Senior User Experience Designer

Direct Travel; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Total Rewards Package

Retirement plans

Wellness program

Rewards and Recognition

Sustainability initiatives

DE&I initiatives

Mental Health Support

Job summary

Direct Travel is seeking a Senior User Experience Designer to own end-to-end design for the Avenir platform, translating complex travel workflows into intuitive interfaces.

You will build and govern the design system, collaborate with product and engineering, mentor the design team, and explore AI-enabled research, prototyping, and accessibility at scale.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in UX Design or related field.
• 7+ years designing complex digital workflows at scale.
• Strong proficiency with Figma and modern design tools.
• Experience shipping real-world products that solve user problems.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end design process for platform features and integrations, from discovery through final delivery and iteration.
• Develop user flows, wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs that communicate solutions to stakeholders.
• Collaborate with engineering to ensure design intent is maintained during development and accessibility is considered.
• Champion usability, accessibility, responsive design, and scalability in fast-paced environments.
• Participate in agile cycles using Jira and Figma to ensure smooth collaboration and delivery.
• Lead design thinking workshops and mentor the design team to elevate practice.

Skills

UX design

Figma

End-to-end design

Cross-functional collaboration

Usability testing

Design systems

Education

Bachelor’s degree in UX Design or related field

Tools

Jira

Job description

Embark on the next step in your career journey with Direct Travel!

As one of the fastest-growing Travel Management Companies (TMC) in the world, Direct Travel is a leading provider of corporate travel management, leisure, and meetings and events services. We leverage the expertise of our people to enable our clients to derive the greatest value from their travel programs through our offerings of superior customer service, progressive technologies, and significant cost savings.

From Direct Travel comes Avenir: our intelligent travel management platform that harnesses industry-leading travel booking, meetings and events, and expense partners. Backed by the superior service capabilities of the Direct Travel team, we’re creating an intuitive and connected experience for travel, expense, and meetings management.

Position Overview

Direct Travel is looking for an innovative, detail-oriented, and collaborative Senior User Experience Designer to help shape the next generation of our travel technology platform, Avenir.

In this role, the Senior UX Designer will own the end-to-end design process for platform features and integrations, from discovery through delivery, while building and governing the design system and shared component libraries that keep our experiences scalable and consistent. A primary focus of the role will be translating complex travel, expense, and meetings management workflows into intuitive, high-fidelity designs, presenting and defending design decisions grounded in research and data, and partnering with engineering to ensure design intent carries through to what ships. The role will also help bring AI into our design practice, using new tools to strengthen research synthesis, ideation, and prototyping.

We are looking for a designer who thrives in a fast-paced environment and enjoys partnering across Product, Engineering, and User Experience Research to deliver a connected, delightful experience for business travelers, travel arrangers, travel managers, and the internal teams who support them. This position offers the opportunity to play a key role in defining how Direct Travel’s platform looks, feels, and works as it evolves, mentoring the design team’s practices, and helping the organization build design excellence into every product decision.

Responsibilities

As a key member of the User Experience team, the Senior User Experience Designer will be responsible for:

• Delivering high-quality, polished, and intuitive designs that bring delight and ease of use to the next-generation travel platform.
• Presenting design solutions to stakeholders and confidently defending design decisions grounded in research and data.
• Owning the build-out and governance of the design system and shared component libraries to ensure scalable, consistent user experiences.
• Driving a culture of design excellence by sharing best practices across the design and product organization.
• Exploring how AI can strengthen our design practice, from research synthesis and ideation to prototyping and design-system work, and sharing what you learn with the team.
• Partnering with cross-functional teams to understand goals, requirements, and customer needs, ensuring user experience informs every product decision.
• Utilizing user-centered design methods across the product lifecycle, including discovery, ideation, wireframing, prototyping, testing, and iteration.
• Collaborating with developers to ensure delivery of accessible, responsive, and high-quality solutions across desktop and mobile devices.
• Facilitating and leading design thinking workshops to align on goals, co-create solutions, and prioritize impactful improvements.

