Digital Designer

Emery Sapp & Sons, Inc. (ESS)•Kansas City, MO

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

At ESS Companies (ESSC), we empower people to own their futures by redefining the employee and client experience. As a 100% employee-owned family of heavy civil construction companies, we don’t do this for fame or fortune — we do it #ForTheWorkers. Our purpose fuels our passion, our passion drives our performance, and our performance strengthens the partnerships that build strong communities. This is who we are. This is what we do. And the men and women of our subsidiary companies, Emery Sapp & Sons, Achen-Gardner Construction, Rummel Construction, Monks Construction, ESCO Construction, and Premier Testing Laboratories, live out these values every day. Our people build infrastructure that lasts for generations — and we approach our digital and brand work with the same long-term vision. This role is responsible for the execution, design, and optimization of digital experiences across all ESSC brands — ensuring every interaction is visually compelling, user-friendly, and aligned with brand standards. It requires a strong balance of design expertise, UI/UX thinking, and digital execution, along with the ability to translate content and strategy into engaging, high-performing digital experiences. If you're the kind of designer who thrives on bringing structure to complexity, takes pride in systems thinking, and wants your work to matter beyond the screen — this role was built for you.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in UI/UX Design, Interaction Design, Visual Communications, or a related discipline
4–6 years of UI/UX design experience, with a portfolio that demonstrates both marketing/brochure site work and product or application design
Think in systems — components, tokens, patterns — and get genuinely excited about design infrastructure
Fluent in Figma, including auto layout, variables, component architecture, prototyping, and sitemap/flow documentation
Working understanding of HTML and CSS — enough to know what's buildable, communicate clearly with developers, and design with implementation in mind
Apply user-centered design principles naturally — balancing aesthetic quality with usability, accessibility, and real-world performance
Strong brand reader — you can internalize a brand system, apply it with precision, and flag when something's off
Can hold your own in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop) and contribute to graphic design needs when the work calls for it
Communicate design decisions clearly — to leadership, marketers, and developers alike
Sweat the details: spacing, hierarchy, accessibility, interaction states, edge cases
As comfortable executing within an established framework as you are contributing ideas to evolve it — and you know the difference
Own your workload — you track your own deadlines, flag blockers early, and deliver without needing to be managed closely
Thrive in both independent deep work and collaborative creative sessions
Experience handing off production-ready specs and assets to development teams
Play well with others and bring a positive, no-ego approach to creative collaboration
Take initiative and drive projects forward without waiting to be told what to do

Nice To Haves

Sense of humor
Knowledge of the A/E/C industry
Knowledge of Civil construction
Experience with or interest in design systems at scale — multi-brand, enterprise, or holding company environments
Familiarity with web-based animation — CSS transitions, Lottie/After Effects exports, or libraries like GSAP or Framer Motion
Familiarity with web accessibility standards (WCAG)
Knowledge of Monday.com (project management), WordPress (website), and Shade (digital asset management)
Spanish language proficiency (writing or QC)

Responsibilities

Conduct discovery, gather stakeholder input, and develop sitemaps, user flows, and project briefs that set digital projects up for success
Synthesize user research, stakeholder feedback, and heuristic reviews to inform design decisions before execution begins
Own day-to-day UI/UX design across the ESSC brand family's web presence — from wireframes and prototypes through developer-ready UI designs, specs, and handoff
Collaborate with developers and integration experts to ensure design feasibility and maintain design integrity throughout implementation
Lead the execution and ongoing evolution of the ESSC Enterprise Design System, including component libraries, interaction patterns, tokens, and documentation — within a strategic framework established by the Creative Brand Manager
Apply and extend brand guidelines across digital touchpoints, ensuring visual and experiential consistency across our subsidiary brands
Support digital components of campaigns, events, and enterprise initiatives as needed
Contribute graphic design support for select marketing initiatives — including social media, email campaigns, and event materials — as bandwidth allows
Conduct cross-browser and cross-device testing to ensure consistent functionality, performance, and appearance across digital experiences
Manage your own project workload efficiently — tracking priorities, communicating timelines, and delivering quality work on deadline
Help define and document UX standards and best practices for the broader team
Collaborate with marketing, communications, and technology team members to deliver cohesive digital experiences across wholly owned websites, microsites, event websites, and ongoing campaigns as needed
Create and maintain design systems, component libraries, and UI style guides
Continuously analyze user data and performance metrics to identify opportunities for optimization
Attend company events and represent the firm at industry events as needed