Principal UX Designer role on the Design Systems and Practices (DS+P) team within Vanguard's Financial Advisor Services Digital & Analytics UX organisation. Owns technical and craft direction of the Advisor Experience System (AXS), solving its most complex design problems and shaping how the system is built.
What you'll do
- Lead the technical design and evolution of AXS components, patterns, tokens, templates, and system foundations
- Translate complex product and experience needs into reusable, accessible, scalable solutions
- Own complex component and pattern architecture, including variants, states, behaviors, responsive considerations, and composition
- Establish a high bar for interaction, visual, and systems design quality across the library
- Lead design reviews and help the team decide when requirements or constraints compete
- Partner with front-end engineers to keep design and code aligned and resolve implementation questions
- Create and maintain documentation, usage guidance, specifications, and examples
- Identify gaps, inconsistencies, and opportunities to simplify the system
- Design foundations supporting semantic tokens, system-accurate prototyping, automated documentation, and AI-assisted workflows
- Help teams apply the system to real experiences without weakening it with one-off solutions
- Coach designers in component thinking, pattern design, accessibility, and system standards
- Explore tools and workflows that improve efficiency while protecting quality, accessibility, and brand integrity
- Step into the most difficult design problems and help bring them through delivery
What we're looking for
- significant UX and product design experience building or evolving enterprise design systems
- expert knowledge of reusable system design: components, variants, properties, tokens, patterns, templates, documentation
- strong visual and interaction design craft across typography, layout, hierarchy, behavior, responsiveness, content patterns
- experience designing complex components accounting for states, edge cases, accessibility, implementation constraints
- strong command of Figma: variables, modes, component architecture, library management, prototyping
- experience working with engineers on feasibility, intended behavior, and design-code alignment
- practical understanding of front-end concepts and technical fluency
- deep knowledge of accessibility incorporated into system architecture
- experience producing clear, current, useful documentation and usage guidance
- confidence to make recommendations, explain reasoning, and adjust with new evidence
- ability to bring structure to ambiguous problems without overcomplicating solutions
- collaborative, low-ego approach to design leadership
- portfolio demonstrating design-system work and complex component thinking
Nice to have
- experience with semantic token architecture, theming, or multi-brand/template systems
- experience connecting Figma libraries to engineering environments such as Storybook
- experience with design-system documentation platforms or automated documentation workflows
- working knowledge of AI-assisted design and development workflows
- experience supporting both product applications and marketing or content-heavy web experiences
- experience building systems within a highly regulated environment
- experience teaching system concepts or coaching designers and developers
- academic, professional, or life experience outside traditional UX
Good to know
- hybrid work based in Malvern, PA or Charlotte, NC
- on-campus Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays
- remote Mondays and Fridays
- visa sponsorship not offered for this position