Director, UX Design

HITEC; Stamford (CT); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 167,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Generous paid time off

Medical, Dental & Vision plans

Parental leave

401K matching

Job summary

Gartner seeks a Director of UX to lead a growing team of UX professionals while remaining hands-on and strategic. You will shape UX strategy across Gartner’s products and digital platforms, partnering with Product, Engineering, Brand, Marketing, and business stakeholders to deliver customer-centered experiences.

You’ll advance AI-enabled UX capabilities, mentor the team, and foster a culture of experimentation and Design Thinking.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated player-coach leadership in UX or product design across multiple products.
• Strong portfolio showing end-to-end UX work including discovery, research, prototyping and delivery.
• Experience defining UX strategy and leading execution across several products or initiatives.
• Experience using AI tools or AI-enabled workflows in UX research, ideation, prototyping, and testing.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a growing team of UX professionals.
• Define and execute UX strategy across key products and initiatives.
• Balance hands-on contribution with team leadership and development.
• Set expectations for UX quality, process, accessibility, and customer-centered decisions.
• Identify AI opportunities to enhance UX experiences and enable rapid prototypes.
• Guide AI prototypes, proofs of concept, and design experiments.

Skills

Player-coach leadership

UX strategy

Hands-on design

Mentorship

Cross-functional collaboration

AI tools in UX

Design Thinking

Communication/storytelling

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Design/UX/UI/HCI

Job description

About this role

As Director of UX, you will lead and develop a team of UX professionals while remaining actively engaged in the work. This is a player-coach role that combines people leadership, UX strategy, hands‑on design contribution, mentorship, and cross‑functional collaboration.

You will help shape UX strategy and execution across Gartner’s products and digital platforms, working directly with Product, Engineering, Business and Technology Insights, Brand, and business stakeholders to solve complex customer problems. You will contribute to discovery, research, journey mapping, ideation, prototyping, design reviews, and validation while setting a high standard for the team’s work.

You will also help advance Gartner’s AI capabilities by building an AI‑focused UX culture, encouraging responsible experimentation, creating AI prototypes, and training the team to use emerging AI tools and methods effectively. Success in this role requires the ability to move fluidly between strategic leadership, hands‑on design work, coaching, and delivery.

What you’ll do:

• Lead, coach, and develop a growing team of UX professionals supporting multiple products and customer experiences.
• Serve as a hands‑on UX leader while defining and executing UX strategy across key products and initiatives, contributing directly to research, discovery, ideation, prototyping, design, testing, and design reviews.
• Balance individual UX contribution with team leadership, ensuring both delivery and talent development remain priorities.
• Set clear expectations for UX quality, process, collaboration, accessibility, and customer‑centered decision‑making.
• Establish an AI‑focused, human‑centered UX culture by identifying opportunities for AI‑enabled experiences, workflows, and product improvements.
• Explore and demonstrate the use of AI tools in UX research, ideation, prototyping, testing and delivery; guide rapid AI prototypes, proofs of concept, and design experiments.
• Develop training, coaching, and enablement programs while mentoring team members through hands‑on feedback, design critiques, collaborative problem‑solving, and skill development.
• Promote responsible AI design principles and foster a culture of continuous learning, user research, experimentation, and Design Thinking.
• Partner across Product, Engineering, Business and Technology Insights, Brand, Marketing, and business teams to translate customer needs into clear, useful, feasible, and valuable experiences.
• Build a positive, creative, and inclusive team environment while leading and influencing cross‑functional and geographically distributed teams.

