User Experience Lead

Location: Washington, DC (4 days on-site)

Duration: Long Term contract, potential for extension or conversion

Role Overview: We are seeking an experienced and visionary Lead UX/UI Designer for our Financial Services client. The Lead UX/UI Designer will drive the strategy, design, and execution of high-impact, external and internal facing digital products and websites. As the foundational design lead for this line of business, you will establish the product vision, define design standards, and partner closely with cross-functional teams to craft intuitive, beautifully designed digital experiences. This is a high-visibility, hands-on role where you will balance strategic thinking with end-to-end execution. You will serve as the primary design advocate for this practice area, laying the groundwork to spearhead and mentor a growing UX team in the future.

Key Responsibilities: Design Strategy & Vision: Set the overall UX/UI strategy, architecture, and design vision for customer-facing digital products, portals, and web platforms. Hands-on Execution: Drive end-to-end design solutions—from initial research, user flows, wireframes, and interactive prototypes to high-fidelity visual UI designs and final production assets. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with product managers, developers, researchers, and executive stakeholders to align user experience goals with overarching business objectives. Leadership & Growth: Serve as the founding UX lead for this line of business, advocating for human-centered design principles and eventually hiring, guiding, and spearheading a small team of UX/UI designers. Design Systems & Standards: Establish, maintain, and scale design systems, component libraries, and style guides to ensure consistent, highly accessible, and polished brand experiences across platforms. User-Centric Validation: Facilitate discovery sessions, gather user feedback, and translate insights or usability findings into actionable product refinements.

Qualifications & Key Requirements: Proven Experience: 6+ years of professional UX/UI design experience, with at least 1–2 years in a lead or senior strategic capacity overseeing digital products from concept to launch. Polished Portfolio: A required portfolio demonstrating exceptional skill in end-to-end product design, strong visual polish, systematic thinking, intuitive interaction flows, and clear design rationale. End-to-End Skillset: Equally strong capabilities in both UX (user journeys, wireframing, information architecture) and UI (typography, color theory, component design, micro-interactions).Technical & Tool Proficiency: Advanced proficiency in industry-standard design tools (e.g., Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, Sketch) and familiarity with design-to-development handoffs. Cross-Functional Communication: Outstanding verbal, visual, and written communication skills with a track record of articulating complex design decisions to multi-disciplinary teams and stakeholders. Adaptability & Initiative: Self-directed, proactive mindset comfortable with navigating ambiguity, setting design standards from scratch, and driving projects independently.

Preferred Qualifications: Experience building or maintaining design systems at scale. Experience in web accessibility standards (WCAG) and designing for global or diverse user bases. Background or strong interest in mentoring, managing, or growing a team of designers.

EEO: Mindlance is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in employment on the basis of – Minority/Gender/Disability/Religion/LGBTQI/Age/Veterans.