Sr. Director of Digital Experience Design

Slate Auto; United States; Remote; USD 222,000 - 371,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity program

Discretionary annual incentive program

Health, dental, vision, life, and 401k

Job summary

Slate is seeking a Sr. Director of Digital Experience Design to own the vision and execution across Slate's digital products, including the website, marketplace, configurator, ownership app, and in-vehicle UI.

You will set design direction, scale the team, and establish systems to deliver measurable customer outcomes. The role emphasizes growth design, interaction design, and building a design organization aligned with business goals.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in product design, UX, or UI design for high-volume consumer experiences.
• 7+ years in a people leadership role, including managing managers/leads.
• Deep experience building and maintaining design systems.
• Proven ability to partner with product and engineering in agile environments.
• Experience designing for web, native mobile, or embedded/vehicle UI.
• Mastery of Figma and modern prototyping workflows; GenAI in agile environments.
• Experience leading design optimization through A/B or multivariate testing.
• Strong UX research instincts and effective communication with executives.
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the design vision for all customer-facing digital touchpoints (web, mobile, eCommerce, and future experiences).
• Translate brand and product strategy into cohesive, human-centered design across interactions.
• Set and enforce quality standards from concepts to production delivery.
• Lead, coach, and grow a team of UI/UX designers and copywriters.
• Own and evolve design systems for cross-platform consistency.
• Scale design artifacts, libraries, and documentation as a single source of truth.
• Improve design workflow within our agile delivery process and tooling adoption.
• Collaborate with Product, Marketing, and vehicle design to ensure cohesive identity.
• Represent design in executive discussions with clear rationale and strategic intent.

Skills

Leadership

UI/UX design

Figma

GenAI in design

A/B testing

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Design systems

Portfolio

User research

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

HTML/CSS

MUI/Tailwind

Design tokens

Adobe Creative Suite

Job description

ABOUT SLATE

At Slate, we're building safe, reliable vehicles that people can afford, personalize and love and doing it here in the USA as part of our commitment to reindustrialization. The spirit of DIY and customization runs throughout every element of a Slate, because people should have control over how their trucks look, feel, and represent them.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We're looking for a Sr. Director of Digital Experience Design to own the design vision and execution across Slate's digital customer and partner facing products: our website and online marketplace, the vehicle configurator and purchasing experience, the Slate ownership/service mobile app, and the in-vehicle digital experience including the instrument cluster.

This is a senior leadership role that sits alongside Product and Software leadership as one of three legs of a stool — responsible together for defining what we build, how we build it, and how it looks, feels, and works for our customers. You’ll set design direction, build and scale the team, establish the systems and processes that make great design for our digital experiences repeatable, and bring creative energy that makes Slate owners genuinely love interacting with their truck. We have a strong preference for candidates who have worked in growth design - designing, testing, and iterating on funnels, conversion, and acquisition experiences - and in interaction design, with real depth in how people move through a product moment to moment. If you’ve built a career at the intersection of measurable business outcomes and craft-level interaction quality, this role is built for you.

WHAT YOU GET TO DO

Design Leadership & Vision

• Define and drive the design vision for all customer-facing digital touchpoints: web, mobile, eCommerce flow and future experiences

• Translate Slate's brand and product strategy into cohesive, human-centered design that feels intentional at every interaction

• Ensure design holds a strategic voice at the table — advocating for the customer in roadmap conversations, sprint reviews, and executive discussions

• Set and enforce quality standards across your team’s output, from early concepts through production delivery

Team Building & Management

• Lead, coach, and grow a team of UI designers, UX designers, and copywriters focused on digital product experiences

• Hire thoughtfully to fill gaps in the team’s capabilities as Slate scales from pre-launch to post-launch and beyond

• Build a team culture of craft, curiosity, and direct feedback - one that takes design seriously without taking itself too seriously

• Develop career paths and growth frameworks for designers at different levels

Design Systems & Process

• Own and evolve Slate’s digital design system so that UI components are consistent, accessible, and reusable across web and native app surfaces

