Principal Designer

Overview

Placement Type:
Temporary

Salary: $ Hourly

Start Date:

Feb 2, 2026

Are you a visionary Experience Designer ready to shape the future of user interaction within a dynamic enterprise environment? Aquent is partnering with a leading organization at the forefront of innovation, where your expertise will directly influence the success of critical data platforms and governance initiatives. This is an unparalleled opportunity to act as a pivotal thought partner, driving user-centered design strategies from concept to launch and elevating product experiences to best-in-class.

If you re passionate about leveraging research to define clear visions, eager to mentor rising talent, and excited by the potential of AI to transform user journeys, then step into a role where your impact will be felt across the entire organization.

About the Role:

As a Principal Experience Designer, you will be a senior leader within our design team, collaborating closely with enterprise data product teams to innovate and enhance our offerings. You will champion UX strategy and research, crafting a clear, research-driven vision that translates into a prioritized UX roadmap aligned with overarching business goals. Your leadership will be crucial in generating consensus and excitement around design initiatives, establishing consistent design principles, and ensuring scalability across products.

This role offers the chance to mentor junior team members, evangelize human-centered design, and explore groundbreaking opportunities presented by AI technology to create superior employee experiences.

What You ll Do:

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to product leaders and stakeholders, consistently representing the voice of users in all discussions and decisions.
• Effectively communicate strategic direction to teams while providing leadership with essential context and insights.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Experience Research teams to drive strategic discovery and advocate for best practices in UX processes within a dual-track agile environment.
• Demonstrate advanced proficiency in user research, user-centered design methodologies, and analytical problem-solving, utilizing diverse data sources to define objectives, opportunities, and the high-level vision for assigned experiences.
• Conduct stakeholder interviews with key business partners to ensure comprehensive understanding of business and employee needs.
• Lead complex design and research efforts, working hands-on with UX designers on cross-functional investments.
• Establish and maintain consistent design patterns through our design system, ensuring a cohesive user experience across various business areas.
• Provide creative direction and conduct design reviews to uphold the overall product vision.
• Introduce new practices and influence team members, continuously seeking opportunities for process improvement and efficiency within the design team.
• Mentor and guide junior members of the experience design & research staff, enhancing their skillsets and fostering craft consistency.

What You ll Bring:

Must-Have

Qualifications:

• A compelling digital portfolio demonstrating your work.
• Bachelor s degree and 10+ years of professional experience, with a strong background in UX strategy and research, emphasizing high quality and meticulous attention to detail.
• Demonstrated mastery in user research (particularly mixed-methods) and expertise in at least two other core disciplines: visual design, UX design, prototyping, front-end development, and/or experiment design.
• Proven experience with complex corporate initiative consultation and strategy.
• Direct experience guiding or conducting discovery research.
• Ability to make smart, strategic, and user-centered design decisions while embracing continuous iteration based on evolving needs and requirements.
• Proficiency in translating insights into actionable frameworks, opportunity backlogs, and decision artifacts (e.g., scorecards, one-pagers).
• Exceptional ability to synthesize complex technical findings into clear, actionable narratives for diverse audiences, including Product, Engineering, Data Science, and senior leadership.
• Strong organizational and analytical thinking skills, capable of translating technically complex content into user scenarios, flows, and diagrams.
• Proven track record of independently scoping, prioritizing, and delivering end-to-end research in ambiguous, multi-stakeholder contexts.
• Ability to identify high-impact questions, negotiate scope, and manage trade-offs effectively.
• Demonstrated ability to build alignment among senior management on ideas, projects, and processes.
• Proven track record of effective collaboration at all levels of an organization.

Nice-to-Have

Qualifications:

• A foundational understanding of AI, Natural Language Processing, and Machine Learning.
• Experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs) and designing human-in-the-loop workflows.
• Familiarity with terminology from data lifecycle, financial, or investment-related domains.
• Excitement to…