User Experience (UX) and Design Manager

About the Organization: The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is the largest specialty nursing organization in the world, representing the interests of more than 550,000 nurses who are charged with caring for acutely and critically ill patients. AACN is dedicated to creating a healthcare system driven by the needs of patients and families where acute and critical care nurses make their optimal contribution. Visit us online at http://www.aacn.org.

Application Instructions: Interested individuals can visit our Careers Page and apply for the User Experience (UX) and Design Manager role. Any questions can be directed to: jobs@aacn.org. The position is eligible for remote or hybrid on-site work out of our Aliso Viejo, CA national office. Some travel may be required.

Position Purpose: The User Experience & Design Manager role will serve as a driving force in operationalizing advanced design ideas and strategies, directly impacting acute and critical-care nursing practice within our reputable nonprofit healthcare organization. We seek a visionary UX design leader who will help to shape the healthcare care landscape by pushing the boundaries of innovation and human-centered design with a nurse-centric approach while providing leadership to staff and ensuring effective program priorities and initiatives that further the Association’s strategic and operational objectives.

Main Accountabilities:

Develop and execute design strategy aligned with our mission, focusing on nurse and patient-centric solutions. Pioneering the art of innovation, identifying revolutionary opportunities to drive design-led enhancements in user-centric products and services.
Lead, mentor, and collaborate with a team of seasoned designers, fostering a culture of creativity, unwavering empathy, and design excellence. Forge strong partnerships with cross-functional teams, leveraging collective expertise to shape the future of healthcare experiences.
Champion an elevated human-centered design philosophy throughout our organization, ensuring that nurse-centered perspectives remain the north star guiding all design endeavors. Instill principles of accessibility and inclusivity in every aspect of our digital product landscape.
Drive mastery of design thinking principles to unravel intricate challenges, lead problem-solving, and facilitate data-driven decisions. Collaborate with stakeholders to envision, prototype, and avant-garde design solutions.
Collaborate closely with project leaders and operational teams, orchestrating the seamless implementation of cutting-edge design solutions within the healthcare ecosystem. Commit to relentless assessment and evaluation, continually gauging the impact of design initiatives on nurses, patients, and families.

Directs, develops, implements, and administers design ideas and strategies and objectives to ensure the achievement of organization's goals and objectives.
Expand the influence of UX principles within AACN digital products and services and the development of new digital solutions across the entire product landscape.
Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to integrate UX principles holistically into all digital products.
Utilize data analytics and user research to inform design decisions, ensuring continuous improvement and user satisfaction across digital products.
Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) and UX metrics to assess the impact of design changes.

Provides leadership with design mastery to include:
Lead the design team in adopting Agile methodologies, ensuring design processes align with development cycles and are consistently user-centric.
Promote the creation of a user-centered design culture throughout the organization, encouraging all team members to prioritize user feedback and insights.
Promote the value of UX design principles and methodologies across the organization, fostering a UX-aware culture. Encourage team members to stay updated on evolving UX trends, emerging technologies, and industry best practices.
In tandem with the association’s Creative Partners manager, lead regular design reviews, critiques, and ideation sessions for team members.

Provides authentic leadership and development of assigned team members.
Coaches and creates opportunities for individual development.
Provides meaningful recognition for a job well done.
Role models and integrates established team norms into work processes and relationships.
Promotes and upholds all Human Resources processes and systems, including but not limited to capacity management, 3TYs, approving timecards and paid time off (PTO).
Attends People Leader meetings and participates in activities to enhance personal leadership development
Leads ongoing evaluation of team member assignments, capacity, and anticipated future work, recommending staffing solutions when imbalances arise to the director.

Skills Required:

Demonstrated ability to lead and motivate assigned staff.
Demonstrated experience providing mentorship and feedback to others.
Advanced ability to prioritize tasks, analyze data, solve problems, think critically and creatively, make sound decisions, and create and improve organizational systems.
Emotional intelligence and politically astute; uses sound judgment in managing organizational relationships.
Excellent written, verbal and group facilitation skills.
Proven skills leading and collaborating within a cross-functional team environment.
Ability to use and adapt to technology and willingness to develop new skills.
Successfully manage different styles of employees; provide clear direction and effective coaching.
Influence the actions and opinions of others in a positive direction and build group commitment.
Facilitate strategic discussions at the executive level, constructively challenging the status quo.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills to facilitate effective messaging across all major marketing channels, points of sale, and packaging, always ensuring a consistent brand voice
Critical thinking and ability to objectively evaluate scenarios to come to solutions and priorities.
Create clarity in ambiguous problem spaces, and apply systems thinking to simplify complex feature sets into simple, intuitive product experiences.

Education and/or Experience:

Bachelor's or Master's degree in User Experience Design, Human-Computer Interaction, or a related field preferred.
A minimum of 10 years experience with:
Leadership and management in driving design innovation, transforming strategy, and delivering groundbreaking results in healthcare or nonprofit sectors.
Mastery of User Experience Design principles, methodologies, and tools, with a profound understanding of their contemporary evolution.
An extensive record of pioneering Design Thinking concepts and hands-on expertise in solving multifaceted problems through transformative design.
Extensive experience and expertise in managing the operations and strategic development of conventional Design and Video teams
10+ years of experience working in a team leadership and strategic planning position including directing, developing, implementing, and administering strategies and objectives to ensure the achievement of the organization's goals and objectives.

Physical Requirements:

The physical demands described here represent those that must be met by an individual to successfully perform the essential responsibilities of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Candidates selected for the interview process are welcome to request accommodations through their designated recruiter/AACN contact.

Position is eligible for remote or hybrid work.
Travel may be required for the role.
Prolonged periods sitting/standing at a desk and working on a computer.
Ability to operate standard office equipment and keyboards.

Total Compensation:

The target pay range for this role is $127,022 - $158,777**

** In addition to the salary range listed, we offer a wealth of benefits to make working at AACN even more rewarding. Benefits include generous paid time off, low-cost health plans for medical and mental health services, dental, and vision, company paid life and short-term disability insurance, a variety of other benefits, and retirement savings program with employer matching and additional company contribution. AACN is committed to a culture of inclusive excellence and offers various alternative and flexible work arrangements to support work/life balance for our team members.

Conditions of Employment:

Any candidates selected for hire with AACN must be able to satisfactorily complete a background check clearance.

Under Federal Law, AACN may only employ individuals who are legally able to work in the United States as established by providing documentation specified in the Immigration and Control Act of 1986. Upon employment, individuals will be required to provide documentation to verify their identity and eligibility to work in the U.S. AACN participates in the E-verify program. We are unable to sponsor or take sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Closing Statement:

AACN is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination against or harassment of any person employed by or seeking employment with AACN on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin and ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, age (40 and above), military and veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state or local law.

AACN (American Association of Critical-Care Nurses)

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User Experience (UX) & Design Manager