Director, UX & Design

Valley Bank•New York, NY

About The Position

This role is responsible for defining and championing a unified customer experience vision for the Consumer Bank, balancing near-term delivery with longer-horizon capability building. The Director will establish experience principles and a design point of view that differentiates the brand and deepens customer relationships. This position involves building, leading, and developing a high-performing, multidisciplinary design organization, fostering a culture of craft and continuous learning, and developing talent and career paths. The role requires close partnership with Business, Product, Segment, and Channel Partners, as well as technology, engineering, Risk, Compliance, and Legal leaders to align priorities, ensure faithful implementation of design intent, and meet regulatory requirements. The Director will also define and track experience quality metrics and establish a research and insight practice to feed product and strategy decisions with customer evidence, driving accessibility and inclusive design standards.

Requirements

Demonstrated experience leading design across both digital and physical or service-oriented environments (not solely app or web).
Proven ability to develop and execute experience strategy at an organizational level, not just individual product or feature scope.
Strong fluency in service design methodology including journey mapping, service blueprinting, and systems thinking.
Experience building and scaling user research capabilities that inform both tactical and strategic decisions.
Familiarity with conversational design, voice UX, or AI-assisted interaction design.
Strong executive presence with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and represent design at the leadership table.
Outstanding communication skills: able to frame design strategy in business terms and connect design decisions to measurable outcomes.
High School diploma or GED equivalent and a minimum of 12 years of progressive UX and design experience, including significant leadership of multi-disciplinary design teams.

Nice To Haves

Business, Finance, Technology or related field. MBA.
Experience in financial services, banking, or other regulated industries with complex, multi-segment customer bases.
Experience designing for small business and/or wealth management client segments.
Background incorporating AI/ML-driven personalization or generative AI into customer-facing experiences.
Experience integrating design teams through organizational change or following a merger or consolidation.
Familiarity with contact center experience design, IVR/voice channel optimization, or branch experience design.

Responsibilities

Define and champion a unified customer experience vision for the Consumer Bank that is coherent across all segments, channels, and touchpoints.
Develop a multi-year design strategy that balances near-term delivery with longer-horizon capability building.
Establish experience principles and a design point of view that differentiates Valley's brand and deepens customer relationships.
Serve as the senior voice for customer-centered thinking in executive and cross-functional forums.
Build, lead, and develop a high-performing, multidisciplinary design organization spanning service design, UI design, research, and conversational design.
Establish the operating model for how design integrates with product management, technology, and business stakeholders across all three segments.
Foster a culture of craft, curiosity, and continuous learning within the design organization.
Develop talent and career paths that attract and retain top design professionals in a competitive market.
Partner closely with Business, Product, Segment and Channel Partners to align experience priorities with business goals.
Work with technology and engineering leaders to ensure design intent is faithfully implemented and that delivery velocity is supported by strong design operations.
Collaborate with Risk, Compliance, and Legal to ensure all experiences meet regulatory requirements while still delivering for customers.
Define and track experience quality metrics (NPS, CSAT, task completion, effort scores) that connect design decisions to business results.
Establish a research and insight practice that continuously feeds product and strategy decisions with customer evidence.
Drive accessibility and inclusive design standards across all products and channels.