PBG UX Designer Lead - Executive Director

PBG UX Designer Lead - Executive Director Purchase, New York Overview The Morgan Stanley Wealth Management UX team builds digital experiences that help our clients manage their finances and monitor their investments easily on the Morgan Stanley and ETRADE platforms. We design for two key user bases: our clients and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors, whose job it is to guide clients through financial milestones big and small. Our growing team of designers and researchers bring an entrepreneurial spirit to a leading global financial firm. We employ design thinking methods and a user‑centered approach to solve real business problems. If you can bring clarity to complexity, design holistically across an immense product ecosystem, and have gone the extra mile to create delight, we want you! Key Responsibilities We are seeking a strong UX leader to oversee end‑to‑end banking UX initiatives for both Financial Advisor managed and self‑directed clients. This leader will set and drive the UX vision for deposits and cash management, differentiating our banking experiences in a competitive landscape. The executive director UX lead will manage a small team of designers, provide UX thought leadership to product and engineering partners, and remain hands‑on as needed to define direction and deliver key work. Wealth Management UX Leads are required to work in‑office 4 days a week. Lead a small team of 3‑4 UX designers working on critical banking experiences focusing on cash management, money movement, and deposit growth. Guide your team in creating innovative design solutions that challenge legacy banking norms and offer simple, intuitive, and emotionally resonant client experiences. Support the growth of a fast‑scaling banking business by quickly cutting through complexity and shipping impactful experiences at pace while maintaining design quality. Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior product and technology stakeholders, ensuring UX is a strategic partner in driving innovation and delivering solutions. Help define UX milestones and deliver roadmaps in partnership with the product team to balance design quality with speed to market. Improve our UX working model by enhancing communication, decision‑making, and delivery outcomes. Facilitate retrospectives and workshops to evolve how we collaborate with our partners. Create opportunities for individual growth by providing constructive feedback, acknowledging contributions, and clarifying career paths, roles and responsibilities, and promotion requirements. Provide oversight on the discovery phase by leading collaborative working sessions that define the problem, share research and data, and clarify success metrics. Provide thought leadership and vision‑setting by acting as a trusted partner to the product team, establishing and championing a bold point‑of‑view for the UX vision. Minimize team blockers by listening to feedback and suggesting ways to address conflict; help designers negotiate trade‑offs and chart a path forward. Partner with UX leads to exchange insights, set design standards, align on strategies to grow the firm’s UX maturity, and coordinate dependencies across teams. Hands‑on Contributor Responsibilities Employ a user‑centered approach to influence the product vision by using stories from successful initiatives, UX best practices, and data to illustrate how a human‑centered approach contributes to product success. Create simplicity from complexity for experiences that have dense data and complex business requirements. Adjust and prioritize design scope effectively in response to changing needs and/or constraints. Push boundaries when appropriate by leveraging data‑driven insights to craft intuitive, engaging, and impactful digital experiences. Present innovative design work to senior management with a clear, compelling narrative to gain alignment and secure buy‑in. Qualifications A portfolio that demonstrates partnering with multiple departments on successful product releases. At least 10 years of experience working in the field, at least 5 years of experience managing small‑to‑medium‑size teams. Mastery of managing the team’s workload and deliverables. Bachelor’s degree in design, computer science or related field; master’s degree is a plus. Fluency in design thinking methodologies. A strong sense of design and experience using a design system. Experience improving UX workflows (with AI technology or rethinking internal processes). Experience working in a collaborative, diverse environment where a multitude of ideas and perspectives are welcomed. Active listening skills and the ability to contribute to brainstorms, audits, critiques, whiteboard sessions, etc. A strong business acumen and ability to ask questions or do research to sharpen it. A high tolerance for working in ambiguity and the ability to set the direction for undefined, complex projects. Skill negotiating trade‑offs to manage scope and meet delivery commitments. The ability to validate assumptions and uncover the root cause of a problem by testing, learning, and iterating. Experience evangelizing and promoting user‑centered design in a large organization. Benefits Competitive salary ranging from $150,000 to $250,000 per year. Commission earnings, incentive compensation, discretionary bonuses, and other short‑ and long‑term incentive packages. Comprehensive employee benefits and perks, including health, dental, vision, retirement plans, and paid time off. Opportunities to move within the business for those who show passion and grit. Equal Employment Opportunity Morgan Stanley is an equal‑opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workforce that is diverse in experience and background. Our recruiting efforts reflect strong commitment to a culture of inclusion, where individuals are hired, developed, and advanced based on their skills and talents. Our workforce reflects a broad cross‑section of the global communities in which we operate, bringing a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives, and experiences. For more information, visit #J-18808-Ljbffr