Principal Product Designer, UX

American Airlines; Fort Worth (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel perks

Health benefits

Wellness programs

401(k) plan

Employee discounts

Job summary

American Airlines is seeking a Principal Product Designer to lead enterprise UX initiatives across customer and employee-facing applications. You will drive AI-driven design improvements, govern design systems, and ensure accessible experiences at scale through collaboration with design, product, and engineering teams.

You will mentor designers, advocate for traditional and generative design methods, and partner with stakeholders to deliver cohesive experiences across multiple channels.

Qualifications

• Experience with AI technologies and enterprise UX in large organizations.
• Proven ability to design at scale with design systems across platforms.
• Proficiency in accessible, inclusive design and WCAG 2.0+ AA guidelines.

Responsibilities

• Lead ideation and concept exploration to shape enterprise UX.
• Collaborate with design systems and engineering to implement design outcomes.
• Educate partners on AI-driven design methods and governance processes.
• Mentor designers and ensure data-driven, customer-centric outcomes.
• Champion accessibility and inclusive design across products.

Skills

AI technologies

Design systems

Figma and Adobe CC

HTML CSS JS understanding

Storytelling & presentation

Mentoring designers

UX leadership

Education

Bachelor's in visual communication / design or related

Master's in HCI or related field

Tools

Rally

Jira

Aha!

Job description

The Principal Product Designer, UX role within American Airlines' Digital Customer Experience team helps shape enterprise UX at scale, with a focus on AI-driven design improvements, governance of design systems, and accessible, inclusive experiences across customer and employee-facing applications.

Team and Role Overview

This position sits in the Digital Customer Experience organization, working as part of a multidisciplinary UX team responsible for the user experience across customer and employee-facing applications. The role supports cross-functional delivery and can align with product initiatives focused on value delivery or with Design Operations focused on standards and process to scale design across the enterprise.

You will influence product and design decisions across initiative lifecycles, from inception through implementation, partnering closely with design systems and engineering to bring design outcomes into practice.

Key Responsibilities

• Build the future of the organization using AI to enable faster approvals, improved quality assessments, and generative design system designs.
• Evolve the UX process in response to AI changes and help educate UX and product partners.
• Set a creative vision and guide leadership to make travel easier for customers and employees while enabling design at scale.
• Partner with the design systems team to define standards, process, and governance for reuse and efficiency.
• Communicate work clearly to stakeholders using storytelling and presentation skills.
• Mentor designers with constructive feedback to support data-driven and customer-centric design outcomes across experience levels.
• Manage interdependencies in collaboration with UX leaders and peers (60+) to maintain consistent digital experiences across channels.
• Conceptualize and develop design strategies and solutions, leading ideation and concept exploration activities.
• Champion accessibility and inclusive design across products and experiences.
• Manage design tool updates, vendor relationships, and advocate for funding to ensure the team has the right toolset.
• Streamline design processes at scale and maintain regularly occurring meetings, including design reviews and office hours, to support design quality.
• Stay current on design and technology trends across all form factors and identify opportunities for innovation, including generative AI and spatial computing.

Required Qualifications

• Experience and working knowledge of AI technologies.
• Bachelor's degree in visual communication/design, interactive design, human-computer interaction, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years as a UX creative practitioner with a proven track record at large or highly matrixed organizations.
• Experience working closely with engineers from inception through implementation in an agile environment.
• Experience collaborating across disciplines, product lines, roles, and across geographical and time zone boundaries.
• Knowledge and proficiency using remote unmoderated testing tools and moderated testing devices and platforms.
• Experience creating responsive, adaptive, and accessible designs.
• Experience designing for mobile applications (iOS and Android), desktop, and web applications.
• Master's degree in human-computer interaction, human factors engineering, computer science, visual design, library sciences, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience or training.
• 10 years as a UX creative practitioner with a proven track record at large enterprises or highly matrixed organizations.
• Experience working on enterprise design systems.
• Advocacy for building great user experiences and solving customer problems to create business value.
• Expert proficiency with design and prototyping tools, including Figma and Adobe CC.
• Understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other frontend development languages.
• Accessibility best practices including WCAG 2.0+ AA compliance, localization, and inclusive design.
• Ability to document components and patterns of a design system and make design choices at scale.
• Advanced analytical skills for complex data problems and implementing sustainable solutions.
• Strong organizational skills to label, classify, and build flows and wireframes for complex computer applications.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and communicate effectively with non-technical users.
• Proficiency with remote unmoderated testing tools and moderated testing devices and platforms for both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Strong understanding of user-centered design principles and trends in web and app design.
• Familiarity with emerging technology including generative AI and spatial computing.
• Proficiency using project management tools such as Rally, Jira, and Aha! to track progress and report status.
• Storytelling and presentation skills to communicate design decisions effectively.
• Ability to express design principles and rationale to build consensus and deliver cohesive experiences for customers and employees.

Location

• Fort Worth, TX
• Onsite

Technologies and Tools

• AI technologies, Generative design system, Generative AI, Spatial computing
• Figma, Adobe CC
• HTML, CSS, JavaScript
• WCAG 2.0+ AA, iOS, Android
• Rally, Jira, Aha!

Benefits

• Travel Perks: reach 365 destinations on more than 6,800 daily flights across the global network
• Health Benefits: health, dental, prescription and vision benefits; virtual doctor visits; flexible spending accounts
• Wellness Programs
• 401(k) Program: available upon hire; employer contributions after one year depending on workgroup
• Additional Benefits: Member Assistance Program, pet insurance, discounts on hotels, cars, cruises and more

Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging

American Airlines emphasizes inclusion and diversity as foundations of its workforce. The company also supports 20+ Team Member Resource Groups focused on connecting team members to customers, suppliers, communities and shareholders, helping team members reach their full potential, and supporting an inclusive work environment.