Principal, UX Designer

Nrg Bluewater Wind; Washington; On-site; USD 175,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

NRG Energy seeks a Principal UX Designer to lead end-to-end UX across the Vivint ecosystem, shaping interactions for AI-powered home experiences. Define design frameworks, drive a unified language, and mentor teams while delivering elegant, consumer-first interfaces.

As a senior contributor, translate complex multi-vendor hardware and software into simple, proactive experiences, balancing technology with everyday usability in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience as a UX designer, interaction designer, or product designer.
• AI & Ecosystem Portfolio: Designing software features driven by complex data, predictive algorithms, or multi-device hardware environments.
• Education: B.S., M.S., or B.F.A. in HCI, Interaction Design, Visual Design, or a related discipline; portfolio-backed experience considered.

Responsibilities

• End-to-End Experience Strategy across Vivint touchpoints, including mobile apps, panels, and ambient interactions.
• Unified Design Language system to ensure third-party integrations feel cohesive within the Vivint ecosystem.
• Architect systems-level design bridging physical device behaviors with real-time digital controls.
• Usability testing and telemetry loop to refine live features based on user data.

Skills

Ambiguity resolution

Multi-Platform

Prototyping Tools

Narrative articulation

Education

HCI/Design degree

Tools

Figma

Principle

ProtoPie

3D tools

Job description

As an NRG employee, we encourage you to take charge of your career and development journey. We invite you to explore exciting opportunities across our businesses. You’ll find that our dynamic work environment provides variety and challenge. Your growth is key to our ongoing success—take the lead in shaping your career development, goals and future!

The Principal UX Designer will serve as a key design and technical leader responsible for crafting the end-to-end user experience across the Vivint smart home ecosystem. Operating as a senior individual contributor, you will take highly ambiguous, complex physical-to-digital challenges and translate them into intuitive, elegant, and frictionless consumer interfaces. You will run autonomously, establishing the design framework, interaction models, and spatial design strategies that define how millions of users interact with their future homes.

In this role, your design scope will sit at the intersection of breakthrough technology and daily human habits. You will be the core creative engine architecting UX patterns for next-generation, proactive AI features and seamless third-party partner hardware integrations. Your ultimate mission is to ensure that as the Vivint ecosystem grows more complex behind the scenes, the front-end user experience remains remarkably simple, personalized, and cohesive—giving customers back time, keeping them safe, and saving them money.

Primary Responsibilities

Ecosystem Vision & Advanced UX Architecture

• End-to-End Experience Strategy: Define, execute, and scale the multi-year user experience strategy across all Vivint touchpoints, including mobile applications, physical smart panels, and ambient device interactions.
• Unified Design Language: Champion and evolve a unified design language system (DLS) that ensures third-party partner integrations and native Vivint hardware feel like a singular, cohesive ecosystem.
• Systems-Level Design: Architect complex interaction models, user journeys, and information hierarchies that seamlessly bridge physical device behaviors with real-time digital software controls.

Designing for AI & Partner Integrations

• AI/ML Experience Invention: Pioneer "new-to-world" design patterns for ambient intelligence and machine learning features, successfully translating predictive data (e.g., computer vision alerts, automated energy adjustments) into non-intrusive, reassuring user experiences.
• Frictionless Partner Onboarding: Design the end-to-end setup, control, and automation workflows for third-party partner devices, ensuring external hardware integrates into the Vivint app with zero customer friction.
• Contextual & Proactive UI: Craft smart notification frameworks and state-based interfaces that allow the home to intelligently surface the right information to the user at exactly the right moment.

Design Artifacts & Execution Excellence

• High-Fidelity Prototyping: Deliver comprehensive UX artifacts, including user flows, detailed wireframes, structural storyboards, and interactive prototypes to validate complex spatial or behavioral concepts.
• Working Backwards Frameworks: Partner with technical product management to co-author customer-centric strategic narratives, experiential mockups, and visual walkthroughs to secure executive alignment on future roadmaps.
• Usability Testing & Telemetry Loop: Design and oversee user research methodologies and coordinate with product analytics to evaluate live feature adoption, translating real-world user friction into immediate design iterations.

Influence & Design Diplomacy

• Cross-Functional Catalyst: Operate with extreme autonomy to influence, inspire, and align matrixed peer organizations across Hardware/Software Engineering, Technical Product Management, Industrial Design, and Executive Leadership.
• Engineering Partnership: Collaborate deeply with frontend and embedded software developers to ensure design intent, micro-interactions, and visual fidelity are maintained through to production deployment.
• Mentorship: Act as a technical beacon and mentor for the broader design community, fostering a culture of rigorous analytical thinking, creative bravery, and extreme customer-centricity.

Required Skills & Functional Dimensions

• Extreme Ambiguity Resolution: Exceptional ability to establish clean design frameworks in highly undefined spaces, such as emerging AI technologies or multi-vendor hardware configurations.
• Multi-Platform Fluency: Deep technical mastery designing across multiple surfaces simultaneously, including iOS/Android mobile apps, custom embedded touchscreen hardware (Panels), and ambient/voice UI.
• Prototyping & Tools Mastery: Expert-level command of modern design and prototyping toolchains (e.g., Figma, Principle, ProtoPie, or advanced motion/3D tools) to articulate dynamic, state-based smart home behaviors.
• Exceptional Narrative Articulation: Superb communication and presentation skills, with a proven track record of using storytelling and visual design to synthesize highly technical systems into compelling executive presentations.

Required Education & Experience

• Experience: 8+ years of experience as a UX designer, interaction designer, or product designer, with a strong portfolio showcasing shipped, mass-market consumer tech, mobile applications, or complex IoT/smart home systems.
• AI & Ecosystem Portfolio: Demonstrated success designing software features driven by complex data, predictive algorithms, or multi-device hardware environments.
• Education: B.S., M.S., or B.F.A. in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Interaction Design, Visual Design, or a related technical/creative discipline; equivalent portfolio-backed practical experience considered.

Salary Range

The base salary range for this position is: $175K (min) - $250K (max) The base salary range above represents the low and high end of the salary range for this position. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors including but not limited to location, experience, and performance. The range listed is just one component of the total compensation package for employees. Other rewards may include annual bonus, short- and long-term incentives, and program-specific awards. In addition the position may be eligible to participate in the benefits program which include, but are not limited to, medical, vision, dental, 401K, and flexible spending accounts.

NRG Energy is committed to a drug and alcohol-free workplace. To the extent permitted by law and any applicable collective bargaining agreement, employees are subject to periodic random drug testing, and post-accident and reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol testing. EOE AA M/F/Protected Veteran Status/Disability. Level, Title and/or Salary may be adjusted based on the applicant's experience or skills.

EEO is the Law Poster (The poster can be found at http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/poster_screen_reader_optimized.pdf)

Official description on file with Talent.