Job Description

As the Director of User Experience Design, Research, and Innovation, you will play a critical role in shaping the digital landscape of our organization. We're on the hunt for a visionary leader with a proven track record in eCommerce and direct-to-consumer expertise and who's passionate about transforming the shopper journey and driving conversion. You will be responsible for overseeing the UX and UI design and research processes, mentoring a talented team of designers/researchers, and collaborating closely with cross-functional teams to create customer-centric and visually appealing digital solutions.

The ideal candidate will be a well-rounded UX/UI Design leader who drives their team to connect the dots between business needs, innovation, and best-in-class design.  Your obsession with human-centered design principles and your passion for product and service design makes you an invaluable resource on our project teams.

This full-time position reports to the VP of Digital Experience and is expected to work in a hybrid model, which currently includes Tuesday and Wednesday in-office.

What you’ll do:

• Oversee the UX design, research, and UI teams, supporting project design for user experience from discovery and ideation through to design execution, user testing, development, and deployment
• Develop, implement, and iterate the company’s UX/UI design strategy, aligning it with business objectives, consumer needs and best practices
• Liaise with business leads, project managers, product managers, and technology to plan projects, including budgets and resourcing as well as develop improved ways-of-working processes
• Lead and inspire a team of UX designers, UX copywriters, UI designers and researchers, providing mentorship and guidance to ensure high quality design output
• Advocate for user-centric design principles and encourage experimentation, conducting research and usability testing to inform design decisions
• Stay current with design trends and technologies (including accessibility) to continually improve design processes
• Directing evolution of design systems and style guides to maintain design consistency across all digital touchpoints

People Management:  

• Conduct regular conversations with direct reports covering performance and assessing career advancement opportunities within the team, engage with the larger team through skip level and monthly functional meetings, coordinate hiring plans, and guide team to adhere to company norms 

People Development:   

• Provide guidance, inspiration, and support aligned with our values, conducting Career Navigation Chats, identifying resource needs, and promoting diversity and inclusion while fostering collaboration and staying informed of industry trends to drive team success and growth 

What you bring to the table:

• 14+ years experience as a hands-on UX/UI designer working with a product team through the product development cycle of successfully launched web experiences and software applications; with 3+ years focused in an eCommerce environment
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in a design-related field (e.g., UX Design, UI Design, Graphic Design) or equivalent work experience
• Experience managing designers and researchers, supporting their work, constructively reviewing deliverables, and providing guidance for positive growth in their work and role
• A proven track record in creating UX/UI solutions that solve complex design problems providing impact to the business
• Deep understanding of research methodologies, user-centered design methods and industry best practices (in retail and ecommerce is desired)
• Experience creatively solving challenging problems, delivering innovative and complex product and service solutions within deadlines while partnering with business, development, testing, program management, and design teams
• Expertise with various interaction design tools, including Figma for the execution of feature visualization and rapid design prototyping to be used in user testing
• Strong knowledge of related disciplines such as information architecture, interaction design, and brand communications
• Previous experience working via agile methodologies
• Collaborative team player with excellent communication skills, conflict resolution, and negotiation skills
• Experience working across various verticals, including retail and eCommerce
• Experience designing experiences for those with accessibility requirements
• Have a defined design process and an ability to tailor recommendations based on constraints
• Comfortable articulating the rationale behind your design decisions to internal and external stakeholders, including senior client stakeholders
• Strong experience in new business development for mobile and web-based projects, including proposal creation and resourcing/project financial estimation activities

Note: Please include your portfolio along with your application and resume.

About Us: Balsam Brands is a global, eCommerce retailer with roots in holiday and home décor. We strive for excellence in everything we do and present a unique opportunity for those seeking to have a meaningful impact in a people-first company that values relationship building, authenticity, and doing the right thing. We have steadily growing teams in Boise, the Bay Area, Dublin, and the Philippines.

The company's mission is to create joy together. We empower our team and partners to love what they do, provide products and experiences that inspire meaningful moments with family and friends, and give back to our families and communities in impactful ways. When you join Balsam Brands, you'll find a culture of caring people doing challenging work and building a welcoming workplace.

• Check out our flagship brand, Balsam Hill: www.balsamhill.com
• Balsam Brands in Forbes: https://bit.ly/balsambrandsforbes2023
• Balsam Brands on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/balsam-brands/
• Glassdoor: https://bit.ly/balsambrands-glassdoor

At Balsam Brands, we strive to offer a competitive compensation and benefits package. For permanent, full-time team members, our current package includes:

• Competitive compensation, including a cash-based incentive plan; salary is reviewed yearly and may be adjusted as part of the normal compensation review process
• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage, with 100% of monthly premiums covered for team members, and 85%+ employer-paid premiums for other coverage tiers that include dependents
• Up to $2,000 annual funding toward HSA accounts
• Medical, transit, dependent care FSA
• Infertility coverage offered on all medical plans
• Generous parental leave program and flexible return options
• Company-paid life and AD&D insurance
• Company-paid short and long-term disability insurance
• 401(k) with dollar-for-dollar company match up to $4,000 per calendar year
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and other mental health and wellness perks
• Paid holidays, annual shutdown week, PTO, and volunteer time-off (VTO) packages
• Paid 5-week sabbatical leave after 10 years of employment
• Annual continuous learning benefit up to $1,000 per person, per fiscal year
• Up to $300 flexible reimbursement to support setup of new team member's work-from-home environment
• Generous team member merchandise discount
• Valuable extras: identity theft protection, subsidized parking, monthly wellness, pet insurance, accident & critical illness insurance

The base pay range for this position is: $159,000 to $192,000. Where an individual falls within that range will vary based on several factors including geographic location and may vary depending on candidate qualifications and experience, applicable skills, and other job-related factors. We benchmark our pay ranges against current external data sources and regularly review compensation for our team members. Balsam Brands is committed to providing our team members with an internally fair, externally competitive, and fiscally prudent total compensation package administered in a simple and consistent manner.

At Balsam Brands, we strive to build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive team to fulfill our purpose to create joy together. Balsam Brands is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We encourage people from all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and experiences to apply. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, citizenship, marital or family status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy or caregiver status, veteran status, or any other legally protected status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the job application and interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

#LI-Hybrid