We are looking for a director-level candidate with strong skills across UI/UX design, design systems, client services, and team management.
Who We Are
DockYard is a remote software consultancy based in Boston that specializes in web applications. We have in-house engineers, designers, developers, and project managers, and we are looking for a Design Director to join our growing team. You’ll work alongside talented individuals on groundbreaking projects for some of the world’s largest companies.
What We Do
We help ambitious companies transform new ideas into fully deployed web applications. Our clients range from seed-funded and early-stage startups, who depend on us to define and deliver business-critical workflows, to established enterprise companies seeking fresh perspective and deep expertise on new projects.
We provide a range of design services, including: product discovery, design strategy, wireframing, user journey mapping, iterative prototyping, user research, user testing, and visual design. We take a user-centric approach to solving design challenges and are focused on continuously improving the user experience.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Department Head:
- Serve as the professional face of DockYard's Design department - including pursuit of conference speaking opportunities and blog post writing
- Provide long-term vision and leadership for department in product design and client services
- Develop and manage Design design practice and budget
- Keep up to date with all of the changing trends and think about the future of product development and design
- Partner collaboratively with leadership disciplines to deliver superior products to our clients
- Coordinate with Business Development and other relevant partners to accurately quote potential projects
- Able to travel up to 30%
Team Management:
- Manage a growing distributed team of awesome designers
- Establish S.M.A.R.T. goals for individual designers and provide mentorship, coaching, and development opportunities
- Maintain a culture of quality work & continuous improvement via design reviews, best practices, and self-education
- Partner with Employee Experience to recruit top design talent to join our growing organization
- Identify and drive planning of team events including training opportunities, retreats, and other events to foster development and team cohesiveness
Client Services:
- Oversee UI/UX design quality across all client projects
- Support business development and marketing efforts throughout the sales, project estimation, and proposal/presentation development stages
- Work directly with the management team to execute internal design projects
UI/UX Design:
- Advising on product discovery phases: establishing stakeholders, identifying business goals, conducting user research, aligning iterative design with business objectives, leading user testing
- Design reviews for best practice UI/UX design across all client projects (excluding HTML & CSS implementation; we have a dedicated team for that)
Must Haves
- 5+ years management experience, ideally in a distributed work environment
- 7+ years working in an agency environment and/or in digital product development
- Experience building a product design practice and leading strategy
- Experience in Design Thinking methodologies
- Previous Design Director experience
- Familiarity with Sketch, InVision, Abstract, Figma, and other design-relevant software required.
- Proficiency in multiple digital Product Design methodologies
- Portfolio demonstrating relevant work
- High initiative and ability to work independently.
- Strong team player.
Nice to Haves
- Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
- Experience managing a remote team.
- Experience leading design systems
This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.