Lead UX Designer - Search

Grainger Businesses•Rosiclare, IL

12d•$123,000 - $205,100•Hybrid

About The Position

Grainger is seeking a Lead User Experience Designer to shape Search and Guidance across Grainger.com. The role leads experience strategy and design for a critical part of the digital customer journey, helping customers discover products, navigate a complex assortment, and make confident purchasing decisions. The ideal candidate combines analytical, human-centered skills with UX, UI, and visual design expertise and strategic systems thinking to turn complex business and customer needs into intuitive experiences. The designer works with Product Management, Engineering, Machine Learning, Analytics, and Merchandising partners, and reports to the Director, UX Design. This is a hybrid position based in Lake Forest or Chicago two days per week; it may also be remote for out-of-state team members.

Requirements

Formal education in User Experience Design, Human-Centered Design, Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Product Design, or a related discipline.
At least 5 years of UX experience working with an agile product team.
Experience leading complex, ambiguous product initiatives from discovery through delivery.
Deep understanding of UX design, interaction design, information architecture, usability, and product design best practices.
Advanced proficiency in Figma, including prototyping, components, variables, design systems, and developer handoff.
Demonstrated systems thinking and ability to design cohesive experiences across products, features, and customer journeys.
Experience in fast-paced, lean product environments with continuous delivery practices.
Experience creating responsive web designs.
Experience contributing to and working within an established design system.
Familiarity with WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards and inclusive design principles.
Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and storytelling skills, including the ability to influence cross-functional partners.
Strong facilitation, collaboration, and relationship-building skills.
Proactive ability to identify opportunities, prioritize work, and drive initiatives independently.
A portfolio demonstrating exceptional craft, strategic thinking, and ability to simplify complex customer problems while balancing user, business, and technical needs.

Nice To Haves

Corporate B2B and search-focused UX experience preferred.
Passion for learning and adopting emerging AI tools to improve design workflows and customer experiences.

Responsibilities

Lead UX strategy and design execution for Search and Guidance experiences on Grainger.com, creating customer journeys that improve discoverability, decision-making, and task completion.
Work with Product Management, Engineering, Machine Learning, Analytics, and Merchandising partners to align on experience objectives and deliver solutions.
Translate complex customer, business, and technical requirements into elegant, scalable user experiences.
Apply systems thinking to connect search, guidance, and other customer touchpoints.
Use customer research, behavioral analytics, session replay insights, and usability testing to inform design decisions and iterative improvements where appropriate.
Deliver high-fidelity designs, prototypes, user flows, and detailed design specifications for efficient implementation and quality execution.
Balance customer needs with technical and business constraints while supporting continuous delivery and a high-quality user experience.
Contribute to and evolve Grainger’s design system, ensuring experiences are scalable, accessible, predictable, and aligned with user expectations.
Communicate design rationale, influence stakeholders, and facilitate productive design discussions and critiques.

Benefits

Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance coverage starting on day one.
Six free licensed therapist sessions each year.
18 annual PTO days for full-time employees, prorated based on employment start date.
Six company holidays per year.
6% company contribution to a 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan each pay period, with no employee contribution required.
Employee discounts.
Tuition reimbursement.
Student loan refinancing.
Free access to financial counseling, education, and tools.
Maternity support programs and nursing benefits.
Up to 14 weeks of paid leave for birth parents and up to 4 weeks of paid leave for non-birth parents.
Incentive target of up to 15%, subject to the current incentive program terms and performance objectives.