Senior Director, Experience Design Architect

Our team is designing the future of retirement to improve the lives of millions of Americans. TIAA’s Design office’s mission is to build a design-led culture, while strengthening our design capabilities, to create an end-to-end experience vision that unlocks innovation for advisors and clients. We bring dignity and access through design excellence to inspire and empower clients to pursue retirement security with TIAA.

You will lead a high-performing team of product and service designers that will ensure every interaction fits together to form a complete, coherent whole that reflects our brand, reinforces behavior, and reduces experience inefficiencies. The role will serve as the architectural authority across the Advisor experience, influencing at the executive level and enabling teams to deliver intentional experiences on a scale.

The Senior Director, Architect for Advisor Experience plays a critical strategic role in leading experiences that are connected across a complex ecosystem of the Advisor user journey. This role is a perfect fit for a leader with a strong and inclusive design POV, the ability to connect the dots, and the desire to bring out the best in others. This leader will lead the day-to-day design activities while also effectively working with senior partners across multiple lines of business on strategy, prioritization, and delivery of the Advisor experience. They will lead a talented team of product and service designers to power TIAA's Advisor experiences ensuring that every interaction fits together to form a complete, coherent whole that reflects our brand, reinforces behavior, and reduces experience inefficiencies.

Key Responsibilities and Duties

• Lead a journey design team that partners with research, analytics, legal and compliance, product management and engineering teams to establish modern best practices for end-to-end advisor experience design and delivery.
• Develop and govern the architectural experience foundation for the advisor ecosystem. including flows, journey structures, interaction patterns, and navigational models to drive cohesion across platforms, channels, and cross functional teams.
• Define and advocate for an ambitious Advisor experience design vision that incorporates emerging technologies such as AI and follow through with a plan on how to deliver against it. See the big picture and understand how to set people up for success and create the most impact for the organization.
• Communicate ideas and concepts in a clear and compelling way to audiences of all levels of understanding and seniority in an organization. Work across a diverse group of stakeholders in a range of different functions and roles to drive towards shared outcomes.
• Collaborate and build relationships with a methodology that promotes flat, connected, and fast ways of resourceful collaboration.
• Lead and inspire a high-performing team of product and service designers, fostering a maker mindset that encourages iteration, experimentation, and a continuous drive to improve processes and outcomes.
• Negotiate with and influence decision-making at the senior executive level, building collaborative relationships across a diverse range of functions leading to shared outcomes and alignment around a broader end-to-end Advisor journey.
• Mentor and develop less-experienced team members modeling ownership and demonstrating that everyone is an owner through thoughts, actions, and behaviors. Actively get things done, raising the bar for performance, and taking accountability for your own actions.
• Work with the Design System team, Product, and Engineering to establish scalable Information Architecture systems and navigational models for Advisor experiences.

Educational Requirements

• University (Degree) Preferred

Work Experience

• 8+ Years Required; 10+ Years Preferred

Career Level

10IC

Required Skills

• 8+ years of UX design and /or design management or leadership experience

• Background in enterprise experience design, Salesforce experience design, and mobile platform design in an Agile delivery model and a track record of shipping high impact products in a fast-moving and changing environment.

• Demonstrated working knowledge of or practice in Figma

• Successful track record of creative problem-solving across cross-functional partners to drive best-in-class thinking from all parts of the organization while owning and delivering all phases of the design process

• Demonstrated experience designing and contributing to a design system across an enterprise with an openness to partner and collaboration

• Proven leadership in structuring complex digital ecosystems, systems and service design

Related Skills

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

Anticipated Posting End Date

2026-07-15

Base Pay Range: $189,000/yr - $234,000/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).

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.

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:

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Drug and Smoking Policy

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