• Scale version-controlled design artifacts, component libraries, and documentation that allow designers and engineers to work from a single source of truth

• Define and continuously improve the design team’s workflow within our agile delivery process: how design fits into sprint cycles, when to prototype vs. ship, and how to validate decisions quickly

• Drive the adoption of shared tooling (Figma, design tokens, handoff processes) and ensure consistency in how design artifacts are created, reviewed, and delivered to engineering

• Scale a lightweight but durable UX research practice - user testing, usability reviews, data-informed iteration - that keeps the team grounded in real customer behavior

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Operate as a true partner with Product and Software leaders — contributing to roadmap prioritization, shaping requirements, and resolving design-engineering tradeoffs together

• Collaborate with brand, marketing, and vehicle design teams to ensure digital experiences feel like a natural extension of the Slate brand — distinct in execution, cohesive in identity

• Represent design in executive and board-level conversations — articulating design rationale and strategic intent to senior stakeholders clearly and confidently

WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TEAM

Required

• 15+ years of experience in product design, UX, or UI design for high volume consumer/customer experiences — with at least 7 years in a people leadership role, including experience managing managers or leads

• A strong portfolio demonstrating end-to-end ownership of complex digital products: strategy, research, interaction design, visual design, and delivery

• Deep experience building and maintaining design systems using atomic design principles — tokens, components, documentation, and governance

• Proven ability to work as a true partner with product and engineering — comfortable in sprint planning, backlog grooming, and technical tradeoff conversations

• Experience designing for multiple surfaces: web (responsive/adaptive), native mobile (iOS/Android), or embedded or in-vehicle UI

• Mastery of Figma and modern prototyping workflows; including usage of GenAI in an agile production environment, and experience establishing team-wide design tooling standards

• Experience leading design optimization efforts through a variety of iterative approaches (A/B and multivariate testing) to improve customer experience

• Strong UX research instincts — you know when to run a usability test, when to look at the data, and when to trust your gut

• Excellent communication skills: able to present design decisions to executives, collaborate in whiteboard sessions, and write clearly about design rationale

• Bachelor’s degree in Interaction Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Product Design, Graphic Design, Computer Science, or a related field — or equivalent professional experience

Preferred

• Background in growth design and/or interaction design — experiment-driven optimization of acquisition and conversion experiences, paired with deep interaction craft

• Experience leading design of new or scaling e-commerce or digital marketplaces

• Working knowledge of HTML, CSS, and component-based front-end frameworks (MUI, Tailwind, etc) — enough to speak credibly with engineers about implementation

• Master’s degree in HCI, Interaction Design, or a related field

• Experience scaling a design team from early-stage through a major product launch

Work Authorization Requirement:

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a permanent basis. We are unable to offer visa sponsorship at this time.

SALARY RANGE

The compensationfor this position is the range Slate reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position taking into account the wide variety of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions, including job-related knowledge; skillset; experience, education and training; certifications; work location; and other relevant business and organizational factors.

Annual Base Pay Range: 222,431.00 - 370,719.00 USD

ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Slate offers a wide range of competitive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, vacation, and 401k. The successful candidate may also be eligible to participate in the equity program and/or a discretionary annual incentive program, subject to the rules governing such programs.

WHY JOIN TEAM SLATE?

At Slate, we’re fueled by grit, determination, and attention to detail. The start-up spirit of ingenuity and resourcefulness move our business forward. Team Slate fosters a culture of excellence, innovation, and mutual respect, and is motivated by shared principles.

• Safety First

• Delight Customers

• One Team

• Relentless Improvement

• Fast, Frugal, and Scrappy

• Respectful Collaboration

• Positive Legacy

WE WANT TO WORK WITH PEOPLE THAT REFLECT THE COMMUNITIES IN WHICH WE OPERATE.

Slate is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, parental status, cultural background, organizational level, work styles, tenure and life experiences. Or for any other reason.

Slate is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at

[e-mail].