Sr. Director of Digital Experience Design

Slate Auto•Troy, MI

1d•$222,431 - $370,719

About The Position

We’re looking for a Sr. Director of Digital Experience Design to own the design vision and execution across Slate’s digital customer and partner facing products: our website and online marketplace, the vehicle configurator and purchasing experience, the Slate ownership/service mobile app, and the in-vehicle digital experience including the instrument cluster. This is a senior leadership role that sits alongside Product and Software leadership as one of three legs of a stool — responsible together for defining what we build, how we build it, and how it looks, feels, and works for our customers. You’ll set design direction, build and scale the team, establish the systems and processes that make great design for our digital experiences repeatable, and bring creative energy that makes Slate owners genuinely love interacting with their truck. We have a strong preference for candidates who have worked in growth design — designing, testing, and iterating on funnels, conversion, and acquisition experiences — and in interaction design, with real depth in how people move through a product moment to moment. If you've built a career at the intersection of measurable business outcomes and craft-level interaction quality, this role is built for you.

Requirements

15+ years of experience in product design, UX, or UI design for high volume consumer/customer experiences — with at least 7 years in a people leadership role, including experience managing managers or leads
A strong portfolio demonstrating end-to-end ownership of complex digital products: strategy, research, interaction design, visual design, and delivery
Deep experience building and maintaining design systems using atomic design principles — tokens, components, documentation, and governance
Proven ability to work as a true partner with product and engineering — comfortable in sprint planning, backlog grooming, and technical tradeoff conversations
Experience designing for multiple surfaces: web (responsive/adaptive), native mobile (iOS/Android), or embedded or in-vehicle UI
Mastery of Figma and modern prototyping workflows; including usage of GenAI in an agile production environment, and experience establishing team-wide design tooling standards
Experience leading design optimization efforts through a variety of iterative approaches (A/B and multivariate testing) to improve customer experience
Strong UX research instincts — you know when to run a usability test, when to look at the data, and when to trust your gut
Excellent communication skills: able to present design decisions to executives, collaborate in whiteboard sessions, and write clearly about design rationale
Bachelor’s degree in Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Product Design, Graphic Design, Computer Science, or a related field — or equivalent professional experience
Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a permanent basis. We are unable to offer visa sponsorship at this time.

Nice To Haves

Background in growth design and/or interaction design — experiment-driven optimization of acquisition and conversion experiences, paired with deep interaction craft
Experience leading design of new or scaling e-commerce or digital marketplaces
Working knowledge of HTML, CSS, and component-based front-end frameworks (MUI, Tailwind, etc) — enough to speak credibly with engineers about implementation
Master’s degree in HCI, Interaction Design, or a related field
Experience scaling a design team from early-stage through a major product launch

Responsibilities

Define and drive the design vision for all customer-facing digital touchpoints: web, mobile, in-vehicle HMI, and future experiences
Translate Slate’s brand and product strategy into cohesive, human-centered design that feels intentional at every interaction
Ensure design holds a strategic voice at the table — advocating for the customer in roadmap conversations, sprint reviews, and executive discussions
Set and enforce quality standards across your team’s output, from early concepts through production delivery
Lead, coach, and grow a team of UI designers, UX designers, and copywriters focused on digital product experiences
Hire thoughtfully to fill gaps in the team’s capabilities as Slate scales from pre-launch to post-launch and beyond
Build a team culture of craft, curiosity, and direct feedback — one that takes design seriously without taking itself too seriously
Develop career paths and growth frameworks for designers at different levels
Own and evolve Slate’s digital design system so that UI components are consistent, accessible, and reusable across web and native app surfaces
Scale version-controlled design artifacts, component libraries, and documentation that allow designers and engineers to work from a single source of truth
Define and continuously improve the design team’s workflow within our agile delivery process: how design fits into sprint cycles, when to prototype vs. ship, and how to validate decisions quickly
Drive the adoption of shared tooling (Figma, design tokens, handoff processes) and ensure consistency in how design artifacts are created, reviewed, and delivered to engineering
Scale a lightweight but durable UX research practice — user testing, usability reviews, data-informed iteration — that keeps the team grounded in real customer behavior
Operate as a true partner with Product and Software leaders — contributing to roadmap prioritization, shaping requirements, and resolving design-engineering tradeoffs together
Collaborate with brand, marketing, and vehicle design teams to ensure digital experiences feel like a natural extension of the Slate brand — distinct in execution, cohesive in identity
Partner with the in-vehicle software team on instrument cluster and HMI experiences, applying interaction design rigor to the cockpit alongside safety and regulatory constraints
Represent design in executive and board-level conversations — articulating design rationale and strategic intent to senior stakeholders clearly and confidently