Sr. Director, User Experience - Paze

Early Warning® • New York, NY

3d • $240,000 - $300,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

At Early Warning, we’ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze℠, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.
Positions located in Scottsdale, San Francisco, Chicago, or New York follow a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment.
Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship.
Act as head of design for Paze. collaborate with Issuers, Processors, Acquirers and Merchants to deliver a stellar checkout experience for Paze consumers.
Overall Purpose
The Senior Director, User Experience Research helps drive Zelle and Identity products’ research strategy, build a strong culture of customer obsession and build a strong team of UX research experts. Leads a team of researchers to conduct rigorous and ongoing product research that will directly influence our Product’s strategic decisions as we define the future of payment and identity.
Essential Functions
Identifies and explores new opportunities; including but not limited to defining product roadmaps, vision, and strategy in partnership with Product and Design teams
Builds a strong team of UXR who champion customer obsession and design
Designs and conducts foundational, formative, and evaluative qualitative research
Collaborate with a diverse group of cross-functional product, analytics, design, engineer, and product marketing team members to achieve department goals
Synthesizes and communicates research findings to drive understanding and user insight across the organization
Organizes, leads and participates in generative and evaluative research activities; working closely with design, technology, and product teams. Leads the identification of customer needs and help translate them into actionable product and service opportunities.
Proactively seeks customer feedback from multiple channels, and help teams prioritize insights for inclusion in our product roadmap.
Collaborates with our partner banks in conducting research and socializing insights.
Defines and continuously revises our teams' understanding of customer needs across the digital payments and identity landscape. Prioritize customer-first outcomes in decision making conversations.
Leverage insights into a compelling, end-to-end vision for the experiences that people have with us.
Assess and socialize cultural and competitive trends that impact our ability to deliver unique value.
Promotes a culture of learning; guiding teams in research planning, activities and reporting.
Develops and maintains a deep understanding of our own product, our customer’ needs and competitive landscape
Creates and presents compelling deliverables to a range of audiences and forums
Support the company’s commitment to risk management and protecting the integrity and confidentiality of systems and data.

Requirements

• Completion of a Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Statistics, Computer Science or a related field
• A minimum of 15 years of progressive experience in conducting research
• Experience leading and scaling product design teams
• Track record of demonstrating excellent command of research questions within a given domain and of technical tools for the analysis of data within that domain
• Previous experience driving research programs that have had a lasting impact on product and design decisions while clearly, concisely, and persuasively addressing cross-functional teams and leadership.
• Experience with mixed methods - with focus on more strategic research
• Experience conducting in-depth primary and secondary research that informs strategy and generates product recommendations
• Experience leading, designing, executing and communicating impactful research in a fast-paced, earlier stage product development process, with experience integrating research into product and design roadmaps.
• Demonstrable success as a research leader in complex, data-intensive products and services.
• Manage multiple priorities simultaneously without sacrificing quality or deadlines.
• Confidently and effectively communicate with senior leaders
• Build and maintain relationships across multiple teams and functions
• Background and drug screen.

Nice To Haves

• Master's or Ph.D. Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Statistics, Computer Science or a related field
• Experience in the Financial Services or Financial Technology industry is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Act as head of design for Paze.
• Collaborate with Issuers, Processors, Acquirers and Merchants to deliver a stellar checkout experience for Paze consumers.
• Helps drive Zelle and Identity products’ research strategy, build a strong culture of customer obsession and build a strong team of UX research experts.
• Leads a team of researchers to conduct rigorous and ongoing product research that will directly influence our Product’s strategic decisions as we define the future of payment and identity.
• Identifies and explores new opportunities; including but not limited to defining product roadmaps, vision, and strategy in partnership with Product and Design teams
• Builds a strong team of UXR who champion customer obsession and design
• Designs and conducts foundational, formative, and evaluative qualitative research
• Collaborate with a diverse group of cross-functional product, analytics, design, engineer, and product marketing team members to achieve department goals
• Synthesizes and communicates research findings to drive understanding and user insight across the organization
• Organizes, leads and participates in generative and evaluative research activities; working closely with design, technology, and product teams.
• Leads the identification of customer needs and help translate them into actionable product and service opportunities.
• Proactively seeks customer feedback from multiple channels, and help teams prioritize insights for inclusion in our product roadmap.
• Collaborates with our partner banks in conducting research and socializing insights.
• Defines and continuously revises our teams' understanding of customer needs across the digital payments and identity landscape.
• Prioritize customer-first outcomes in decision making conversations.
• Leverage insights into a compelling, end-to-end vision for the experiences that people have with us.
• Assess and socialize cultural and competitive trends that impact our ability to deliver unique value.
• Promotes a culture of learning; guiding teams in research planning, activities and reporting.
• Develops and maintains a deep understanding of our own product, our customer’ needs and competitive landscape
• Creates and presents compelling deliverables to a range of audiences and forums
• Support the company’s commitment to risk management and protecting the integrity and confidentiality of systems and data.

Benefits

• Competitive medical (PPO/HDHP), dental, and vision plans
• Company contributions to your Health Savings Account (HSA) or pre-tax savings through flexible spending accounts (FSA) for commuting, health & dependent care expenses.
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Featuring a 100% Company Safe Harbor Match on your first 6% deferral immediately upon eligibility.
• Flexible Time Off for Exempt (salaried) employees, as well as generous PTO for Non-Exempt (hourly) employees
• 11 paid company holidays
• A paid volunteer day.
• 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Maven Family Planning – provides support through your Parenting journey including egg freezing, fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, postpartum, early pediatrics, and returning to work.

What This Job Offers

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