Lead UX Designer

Burtch Works; Lake Forest (IL); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Burtch Works is partnering with a Fortune 500 industrial leader to hire a Lead UX Designer who will own the end-to-end design of customer-facing interfaces for an industrial vending and inventory management platform deployed at customer sites. This is a hybrid Chicago-area role with high visibility and impact on the product experience.

You will guide the user journey from flows to interaction and visual design, collaborate with product and engineering in an Agile setting, and mentor junior

Qualifications

• Hands-on UX design craft; leadership with mentoring responsibilities.
• Experience collaborating with product and engineering in Agile environments.
• Local to the Chicago metro area or willing to relocate.

Responsibilities

• Own the full user experience for kiosk/vending interfaces, including flows and visual design.
• Partner with Product Management and Engineering to translate needs into intuitive solutions.
• Guide and mentor junior designers on the team.
• Bring a point of view on applying AI to inform the product experience over time.
• Contribute to a high-visibility area within the UX organization.

Skills

UX design

Mentoring

Agile

Stakeholder collaboration

AI awareness

Job description

Location: Chicago, IL area (hybrid — 2–3 days/week onsite)

About The Role

Our client, a Fortune 500 industrial distribution leader, is looking for a Lead UX Designer to own the end-to-end design of new customer-facing interfaces supporting their industrial vending and inventory management platform — a solution deployed directly at customer sites that allows field personnel to access products via card-swipe kiosks. This is a highly visible, high-impact opportunity to shape a product experience touching a broad field-based customer base.

This role sits at the intersection of design, product, and engineering, and is ideal for a designer who wants to own the full user journey — from flow and content to interaction design — while also mentoring and elevating junior design talent on the team.

What You'll Do

• Own the full user experience for new customer-facing kiosk/vending interfaces — including user flows, content strategy, interaction design, and visual design
• Partner closely with Product Management and Engineering to translate business and user needs into scalable, intuitive digital solutions
• Guide, mentor, and provide design direction to junior designers on the team, raising the bar on craft and process
• Bring a point of view on how AI can enhance and inform the product experience — this isn't an AI-heavy role today, but leadership is looking for someone who can help shape that evolution over time
• Contribute to a growing, high-visibility corner of the broader UX organization

What We're Looking For

• Strong, hands-on UX design craft — this is a player-coach role, not a pure management position
• Prior experience leading or mentoring other designers, even informally
• Comfort partnering directly with engineering and product stakeholders in an Agile environment
• Full-time, in-house industry experience — candidates coming primarily from a consulting background have not been a strong fit for this team historically
• Familiarity with or curiosity about applying AI/emerging tech to product design (a plus, not required)
• Must be local to the Chicago metro area or open to relocation

Growth Opportunity

While this role is scoped as a strong individual design lead, there is a potential longer-term path toward a formal people-management role for the right person.