Director of UX Operations & Design Program Leadership

Unum; Chattanooga (TN); On-site; USD 109,000 - 224,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

401(k) with employer match

Paid time off

Professional development

Job summary

Unum is seeking a Director, UX Operations & Design Program Management to lead operating systems, portfolio practices, and workforce strategies enabling UX scale across value streams. You will combine people leadership with accountability for UX demand and capacity, cross-team dependencies, and executive reporting.

You will set operating rhythms, anticipate delivery risk, enable rapid pod formation, and ensure design and research work aligns to business priorities with measurable quality and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience in UX, design operations, program management, research operations, business operations, organizational development, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in UX, DesignOps, program or portfolio management, ResearchOps, studio operations, workforce planning, or a comparable multidisciplinary environment.
• Experience leading employees and developing UX talent through coaching, performance management, and career development.
• Ability to direct complex, multi-team portfolios and scalable delivery models across design, research, content, accessibility, product, and engineering.
• Experience with portfolio planning, dependency management, risk resolution, resource allocation, capacity planning, onboarding, and executive reporting.
• Working knowledge of Agile and scaled delivery, the product design lifecycle, design systems, research repositories, UX tooling, governance, and design-to-development workflows.
• Experience managing budgets, vendors, contracts, service performance, and relationships with Procurement, Finance, Change, and Technology.
• Ability to translate operational and program data into decisions, KPIs, investment recommendations, and executive communications.
• Strong change leadership, facilitation, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills in a complex matrix.
• IAAP CPACC, WAS, or CPWA; SAFe Agilist/Scrum/Agile cert; Prosci Change Management; UX/DesignOps certs (NN/g, HFI, LUMA)

Responsibilities

• Lead UX talent, culture & workforce enablement with workforce strategies and staffing.
• Direct portfolio planning and operating rhythms for UX initiatives across teams and value streams.
• Translate priorities into integrated roadmaps, plans, milestones, and measurable outcomes.
• Oversee dependency management across design, research, product, engineering, finance and delivery.
• Establish standards for intake, prioritization, reporting, risk management, and executive support.
• Direct resource-planning ceremonies and align UX capacity with product and delivery plans in Agile environments.
• Oversee dashboards and executive communications for progress, risks, and financial implications.
• Mentor program managers and design leads in planning and stakeholder management.
• Define and evolve the UX Pod operating model and governance across multiple functions.
• Oversee budgets, tooling investments, and partner operating models to scale delivery.
• Develop KPIs and dashboards for capacity, quality, throughput, and business impact.

Skills

UX leadership

Programme management

Portfolio management

Resource planning

Agile & scaled delivery

Budget & vendor management

Stakeholder management

Change leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in UX/design operations/program management

10+ years leadership in UX/DesignOps

IAAP CPACC/WAS/CPWA (preferred)

SAFe Agilist / Scrum / Agile cert (preferred)

Prosci Change Management Certification (preferred)

UX/DesignOps certification (NN/g / HFI / LUMA) (preferred)

Job description

Unum is seeking a Director, UX Operations & Design Program Management to lead operating systems, portfolio practices, and workforce strategies enabling UX scale across value streams. You will combine people leadership with accountability for UX demand and capacity, cross-team dependencies, and executive reporting.

You will set operating rhythms, anticipate delivery risk, enable rapid pod formation, and ensure design and research work aligns to business priorities with measurable quality and