Research & Strategy

• Partner with UX researchers to deeply understand traveler needs, behaviors, and pain points through usability testing, journey mapping, and field studies.
• Translate complex business and product requirements into clear, actionable user experience strategies that align with company objectives and customer expectations.
• Collaborate closely with product managers and stakeholders to define user experience goals and success metrics (e.g., adoption, task success rates, usability scores, customer satisfaction), then track and share the impact of design solutions so design efforts stay data-driven and measurable.
• Stay ahead of travel technology trends and best practices to inform design decisions and maintain a competitive, innovative user experience.

Design & Delivery

• Own the end-to-end design process for platform features and integrations, from initial discovery through final delivery and iteration.
• Develop user flows, wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs that effectively communicate design solutions to product, engineering, and business stakeholders.
• Partner with engineering teams to ensure design intent is maintained through development, including defining detailed interaction behaviors and accessibility standards.
• Champion usability, accessibility, responsive design, and scalability principles while balancing speed and quality.
• Participate in agile development cycles using tools such as Jira and Figma, ensuring smooth collaboration and efficient delivery.

Collaboration & Communication

• Partner closely with product managers to align design priorities with strategic roadmaps, ensuring user needs inform product planning and decision-making.
• Communicate design decisions effectively across cross-functional teams, including operations, marketing, and engineering, using storytelling and data to gain buy-in.
• Facilitate design reviews and collaborative sessions with stakeholders to generate alignment and foster a user-centered culture.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in UX Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Industrial Design, or a similar field, or equivalent practical experience in product design.
• 7+ years of experience designing complex digital workflows, forms, or applications at scale.
• Strong proficiency with Figma.
• Ability to design and iterate across multi-step, end-to-end user journeys.
• Skilled at partnering and building strong relationships with engineers and product managers for high-quality implementation of designs.
• Hands-on experience conducting usability testing and incorporating customer feedback into iterative improvements.
• Strong understanding of accessibility standards, mobile and desktop responsive design, and leveraging design systems for UX consistency.
• Experience shipping real-world products that solve meaningful user problems.
• Experience across the product design lifecycle, including research, strategy, wireframes, prototypes, high-fidelity UI delivery, documentation, and usability testing.
• Portfolio showcasing end-to-end product work and outcomes.
• Excellent storytelling and communication skills, with the ability to present and justify design decisions to diverse audiences.
• Experience building and/or maintaining a scalable design system.
• Ability to influence product direction and balance user needs with business goals and technical constraints.

Nice to Have

• Experience in travel technology, enterprise platforms, or similar complex industries.
• Experience collaborating on API-driven or data-rich product integrations.
• Experience with Cursor.

How You Work

• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment where continuous innovation is a must.
• Alignment with Direct Travel’s team values and a positive, collaborative approach.
• Growth mindset and ability to embrace feedback and foster continuous improvement.
• Curiosity about AI and a willingness to experiment with new tools to expand your skills. No prior AI expertise required; we value people who try things, learn from what works and doesn’t, and share it.

Benefits Summary

In addition to Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits Direct Travel offers a Total Rewards Package which includes Retirement Plans, Wellness, Rewards and Recognition, Sustainability, DE&I initiatives, and Mental Health Support.

About Direct Travel

Direct Travel is one of the world’s largest travel management companies. With a long history of proven market expertise, we blend advanced technology, superior service, and expert insight to drive tangible value and meaningful savings across Corporate Travel, Leisure Travel, Meetings & Events and specialty travel businesses. Through Avenir, our intelligent travel management platform, we reduce obstacles and give clients more direct access to content, trusted data, intelligence and global expertise. What truly sets us apart is the human care behind the technology, delivered by an experienced, passionate team dedicated to anticipating needs and delivering exceptional service at every step. For more information about Direct Travel, visit www.dt.com.

Direct Travel is an equal opportunity employer