Sr. UX Designer - HYBRID

Aquent Studios; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 89,544 - 96,432; Full time

Job summary

Aquent Studios is seeking an experienced Sr. UX Designer to lead end-to-end UX for a key enterprise client in financial services.

You will blend strategic thinking with hands-on design, guiding discovery, research, and design execution while influencing stakeholders and aligning with business goals. You'll collaborate across Product, Engineering, Marketing, and Research to deliver user-centered digital experiences, evolve scalable design systems, and apply AI judiciously to improve processes and

Qualifications

• 7+ years of UX/UI design experience delivering customer-centered digital products.
• Expertise across the full UX lifecycle from research to implementation.
• Advanced proficiency with Figma, including components and scalable design systems.
• Strong understanding of user-centered design principles, IA, interaction design, and accessibility best practices.
• Experience conducting qualitative and quantitative UX research and translating insights into design solutions.
• Proven ability to thrive in Agile product development environments.
• Experience using analytics and user behavior tools (Hotjar, FullStory, or similar).
• Strong communication, facilitation, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Product, Engineering, Marketing, and stakeholders to lead UX initiatives.
• Lead UX discovery and delivery from research through implementation.
• Evaluate design requests and advise on prioritization, feasibility, user impact, and business value.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders and mentor peers.
• Plan and conduct user research including interviews, usability testing, and competitive analysis.
• Translate research into journey maps, personas, flows, and design recommendations.
• Contribute to scalable design systems ensuring accessibility and consistency.
• Leverage AI thoughtfully to enhance research, ideation, and workflow efficiency.

Skills

Figma

UX lifecycle

Accessibility

Agile

User research

Tools

Storybook

Chromatic

Analytics tools

Job description

Aquent Studios is seeking an experienced and strategic Sr. UX Designer with experience in regulated industries to support a leading enterprise client in the financial services industry. In this role, you'll own the end-to-end user experience design process—from understanding customer needs and business objectives through design execution, validation, and post-launch optimization.

You'll collaborate closely with cross-functional partners including Product Management, Engineering, Marketing, Content Strategy, and Research to create intuitive, user-centered digital experiences. This role requires a balance of strategic thinking and hands-on design execution, with the ability to influence stakeholders, navigate ambiguity, and advocate for the user while aligning with business goals.

You'll lead discovery activities, facilitate design workshops, conduct user research, and develop journey maps, wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs, while contributing to and evolving scalable design systems. You'll also leverage AI thoughtfully to improve research, design workflows, and team efficiency, while maintaining a strong human-centered design approach.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with Product, Engineering, Marketing, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Lead UX initiatives from discovery through delivery.
• Evaluate incoming design requests, providing thoughtful recommendations around prioritization, feasibility, user impact, and business value.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders.
• Plan and conduct user research, including competitive analysis, heuristic evaluations, stakeholder interviews, contextual inquiry, and usability testing.
• Translate research insights into customer journey maps, service blueprints, personas, user flows, and actionable design recommendations.
• Contribute to and maintain scalable design systems, ensuring consistency, accessibility, and usability across products.
• Partner with UX Writers, Researchers, Product Managers, and Engineering teams to deliver cohesive end-to-end customer experiences.
• Leverage AI tools where appropriate, and with good judgement, to enhance research, ideation, design exploration, documentation, and workflow efficiency.
• Participate in design critiques, mentor peers, and contribute to the continued evolution of team processes and best practices.
• Adapt quickly to changing priorities and incorporate feedback from legal, product, engineering, marketing, and business stakeholders.
• Stay current on emerging UX methodologies, accessibility standards, design technologies, and AI capabilities.

Required Experience

• 7+ years of UX/UI design experience with demonstrated success delivering customer-centered digital products.
• Expertise across the full UX lifecycle, from research and strategy through interaction design, visual design, testing, and implementation.
• Advanced proficiency with Figma, including component libraries, prototyping, and scalable design systems.
• Strong understanding of user-centered design principles, information architecture, interaction design, and accessibility best practices.
• Experience conducting qualitative and quantitative UX research and translating insights into actionable design solutions.
• Proven ability to thrive in Agile product development environments.
• Experience using analytics and user behavior tools (such as Hotjar, FullStory, or similar platforms).
• Strong communication, facilitation, presentation, and stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Experience mentoring designers, leading design initiatives, or serving as a senior contributor.
• Familiarity with front-end development concepts, design documentation, and tools such as Storybook, Chromatic, or similar design system technologies.

Why Aquent Studios

At Aquent Studios, you'll join a collaborative team of strategists, designers, and creative problem-solvers delivering innovative work for world-class enterprise clients. We value curiosity, continuous learning, thoughtful collaboration, and human-centered design, empowering our teams to create meaningful customer experiences while driving measurable business outcomes.

Client Description:

Aquent Studios is a global creative studio that delivers scale, speed and efficiency to the world’s most recognized brands. We create the work that matters the most to them—work that has a real impact on their business. As an Aquent Studio team member, you’ll have the opportunity to engage with the largest and most influential companies in the world, solving design challenges and extending their brands across tactic types and platforms, including digital design, UI/UX, video, motion, content, print design, web development, and more. If you want to do work that matters in a collaborative setting that values ingenuity and personal growth, you have found the right place!

Compensation Range: $65-70 hrly

The range provided is our reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. The actual amount may be higher or lower, based on factors such as experience, knowledge, skills, abilities and location.