Director- DT, Customer User Experience & Accessibility

Description
There’s never been a more exciting time to join United Airlines. We’re on a path towards becoming the best airline in the history of aviation. Our shared purpose – Connecting People, Uniting the World – is about more than getting people from one place to another. It also means that as a global company that operates in hundreds of locations around the world with millions of customers and tens of thousands of employees, we have a unique responsibility to uplift and provide opportunities in the places where we work, live and fly, and we can only do that with a truly diverse and inclusive workforce. And we’re growing – in the years ahead, we’ll hire tens of thousands of people across every area of the airline. Our careers include a competitive benefits package aimed at keeping you happy, healthy, and well-traveled. From employee-run "Business Resource Group" communities to world-class benefits like parental leave, 401k, and privileges like space available travel, United is truly a one-of-a-kind place to work. Are you ready to travel the world?

We believe that inclusion propels innovation and is the foundation of all that we do. United's Digital Technology team spans the globe and is made up of diverse individuals all working together with cutting-edge technology to build the best airline in the history of aviation. Our team designs, develops and maintains massively scaling technology solutions brought to life with innovative architectures, data analytics, and digital solutions.

Key Responsibilities:
The Director – Customer User Experience & Accessibility, will lead a team of interaction designers and visual designers to ensure consistency, relevance, and continual growth of all digital touchpoints, specifically United.com and the United Mobile App. In addition, this candidate will be responsible for leading and implementing our digital accessibility initiatives, ensuring that our client-facing digital platforms are inclusive and accessible to all users. The Director will provide guidance and leadership, lead team activities, provide feedback, and be accountable for the overall digital experience. The ideal candidate has a passion for user centered design and has a wide breadth of experience across multiple types of products, channels, and design methodologies. The Director leads coaching and development opportunities for team Members. This role has a global focus and responsibility.

DESIGN & INFLUENCE

Be the UX Partner for United’s Digital Channel strategy; primarily desktop, mobile web, and mobile app.
Ensure digital customer touch points are consistent with United’s user experience and brand standards.
Develop intuitive, usable, and engaging designs.
Recommend approach and direction for how our new enterprise Content Management System (CMS) should be used across our digital channels.
Lead adoption of standards and best practices' documentation such as style guides and pattern libraries
Advocate
Be that pillar and example for our UX Community in terms of leadership and integrity.
Enhance every opportunity to share with others how the UX field fits in at United and how it makes our customer experiences better; look for ways to extend value of the team.
Present UX contributions and deliverables to collaborators for review and feedback
Continuously collaborate with cross-functional teams as well as the broader UX Community and business partners throughout the design process and incorporate feedback appropriately with a user-centered focus.
Actively engage, develop, mentor, and coach a team of UX professionals, so they can become the leaders of tomorrow.
Facilitate accessibility training programs for internal teams, fostering a culture of awareness and understanding.
Identify both awareness and role-based training needs across teams, lead internal and external training.
Organizational Effectiveness / People:
Provide leadership by establishing department and individuals’ goals.
Responsible for developing and maintaining an overall sourcing plan which includes creative sourcing options and alternatives to ensure supply capacities meet work demand, role and abilities requirements and cost objectives.
Responsible for assessing and recommending improvements to the organization structure, roles, and responsibilities.
Responsible for department and individual performance assessments and improvement plans.
Responsible for coaching, counseling, assisting employees to develop individual career development and training plans.
Decision making responsibility within the field and advances any issues which cannot be resolved.
This director is tasked with understanding all the operating policies and procedures of the enterprise.
Directs multiple teams of developers involved in the analysis, design and development of sophisticated and large-scale applications which may include both projects and programs.
Directly contacts the client and support team members across the IT organization.
IT Process Mgmt. and Administrative:
Define, prioritize, allocate resources, supervise, and provide status reporting of work assignments, projects, programs.
Budget and cost management for the projects/programs.
Ensure IT application development process teams (solution delivery, project management, work requests, QA, etc.) and standards are established, effectively led, and performed.
Provide information and periodic updates to support overall IT performance metrics, monthly project status reporting and quarterly resource planning review.
Ability to lead up to ten or more applications.
Ability to manage up to 10-15 M in budget.
DRIVE

Initiate and respond to ideas for innovation/improvements based on research, analysis, and driven reviews.
Identify user needs and business requirements.
Substantiate design approach with analysis & projections for improvements.
Visualize ideas using professional design tools as well as sticky notes, sketch boards, whiteboard markers or whatever tools are vital to rapidly work through ideation and move to the next stage.
This position is Hybrid to either Chicago or Houston.

United values diverse experiences, perspectives, and we encourage everyone who meets the minimum qualifications to apply. While having the “desired” qualifications make for a stronger candidate, we encourage applicants who may not feel they check ALL those boxes! We are always looking for individuals who will bring something new to the table!

Qualifications
What is needed to succeed (Minimum Qualifications):
Bachelor's degree.
7+ years visual or interaction design experience.
10+ years of management experience in an IT or leadership related role.
Familiarity with assistive technologies and user experience best practices.
Demonstrated experience leading a UX team with a variety of multi-channel design activities.
Solid grasp of User Experience interaction design principles and a good understanding of front-end web technologies.
Excellent understanding of visual design for the Web and mobile
Strong ability to communicate the team’s work, articulate design decisions & reasoning, and respond quickly to business needs.
Proven ability to set the design direction for your projects and to collaborate with other designers working in the space.
Advanced understanding of user-centered design methods and best practices.
Ability to coordinate, prioritize, and accomplish multiple tasks in a fast-paced atmosphere with minimal supervision.
Must have previous shown success in the e-commerce space.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer without sponsorship.
Successful completion of interview required to meet job qualification.
Reliable, punctual attendance is an essential function of the position.
What will help you propel from the pack (Preferred Qualifications):
Master's degree.
Accessibility certifications like Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) or Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS).
High level understanding of digital accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG, Section 508), design principles, guidelines, and pertinent policies.
eCommerce experience (B2C).
Experience working as a mentor to other interaction designers, developing their skills and potential.
Experience presenting and articulating work to team members, peers, and clients.
Airline and travel related experience.


United Airlines is an equal opportunity employer. United Airlines recruits, employs, trains, compensates and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform crucial job functions. Please contact JobAccommodations@united.com to request accommodation.


Equal Opportunity Employer - Minorities/Women/Veterans/Disabled/LGBT