Lead UX Designer
Neighborly Software · Remote · United States (Remote) ·
COMPENSATION
€•• – ••k
Listed on the employer's job board (Ashby)
- Lead UX Designer
- Fully remote (US)
- Founding IC role
- Build design system
- 5+ years experience
As the founding UX lead, you will define how the platform looks, feels, and flows for users managing housing, disaster recovery, and economic development funds. You will build a design practice from the ground up, creating reusable components and standards while remaining hands-on with design work.
This role leads through influence rather than direct reports, partnering with product, engineering, and QA to reduce friction and improve clarity. You will set accessibility and responsive design norms, ensuring the interface serves government staff, nonprofits, and residents effectively.
What you'll do
- Build and own a reusable component library and design system
- Establish WCAG-based accessibility standards and validation processes
- Define responsive design norms for desktop, tablet, and mobile
- Redesign core workflows to reduce clicks and cognitive load
- Create and maintain documented personas and user journeys
- Facilitate discovery workshops and design reviews with teams
- Use product analytics to identify friction and validate improvements
- Guide engineering on implementation fidelity and front-end quality
What you'll need
- 5+ years of UX/UI design experience in complex applications
- Portfolio showing end-to-end ownership of workflow-heavy products
- Proven experience building design systems from scratch
- Expertise with Figma, including tokens and interactive prototypes
- Working knowledge of WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards
- Experience conducting user research and synthesizing findings
- Ability to lead as an individual contributor without direct reports
- Familiarity with HTML, CSS, and component-based frameworks
- Fluency with AI tools for design synthesis and concept generation
Nice to have
- Experience as a founding design hire establishing a new practice
- Background in govtech, housing, or grant management software
- Designing for multiple personas within a single B2B SaaS platform
- Familiarity with performance monitoring tools like New Relic
- Accessibility certification such as CPACC or WAS
- Previous experience in a tech startup environment
Stack
- Figma
- HTML
- CSS
- Pendo
- New Relic
- AI design tools
How you'll work
- Fully remote position
- Headquartered in Atlanta, GA
- Individual contributor role with no direct reports
What you get
- Medical, dental, and vision plan options
- Company-paid short-term disability and life insurance
- 401K with generous employer match and immediate vesting
- 5 weeks of paid time off annually
- 9 paid holidays per year
- 3 days of volunteer time off each year