Principal UX Designer, Design Systems

Vanguard; Charlotte (NC); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanguard is seeking a Principal UX Designer to provide hands-on design leadership for the Advisor Experience System (AXS). The role sets technical and craft direction, solves complex design problems, and partners with engineers across Vanguard. Hybrid work in Malvern, PA or Charlotte, NC with on-campus Tue–Thu and remote Mon–Fri.

Visa sponsorship is not offered. The candidate will lead evolution of AXS components, patterns, tokens, and system foundations, translating complex needs into scalable,

Qualifications

• Significant UX and product design experience, especially in enterprise design systems.
• Expert knowledge of reusable system design, components, tokens, patterns, and docs.
• Strong visual and interaction craft across typography, layout, hierarchy, responsiveness, and content patterns.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical design and evolution of AXS components, patterns, tokens, templates, and system foundations.
• Translate complex needs into reusable, accessible, scalable solutions.
• Own complex component and pattern architecture including variants, states, and responsive considerations.
• Establish high quality across the design system library.
• Lead design reviews and guide decisions when constraints require tradeoffs.
• Partner with front-end engineers to align design and code and ensure system accuracy.
• Create and maintain documentation, usage guidance, specs, and examples for designers and developers.
• Identify gaps and opportunities to simplify the system before they become bigger problems.

Skills

UX design

Product design

Design systems

Component libraries

Accessibility

Collaboration with engineers

Tools

Figma

Job description

The Design Systems and Practices Team at Vanguard is seeking a Principal UX Designer to provide hands-on design leadership for the Advisor Experience System (AXS). The role will set technical and craft direction for AXS, solve complex design problems, and raise system quality while partnering with engineers and teams across Vanguard. The position is hybrid, based in Malvern, PA or Charlotte, NC, with on-campus expectations Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and remote work Mondays and Fridays. Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.

What you'll do

• Lead the technical design and continued evolution of AXS components, patterns, tokens, templates, and system foundations.
• Translate complex product and experience needs into reusable, accessible, scalable, and practical solutions.
• Own complex component and pattern architecture, including variants, states, behaviors, responsive considerations, and composition.
• Establish a high bar for interaction, visual, and systems design quality across the library.
• Lead design reviews and help the team make sound decisions when requirements, use cases, or technical constraints compete.
• Partner closely with front-end engineers to keep design and code aligned, resolve implementation questions, and ensure the system works as intended.
• Create and maintain clear documentation, usage guidance, specifications, and examples for designers and developers.
• Identify gaps, inconsistencies, and opportunities to simplify the system before they become larger problems.

What they're looking for

• Significant UX and product design experience, including deep experience building or evolving enterprise design systems, component libraries, or scaled pattern ecosystems.
• Expert knowledge of reusable system design, including components, variants, properties, tokens, patterns, templates, and documentation.
• Strong visual and interaction design craft, with excellent judgment across typography, layout, hierarchy, behavior, responsiveness, and content patterns.
• Experience designing complex components and accounting for states, edge cases, accessibility requirements, and implementation constraints.
• Strong command of Figma, including variables, modes, component architecture, library management, prototyping, and modern design-system workflows.
• Experience working closely with engineers to evaluate feasibility, clarify intended behavior, and maintain alignment between design and code.
• Practical understanding of front-end concepts and how design decisions translate into production experiences.
• Deep knowledge of accessibility and an ability to incorporate it into system architecture rather than treating it as a final review step.