Principal Guest Experience Designer

Alaska Air Group; SeaTac (WA); On-site; USD 141,000 - 212,000; Full time

Job summary

Alaska Airlines seeks a Principal Guest Experience Designer to own the long-term experience strategy across guest journeys, digital products, and channels for an assigned enterprise portfolio. You will influence senior leaders to align priorities, roadmaps, and investments while guiding end-to-end guest experiences.

The role requires 7 years of related design leadership, strong ATL/RTL communication, and a deep understanding of accessibility and systems thinking to connect digital and

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in guest experience design or related field.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline or related training.
• Experience leading complex, cross-portfolio experience work across products and journeys.
• Experience defining future-state architecture, principles, and evaluation approaches.
• Ability to influence senior leaders to align roadmaps and investments.
• Knowledge of accessibility standards, design systems, and responsive digital experiences.
• Proficiency with modern design and prototyping tools (Figma, Miro).
• Demonstrated systems thinking in connecting digital interfaces with operations and services.
• Ability to combine guest insights with analytics to inform design decisions.
• Excellent communication and executive presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Define future-state experience architecture across end-to-end guest journeys, digital products, and channels.
• Lead strategic discovery to identify gaps across teams, technologies, or business areas.
• Translate insights into principles and recommendations to influence portfolio decisions.
• Lead experience direction for high-impact initiatives spanning multiple product teams.
• Establish frameworks for consistent experience decisions balancing guest, business, and tech needs.
• Define cross-journey measures and use data to guide investments.
• Influence senior leaders to align priorities and investments for end-to-end experiences.
• Provide leadership, mentorship, and governance across the design practice.

Skills

Guest experience design

Cross-portfolio leadership

Accessibility standards

Systems thinking

Data-driven design

Executive communication

Qualitative & quantitative insights

Prototyping tools (Figma)

Education

Bachelor’s degree in industrial design / marketing / business

High school diploma or equivalent

Tools

Figma

Miro

Job description

Company Alaska Airlines

The Team

Guided by our purpose, core values, and leadership principles, we are creating an airline people love. Our corporate teams set the strategies and operational plans to ensure the success of our company. Whether we use our expertise in accounting, human resources, finance, planning, legal, marketing, or any of our operational divisions, our shared passion for travel and our guests is what motivates us to achieve excellence each day. If you share our passion for creating an airline people love, we want to hear from you.

Role Summary

The Principal Guest Experience Designer is the sole subject matter expert in guest experience design for an assigned enterprise portfolio at Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, with shared accountability for a coherent guest experience across portfolios. As an individual contributor, this role defines the long-term experience strategy across interconnected guest journeys, digital products, and channels; exercises considerable latitude and initiative to solve complex, ambiguous challenges; and influences senior leaders to align priorities, roadmaps, and investments within the portfolio and across the broader guest journey.

Key Duties

• As the lead subject matter expert in guest experience design for an assigned enterprise portfolio, define future-state experience architecture and long-term strategic design direction across end-to-end guest journeys, digital products, and channels.

• Exercise considerable latitude and initiative to identify systemic guest-experience gaps spanning teams, technologies, or business areas, and lead strategic discovery when the problem, solution, or ownership is not yet defined.

• Translate guest insight, business strategy, market shifts, and emerging capabilities into experience principles, future-state concepts, and recommendations to influence portfolio and roadmap decisions.

• Lead experience direction for high-impact or transformative initiatives spanning multiple product teams or business areas, and create alignment around the intended end-to-end guest experience.

• Establish frameworks and standards to help teams make consistent experience decisions while balancing guest, business, operational, and technology needs.

• Define cross-journey measures and evaluation approaches, and use research, experimentation, and available behavioral or operational data to assess strategic outcomes and guide investment decisions.

• Make decisions on experience architecture, principles, and strategic design approaches and influence senior Product, Engineering, Analytics, and Business leaders when competing priorities or local decisions create fragmentation.

• Provide functional leadership, critique, and mentorship across the design practice; partner with other principals to resolve cross-portfolio dependencies and maintain a coherent end-to-end guest experience; and lead the evolution of design systems, governance, and ways of working.

Job-Specific Experience, Education & Skills

Required

• 7 years of experience in guest experience design, product design, user experience design, service design, or a related discipline.

• Bachelor’s degree with a focus in industrial design, marketing, business, or related field, or an additional two years of relevant training/experience in lieu of this degree.

• Demonstrated experience leading highly complex, ambiguous, or cross-portfolio experience work and shaping direction across multiple products, journeys, or business areas.

• Experience defining future-state experience architecture, principles, strategic concepts, and evaluation approaches using research, experimentation, and behavioral or operational data.

• Experience influencing senior Product, Engineering, Analytics, operational, and business leaders to align priorities, roadmaps, tradeoffs, and investments around an end-to-end experience vision.

• Working knowledge of accessibility standards, design systems, and responsive digital experiences.

• Proficiency with modern design, collaboration, and prototyping tools, such as Figma, Miro, or comparable platforms.

• Demonstrated systems thinking and experience designing complex experiences where digital interfaces connect with human operations, service processes, or physical environments.

• Ability to combine qualitative guest insights with quantitative product data from analytics, experimentation, or behavioral tools to inform design decisions and measure outcomes.

• Ability to connect experience strategy and design decisions to guest needs, business priorities, operational realities, and measurable enterprise outcomes.

• Exceptional communication, storytelling, facilitation, and executive presentation skills, with the ability to build alignment across diverse senior stakeholders and mentor design practitioners.

• High school diploma or equivalent.

• Minimum age of 18.

• Must be authorized to work in the U.S.

Preferred

• Experience designing e-commerce, travel, or other large-scale consumer experiences.

• Experience using behavioral, operational, or product-performance data to improve guest journeys.

• Experience designing experiences that cross digital channels or connect digital and operational touchpoints.

Job-Specific Leadership Expectations

Embody our values to own safety, do the right thing, be caring and kind, and deliver performance.

Salary Range

$141,250-$211,900 / year

Salary Details

Pay will be based on multiple factors, including and not limited to location, relevant experience/level and skillset while balancing internal equity relative to other Alaska/Hawaiian/Horizon employees. Alaska/Hawaiian/Horizon is committed to fair, unbiased compensation along with competitive benefits in all locations in which we operate.

Note:

We don't typically hire at the top of the range.

Total Rewards

Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Horizon Air pay and benefits can vary by company, location, number of regularly scheduled hours worked, length of employment, and employment