What you’ll need:

• 8+ years of experience in UX, product design, interaction design, design research, information architecture, or related fields, including 3+ years managing and developing UX or Product Design professionals.
• Demonstrated success in a player‑coach leadership role, balancing hands‑on UX execution with people management and strategic leadership.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating end‑to‑end UX work, including discovery, research, interaction design, prototyping, testing, and delivery.
• Experience defining UX strategy and leading execution across multiple products or initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience using AI tools or AI‑enabled workflows to support UX research, ideation, prototyping, experimentation, or product development.
• Experience leading teams through AI adoption, UX transformation, or the development of AI‑powered products and experiences, with a track record of encouraging experimentation and turning emerging technology concepts into prototypes or validated product opportunities.
• Experience providing actionable feedback through design critiques, mentorship, and collaborative working sessions, including experience leading cross‑functional and multi‑geographic teams.
• Strong understanding of user‑centered design, Design Thinking, research, interaction design, prototyping, usability, experience strategy, and designing accessible and inclusive experiences.
• Ability to balance customer needs, technical feasibility, business objectives, and strategic priorities, with excellent communication, storytelling, collaboration, coaching, and stakeholder‑management skills.
• Bachelor’s degree in Design, UX/UI Design, Human‑Computer Interaction, or a related field, along with a growth mindset and enthusiasm for learning, teaching, and applying emerging technologies responsibly.

What you’ll get:

• Competitive salary, generous paid time off policy, charity match program, Medical, Dental & Vision Plans, Parental Leave, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), 401K matching and more!
• Collaborative, team‑oriented culture that embraces diversity
• Professional development and unlimited growth opportunities

Who are we?

At Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT), we guide the leaders who shape the world.

Our mission relies on expert analysis and bold ideas to deliver actionable, objective business and technology insights, helping enterprise leaders and their teams succeed with their mission‑critical priorities.

Since our founding in 1979, we’ve grown to 20,000 associates globally who support over 13,000 client enterprises in ~90 countries and territories. We do important, interesting and substantive work that matters. That’s why we hire associates with the intellectual curiosity, energy and drive to want to make a difference. The bar is unapologetically high. So is the impact you can have here.

What makes Gartner a great place to work?

Our vast, virtually untapped market potential offers limitless opportunities – opportunities that may not even exist right now – for you to grow professionally and flourish personally. How far you go is driven by your passion and performance.

We hire remarkable people who collaborate and win as a team. Together, our singular, unifying goal is to deliver results for our clients.

Our teams are inclusive and composed of individuals from different geographies, cultures, religions, ethnicities, races, genders, sexual orientations, abilities and generations.

We invest in great leaders who bring out the best in you and the company, enabling us to multiply our impact and results. This is why, year after year, we are recognized worldwide as a great place to work.

Gartner is the world authority on AI

At Gartner, you’ll join a company at the very center of the AI revolution. Gartner has proactive, objective guidance throughout clients’ AI journeys. We set the standard for how organizations leverage artificial intelligence to drive meaningful impact. You’ll have access to unmatched resources, expertise, and technology, and play a key role in helping Gartner and our clients innovate and grow as we leverage AI to transform business and technology landscapes.

It’s an exciting time to be at Gartner, with limitless opportunities to make a real impact, grow your skills, and build a lasting, meaningful career in a field that’s reshaping the way we operate. If you’re passionate about AI and want to be part of a team that’s guiding the leaders who shape the world, Gartner is the place for you.

What do we offer?

Gartner offers world‑class benefits, highly competitive compensation and disproportionate rewards for top performers.

In our hybrid work environment, we provide the flexibility and support for you to thrive — working virtually when it's productive to do so and getting together with colleagues in a vibrant community that is purposeful, engaging and inspiring.

Ready to grow your career with Gartner? Join us.

Gartner believes in fair and equitable pay. A reasonable estimate of the base salary range for this role is 120,000 USD - 167,000 USD. Please note that actual salaries may vary within the range, or be above or below the range, based on factors including, but not limited to, education, training, experience, professional achievement, business need, and location. In addition to base salary, employees will participate in either an annual bonus plan based on company and individual performance, or a role‑based, uncapped sales incentive plan. Our talent acquisition team will provide the specific opportunity on our bonus or incentive programs to eligible candidates. We also offer market leading benefit programs including generous PTO, a 401k match up to $7,200 per year, the opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount, and more.

The policy of Gartner is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, citizenship status, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status and to seek to advance the principles of equal employment opportunity.

Gartner is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer and offers opportunities to all job seekers, including job seekers with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you may request a reasonable accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access the Company’s career webpage as a result of your disability. You may request reasonable accommodations by calling Human Resources at [phone] or by sending an email to [e-mail].

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