Senior Product Design Lead - Player-Coach & DesignOps Champion

Cambridge Investment Research, Inc.; Phoenix (AZ); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Premium benefits

Vacation & sick time

401K with matching

Paid holidays

Job summary

Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. is seeking a Manager, Product Design to lead and mature Product Design as a core enterprise capability. The role blends people leadership with hands-on design for strategic initiatives.

Based in Phoenix, AZ or Fairfield, IA, this hybrid position focuses 60-70% on hands-on work and 30-40% on leadership and capability building, with exposure to DesignOps and governance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 10+ years in Product Design, UX, Service Design, or related fields.
• 5+ years leading Product Design teams, incl. coaching and hiring.
• Player-coach: lead while actively practicing design work.
• Strong portfolio showing strategic UX leadership and enterprise design.
• Experience maturing capabilities in a product-led org: DesignOps, design systems, governance.
• Executive communication, stakeholder management, and change leadership.
• Must be located in Phoenix, AZ or Fairfield, IA with 3+ days in office.
• FINRA Series 99 and/or Series 7 license or ability to obtain within 12 months.

Responsibilities

• Lead design strategy, operating model, and governance for Product Design.
• Develop standards for interaction, visual design, IA, and usability.
• Strengthen partnerships with Product, Engineering, Data, and Compliance.
• Shift teams toward continuous discovery and evidence-based decisions.
• Build DesignOps: intake, capacity planning, reviews, metrics, governance.
• Produce design artifacts for strategic, high-priority initiatives.
• Lead discovery workshops, journey maps, service blueprints, and prototypes.
• Mentor designers and build talent and career paths.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate insights into product direction.

Skills

Leadership

Design Strategy

DesignOps

UX Research

Stakeholder Management

Product Discovery

Education

Bachelor’s degree in HCI/UX or related field

Tools

Figma

InVision

Adobe XD

Job description

Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. is seeking a Manager, Product Design to lead and mature Product Design as a core enterprise capability. The role blends people leadership with hands-on design for strategic initiatives.

Based in Phoenix, AZ or Fairfield, IA, this hybrid position focuses 60-70% on hands-on work and 30-40% on leadership and capability building, with exposure to DesignOps and governance.