UX Operations Lead

UX Operations Lead

Location: Remote (US)
Employment Type: Contract-to-Hire
Tax Terms: W2 only (no C2C or 1099)
Experience: 10+ years

About the Role

Our client, a leading enterprise SaaS company, is looking for a UX Operations Lead to connect its UX disciplines (UX Design, Design Systems, Content, and UX Research) with the broader Product organization. You’ll set up shared decision routines and operating models so the UX organization works as one team. You’ll also keep improving how the team operates by streamlining workflows, standardizing practices, and using automation and AI for repetitive work.

You’ll report into UX leadership and support the Head of UX and UX Directors directly. They keep ownership of people leadership, UX strategy, and priorities. You’ll also work closely with Product Operations on joint operating models and cross-functional initiatives.

This is a fully remote, contract-to-hire opportunity with the potential to convert to a full-time role.

Key Responsibilities

• Rituals & Routines: Design and run recurring team rituals, design critique routines, and decision-making checkpoints across all UX functions.
• Product Partnership: Prepare UX leadership for Product Strategy & Operations sessions, drive follow-through, and act as the day-to-day UX counterpart to Product Operations.
• Vendor & Budget Management: Own the UX tooling and vendor budget, and manage renewals and procurement with IT, Procurement, Finance, and Legal.
• Tooling & Ways of Working: Consolidate communication channels and documentation, audit the tooling ecosystem (including Figma and AI tools), pilot new tools with measurable outcomes, and build reusable templates.
• Hiring & Onboarding: Build the onboarding system and reusable templates for job descriptions, interview loops, and evaluations, which Directors fill in with discipline-specific content.
• Research Ops & Leveling: Connect Research Ops to shared team rhythms and facilitate a cross-discipline competency and leveling framework.
• Communications & Reporting: Run the executive reporting cadence, communicate UX strategy to the team, and coordinate UX participation in annual cross-functional initiatives.
• AI & Automation: Identify repeatable workflows suited to AI or automation, pilot them with clear guardrails, and use operational health metrics to scale what works.
• Team Culture: Create rituals and engagement moments that build connection and psychological safety across a distributed team.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years in UX operations, design/research program management, or a comparable operations role supporting multiple director-led teams
• Experience owning a budget and managing vendor relationships end to end
• Proven track record of building an operating model, cadence, or process from a low-maturity starting point
• Experience preparing executives for high-stakes cross-org conversations and driving follow-through
• Must be authorized to work in the US and able to work on a W2 basis

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building operating processes, planning cadences, or shared systems where structure was limited or still evolving
• Ability to influence without formal authority, facilitate decisions, and build strong relationships across disciplines
• Experience preparing leaders for cross-functional discussions and turning decisions into clear actions
• Strong written and verbal communication, adaptable for executives, team leaders, and individual contributors
• Ability to prioritize a broad portfolio and deliver improvements in practical, manageable stages
• Experience supporting a multidisciplinary UX organization spanning design, research, content, and design systems
• Experience partnering with Product Operations on shared planning processes, workflows, or organizational standards
• Experience developing hiring and onboarding systems, supporting competency frameworks, or coordinating research operations
• Working proficiency with Figma, Jira, collaboration and documentation platforms, and budget-tracking tools
• Experience applying AI or automation to operational workflows, with clear guardrails and measurable outcomes
• Experience defining operational metrics and using data to improve processes, understand capacity, and evaluate adoption

Skills / Keywords

UX Operations, DesignOps, ResearchOps, Program Management, Product Operations, Vendor Management, Budget Management, Figma, Jira, Process Improvement, Operating Models, AI Automation, Executive Communication, Stakeholder Management, Onboarding, Competency Frameworks