on our mission!
Key Responsibilities and Duties

• Lead a team of designers that partner with research, content strategy, data science, legal and compliance, product management and engineering teams to establish modern best practices for end-to-end experience design and delivery, such as design research, journey mapping, personas, storyboards, concept designs, prototyping and final production designs for our end user experiences.
• Express yourself as a considerate thinker that sees the big picture, while understanding the business objectives, weaving viability, desirability and viability into our design decisions.
• Drive the experience with an outcome’s focus, actively scanning the end-to-end experience for new approaches, blending different ideas to challenge the teams with creative, yet effective solutions.
• Lead as an accountable achiever. Others rely on you to get things done, raising the bar for performance, while taking accountability for your own actions.
• Build trust-based relationships across boundaries and encourage collaboration. Show up authentically and adapt your own style to communicate impactfully.
• Express yourself as a continuous learner who is self-aware, curious to learn, and seeks feedback from others to continuously grow, always putting improvement over comfort.

Educational Requirements

• University (Degree) Preferred

Work Experience

• 5+ Years Required; 7+ Years Preferred

Physical Requirements

• Physical Requirements: Sedentary Work

Career Level
9IC

Required Skills

• 5+ years End-to-end UX design expertise, including journey mapping, personas, storyboarding, prototyping, and pixel-perfect production design
• Design Thinking facilitation and application, including running design sprints and translating ambiguous problems into testable concepts
• Team leadership and people management, with 5+ years of relevant experience leading designers and setting a vision for the team
• Cross-functional collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to partner effectively across research, product, engineering, legal, and compliance teams

Preferred Skills

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent, ideally in a design-related discipline
• Experience balancing business, user, and technology considerations by weaving feasibility, desirability, and viability into design decisions
• Familiarity with financial services or regulated industry contexts, particularly environments involving legal and compliance stakeholders
• Growth mindset and comfort with ambiguity, demonstrated through continuous learning, self-awareness, and openness to feedback

Related Skills

Accountability, Adaptability, Collaboration, Communication, Consultative Communication, Continuous Improvement Mindset, Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Innovation, Prototyping, Relationship Management, Test & Learn Mentality, User Experience Design

Anticipated Posting End Date:

2026-04-07

Base Pay Range: $134,000/yr - $176,000/yr

Actual base salary may vary based upon, but not limited to, relevant experience, time in role, base salary of internal peers, prior performance, business sector, and geographic location.  In addition to base salary, the competitive compensation package may include, depending on the role, participation in an incentive program linked to performance (for example, annual discretionary incentive programs, non-annual sales incentive plans, or other non-annual incentive plans). 

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Company Overview

Every worker deserves a secure retirement. For more than 100 years, TIAA has delivered it for millions of people. Founded to help educators retire with dignity, today weʼre a market-leading retirement company fueled by world-class asset management. But weʼre not just another legacy financial services firm. Weʼre fighting harder than ever before for our clients and the many Americans who need us.

Our Culture of Impact

At TIAA, we're on a mission to build on our 100+ year legacy of delivering for our clients while evolving to meet tomorrow's challenges. We equip our associates with future-focused skills and AI tools that enable us to advance our mission. Together, we are fighting to ensure a more secure financial future for all and for generations to come. We are guided by our values: Champion Our People, Be Client Obsessed, Lead with Integrity, Own It, and Win As One. They influence every decision we make and how we work together to serve our clients every day. We thrive in a collaborative in-office environment where teams work across organizational boundaries with shared purpose, accelerating innovation and delivering meaningful results. Our workplace brings together TIAA and Nuveen's entrepreneurial spirit, where we work hard and work together to create lasting impact. Here, every associate can grow through meaningful learning experiences and development pathways—because when our people succeed, our impact on clients' lives grows stronger.

Benefits and Total Rewards

The organization is committed to making financial well-being possible for its clients, and is equally committed to the well-being of our associates. That’s why we offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package designed to make a positive difference in the lives of our associates and their loved ones. Our benefits include a superior retirement program and highly competitive health, wellness and work life offerings that can help you achieve and maintain your best possible physical, emotional and financial well-being. To learn more about your benefits, please review our Benefits Summary.

Equal Opportunity

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. TIAA does not discriminate against any candidate or employee on the basis of age, race, color, national origin, sex, religion, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other legally protected status.

Our full EEO & Non-Discrimination statement is on our careers home page, and you can read more about your rights and view government notices here.

Accessibility Support

TIAA offers support for those who need assistance with our online application process to provide an equal employment opportunity to all job seekers, including individuals with disabilities. 

If you are a U.S. applicant and desire a reasonable accommodation to complete a job application please use one of the below options to contact our accessibility support team: 

Phone: (800) 842-2755

Email: [email protected]

Drug and Smoking Policy

TIAA maintains a drug-free and smoke/free workplace.

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