Director, Product Design and UX Research

Bonterra exists to propel every doer of good to their peak impact, providing technology and expertise to strengthen trust in the social good sector. The Director of Product Design and UX Research will lead a multidisciplinary team to enhance user experiences across a multi-product portfolio, focusing on accessibility and inclusive design principles.

Responsibilities:

• Act as a player‑coach: balance strategic leadership with sleeves‑up execution on high‑impact projects
• Manage, support, and grow a high‑performing team of designers and researchers working across multiple products
• Drive end‑to‑end design and research strategy aligned to business goals, product outcomes, and customer value
• Champion accessibility (WCAG 2.x/3.0) and inclusive design principles; embed accessibility into specs, research, reviews, and QA
• Establish clear quality bars and design standards; scale excellence through design systems, guidelines, and reusable patterns
• Integrate qualitative and quantitative research into product decisions so insights are timely, rigorous, and actionable
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Data, and GTM to define strategy, shape roadmaps, and deliver outcomes
• Use AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, V0, Lovable) to improve workflows, accelerate iteration, and enhance collaboration
• Build operating rituals (planning, critique, research readouts, design reviews) that improve velocity, quality, and alignment
• Develop talent—hire, onboard, mentor, and create growth pathways; foster a culture of learning, feedback, and psychological safety
• Define and track UX health metrics (adoption, task success, time‑to‑value, NPS/CSAT, accessibility scores) to measure impact
• Represent design and research at the leadership table—communicate strategy, risk, trade‑offs, and the business value of UX
• Provide empathetic leadership to union and non-union employees, navigating their distinct needs with fairness, respect, and a commitment to fostering trust and collaboration

Requirements:

• 8–10+ years in product design/UX (or equivalent experience), including 4–6+ years leading multidisciplinary design and research teams; experience leading managers is a plus
• Proven success leading end‑to‑end product design and UX research for complex B2B SaaS or platform products
• Data‑driven: sets success metrics, instruments analytics, runs and interprets experiments (e.g., A/B), and combines quantitative and qualitative evidence to guide decisions and show impact
• Consistent record of delivering results—setting clear goals, using data to make decisions, and showing measurable user and business impact
• Deep competence in core design skills (information architecture, interaction design, prototyping, visual communication) and in applying research to guide solutions
• Strong grasp of accessibility standards (WCAG) and inclusive design; experience running accessible research and reviews
• Portfolio of shipped, high‑quality product work illustrating the systems, process, and research and data behind it
• Excellent collaboration with Product, Engineering, and Data; adept at planning, scoping, and delivering complex programs
• Clear, persuasive communicator comfortable presenting to executives and influencing cross‑functional decisions
• Experience in the social impact, nonprofit, public sector, or adjacent domains
• Experience building and governing multi‑brand design systems at scale
• Familiarity with experimentation (A/B testing), analytics, and instrumentation for UX metrics
• Experience leading distributed/global teams and operating in a matrixed environment