UX Team Lead, Executive Director

Morgan Stanley•Town/Village of Harrison, NY

17h•$175,000 - $250,000

About The Position

The Morgan Stanley Wealth Management UX team builds digital experiences that help our clients manage their finances and monitor their investments easily on the Morgan Stanley and ETRADE from Morgan Stanley platforms. We design for two key user bases: our clients, and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors, whose job it is to guide clients through financial milestones big and small. Our growing team of designers and researchers bring an entrepreneurial spirit to a leading global financial firm. We employ design thinking methods and a user-centered approach to solve real business problems. If you can bring clarity to complexity, design holistically in an immense product ecosystem, and have gone the extra mile to create delight, we want you! Key Responsibilities: We are seeking a strong UX leader to guide a small team of designers for one of our core product vertices. The role will also require some individual (hands-on) design contribution as needed. As the UX lead, you will: Lead a small team of UX designers working on critical experiences that focus on client account data–home page, accounts, holdings, and portfolio analytics tools. Guide your team in coming up with strategic design solutions that meet user needs and achieve business objectives Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior product and technology stakeholders, ensuring UX is a strategic partner in driving innovation and delivering solutions, rather than a tactical resource Help define UX milestones and UX delivery roadmaps in partnership with the product team Improve our UX working model by enhancing communication, decision-making, and delivery outcomes. Facilitate retrospectives and workshops to evolve how we collaborate with our partners. Create opportunities for individual growth by providing constructive feedback and acknowledging contributions. Look for opportunities where individual members can develop and grow strengths. Provide clarity on career paths, roles and responsibilities, and promotion requirements. Provide oversight on the discovery phase by leading collaborative working sessions that define the problem that needs to be solved, sharing research and data, and clarifying success metrics. Work closely with UX Research to define the research strategy, ensuring clear objectives that will produce actionable insights Minimize team blockers by listening to team feedback and suggesting ways to address conflict. Help designers negotiate tradeoffs and chart a path forward. Partner with UX leads to exchange insights, set design standards, align on strategies to grow the firm’s UX maturity, and coordinate dependencies across teams As an individual (hands-on) contributor, you will: Employ a user-centered approach to influence the product vision by using stories from successful initiatives, UX best practices, and data illustrate how a human-centered approach contributes to product success Create simplicity out of complexity for experiences that have dense data & complex business requirements Adjust and prioritize design scope effectively in response to changing needs and/or constraints Push boundaries, when appropriate, by leveraging data driven insights to craft intuitive, engaging, and impactful digital experiences Present innovative design work to senior management with a clear, compelling narrative to gain alignment and secure buy-in

Requirements

A portfolio that demonstrates partnering with multiple departments on successful product releases
At least 10 years of experience working in the field, at least 5 years of experience managing small- to medium-sized teams
Mastery managing the team’s workload and deliverables
Bachelor's degree in design, computer science or related field; master’s degree is a plus
Fluency in design thinking methodologies
A strong sense of design and using a design system
Experience improving UX workflows (w/ AI technology or rethinking internal processes)
Experience working in a collaborative, diverse environment where a multitude of ideas and perspectives are welcomed and shared in the spirit of improving the organization
Active listening skills and the ability to contribute to brainstorms, audits, critiques, whiteboard sessions, etc.
A strong business acumen and ask questions or do research to sharpen it
A high tolerance working in ambiguity and the ability to set the direction for undefined, complex projects
Skill negotiating trade-offs to manage scope and meet delivery commitments
The ability to validate assumptions and uncover the root cause of a problem by testing, learning, and iterating
Experience evangelizing and promoting user-centered design in a large organization

Responsibilities

Lead a small team of UX designers working on critical experiences that focus on client account data–home page, accounts, holdings, and portfolio analytics tools.
Guide your team in coming up with strategic design solutions that meet user needs and achieve business objectives
Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior product and technology stakeholders, ensuring UX is a strategic partner in driving innovation and delivering solutions, rather than a tactical resource
Help define UX milestones and UX delivery roadmaps in partnership with the product team
Improve our UX working model by enhancing communication, decision-making, and delivery outcomes.
Facilitate retrospectives and workshops to evolve how we collaborate with our partners.
Create opportunities for individual growth by providing constructive feedback and acknowledging contributions.
Look for opportunities where individual members can develop and grow strengths.
Provide clarity on career paths, roles and responsibilities, and promotion requirements.
Provide oversight on the discovery phase by leading collaborative working sessions that define the problem that needs to be solved, sharing research and data, and clarifying success metrics.
Work closely with UX Research to define the research strategy, ensuring clear objectives that will produce actionable insights
Minimize team blockers by listening to team feedback and suggesting ways to address conflict.
Help designers negotiate tradeoffs and chart a path forward.
Partner with UX leads to exchange insights, set design standards, align on strategies to grow the firm’s UX maturity, and coordinate dependencies across teams
Employ a user-centered approach to influence the product vision by using stories from successful initiatives, UX best practices, and data illustrate how a human-centered approach contributes to product success
Create simplicity out of complexity for experiences that have dense data & complex business requirements
Adjust and prioritize design scope effectively in response to changing needs and/or constraints
Push boundaries, when appropriate, by leveraging data driven insights to craft intuitive, engaging, and impactful digital experiences
Present innovative design work to senior management with a clear, compelling narrative to gain alignment and secure buy-in