Observability - Principal/UX Lead

We are looking for a Principal/Lead product designer who is both curious to learn and confident in managing stakeholders. This role is a unique blend of leadership, design, and collaboration, with a focus on delivering intuitive user experiences for our highly technical audience of Site Reliability Engineers (SREs). 

The ideal candidate will possess a strategic mindset, be detail oriented, and excel in stakeholder management. 

You are a systems thinker and creative problem solver who shines at collaborating with product managers and engineers to craft user experiences for complex, data-heavy products. You are not a developer, but our customers are. You must be comfortable speaking their language, and you should have a deep understanding of how front end technologies work.

We are looking for someone who is eager to take the next step in their professional journey and lead by example. This role is 70/30:  70% hands on design and 30% management.

Please note that the inclusion of a portfolio or case studies is essential for consideration. We appreciate your understanding.

Responsibilities

Systems Thinking:

• Demonstrate a deep understanding of systems thinking to conceptualize and design holistic solutions that enhance the overall user experience.
• Stay up to date with the evolution of the Elastic design system to ensure consistency and efficiency in design solutions.

Stakeholder Management:

• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers and engineers, to understand and advocate for the needs of both end-users and the business.
• Lead regular design critiques to gather feedback, align on objectives, and foster a collaborative design culture.

Lateral Leadership:

• Take ownership and contribute to the strategic Elastic UX initiatives.
• Ability and willingness to take ownership of a process in the Observability UX  Design team. (This could be leading design critiques, championing the use of the Elastic design system, leading a cross-solution working group, or various Design Ops projects).

Know the Customer:

• Understand and conduct UX research to build a user-centered practice
• Analyze metrics to arrive at data-driven solutions

Solution Design

• Collaborate closely with Product Managers to set the direction of the user experience for a given initiative.
• Produce design prototypes and specifications for complex UX challenges - and be able to back up design decisions and persuade stakeholders why this is the best solution. 
• Work with engineering teams to ensure that design specifications are implemented accurately and maintain quality standards

What You Bring Along

Substantial experience in UX design. Demonstrated experience leading or managing UX projects.

A strong portfolio showcasing a variety of UX projects, including the design process, problem-solving skills, and the ability to deliver successful outcomes.

Skills

Project management

• Proven track record of meeting roadmap based deadlines
• Ability to create visibility of all work, and track projects in progress (we use GitHub Projects).
• Able to see when processes should be introduced or changed - and can bring the team along. 
• Requirements gathering (with multiple stakeholders)
• Must be comfortable working with ambiguity

User Advocacy 

• Strong problem-solving abilities and a user-centric mindset. Able to ensure we are solving customer problems, not just building features.
• Ability to create impactful, accessible, and usable experiences that solve business challenges and meet user needs

Proficiency in design tools and standards

• Comfortable using Figma, Maze, or other industry-standard software.
• Solid understanding of front-end development (HTML/CSS) and Git / GitHub.
• Knowledge of usability principles, interaction design, information architecture, and other core UX concepts.
• Strong understanding of current design trends, best practices, and emerging technologies.

Excellent communication

• Must be able to communicate effectively in groups with cross-functional teams and stakeholders. 
• Effective management of communication and project deliverables, with the ability to uphold responsiveness and collaboration, in a remote environment. 
• Leadership qualities, including the ability to inspire and motivate a team

Bonus Points:

• Understanding and experience designing UIs that handle extensive data.
• Strong background in SaaS platform design and usability.
• Proficiency in creating and improving complex workflow designs.