Lead Designer

athenahealth • Austin, TX

2d • $124,000 - $212,000

About The Position

The Lead Designer is an individual contributor on athenahealth’s Experience Design team, based in Austin, Texas. The role shapes patient experience products by translating research insights, user needs, and product strategy into clear workflows, interaction models, and design solutions for patients and healthcare professionals. The designer partners with Product Management, Engineering, research, and design system teams from discovery through implementation to improve patient and practice experiences across complex healthcare workflows.

The Experience Design team creates user-centered solutions that reduce complexity for patients, clinicians, and administrative staff. Designers draw on research, behavioral data, product analytics, design systems, prototyping tools, and AI-assisted workflows. The team also contributes to AI-enabled capabilities supporting clinical productivity, operational efficiency, and patient satisfaction. The role reports to a Senior Manager or Director, Experience Design and involves approximately 5% annual travel.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in design, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, Computer Science, Business, or a related discipline.
• At least 5 years of experience in UX or product design.
• Experience designing for patients or consumers navigating complex or high-stakes experiences.
• Experience designing complex workflow systems within enterprise, SaaS, or regulated industries.
• Experience with UX practices including interaction design, prototyping, visual communication, and translating UX concepts into clear workflows, interaction models, or behavioral specifications.
• Experience planning or facilitating user research and translating findings into product and design decisions.
• Experience collaborating with Product Management and Engineering teams in modern software development and delivery environments.
• Experience working within established design systems and providing feedback to improve shared components and patterns.
• Ability to communicate clearly, work effectively across functions, navigate changing priorities and ambiguity, apply systems thinking, and make timely decisions that account for user, business, and technical needs.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with modern design tools and AI-assisted design or research workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead problem framing and solution development for complex patient health and administrative workflow challenges, guiding teams from discovery through delivery.
• Design efficient, safe, and intuitive workflows that coordinate patients, clinicians, and administrative staff across healthcare environments.
• Create design artifacts from early concepts to detailed interaction flows, prototypes, and behavioral specifications to guide implementation.
• Partner with Product Management and Engineering throughout planning, design, development, and delivery to translate product strategy into clear experiences and ensure solutions meet design intent.
• Plan and conduct user, client, and domain research; use research insights, behavioral data, and product analytics to inform design decisions and evaluate product success.
• Apply established design system patterns and collaborate with design system teams to evolve components and interaction patterns based on product needs.
• Ensure product experiences meet UX quality standards for workflow design, interaction design, accessibility, and content.
• Mentor and coach less experienced designers through design reviews, while contributing to team-wide design processes, tools, and practices.
• Use AI-powered and AI-assisted tools for research synthesis, design exploration, prototyping, and product development, and contribute to designing AI-enabled product capabilities.
• Facilitate discovery, problem-framing, and solution workshops with cross-functional teams.
• Partner with Product Management and Engineering to establish and support product and business goals.
• Translate initiative strategy into clear product experiences, workflows, and specifications.
• Promote effective design practices, including systems thinking and data-informed product design.
• Contribute to improvements in Experience Design processes, tools, and operating models.
• Build understanding of healthcare users and their operational environments across product and engineering teams.
• Explore emerging AI capabilities through experimentation and contribute perspectives that inform the team’s evolving approach to AI-enabled design.
• Travel approximately 5% annually.

Benefits

• Health and financial benefits.
• Commuter support.
• Employee assistance programs.
• Tuition assistance.
• Employee resource groups.
• Collaborative workspaces; some offices welcome dogs.
• Flexible work arrangements supported by digital collaboration tools.
• Events throughout the year, including book clubs, external speakers, and hackathons.
• Learning opportunities, support from an engaged team, and an inclusive environment.
• Depending on role eligibility, annual discretionary bonus, variable compensation, and equity plans.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior