Director of UX

Job description

POSITION OVERVIEW Routeware has grown through both product development and acquisition, and our portfolio — ReCollect, Recyclist, Compliance Publishing, RouteOptix, and the Routeware Platform — reflects that history. Each product has its own UX heritage, conventions, and visual language. Our customers (municipalities, haulers, and the residents they serve) increasingly touch more than one of these products, and the seams show. We’re hiring a Director of UX to lead the unification of that experience. This is a player-coach role: equal parts strategic leader and hands-on practitioner. You’ll inherit one designer and own the maturity of UX as a function — design system, research practice, accessibility standards, and how UX integrates into our agile SDLC across five product lines. You’ll partner closely with Product, Engineering, and Customer Success, and you’ll have a real seat at the table shaping roadmap and prioritization through a UX lens. If you’re energized by building the function — not just running one that already exists — this is the right scope. RESPONSIBILITIES UX Strategy & Portfolio Unification: Define and lead Routeware’s multi-year UX strategy across the product portfolio, with an explicit prioritization framework for where to invest first. Drive convergence of visual language, interaction patterns, and information architecture across acquired and native products. Design System & Standards: Build and own a scalable design system (components, tokens, patterns, accessibility primitives) usable by all product squads. Establish UX, UI, and accessibility standards (WCAG 2.2 AA minimum) and the governance to keep them enforced as products evolve. UX in the SDLC: Operationalize UX inside our agile process: discovery, research, prototyping, validation, and release readiness — without becoming a bottleneck. Define how PMs, engineers, and designers collaborate at each phase, including lightweight rituals like design reviews, critique, and handoff. Team Leadership: Directly manage and grow our existing UX designer. Mentor, develop, and unblock. Build the hiring plan and org design for the function as the team scales. User Research & Customer Insight: Establish scalable, lightweight research practices the team can run with: usability testing, journey mapping, and customer feedback synthesis. Partner with PMs to ensure product decisions are grounded in real customer behavior, not assumption. Data-Driven UX: Define and own UX-specific success metrics (task completion, time-to-value, usability scores, onboarding friction). Co-own product adoption and retention metrics with Product, and drive continuous UX improvement through experimentation. AI-Enabled Design Practice: Use AI tooling fluently to accelerate the team’s work — prototyping (Figma AI, v0, similar), research synthesis, content generation, and design QA. Identify opportunities for AI-driven personalization and adaptive experiences within our products. Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner with Product Management on roadmap prioritization, with Engineering on feasibility and design system implementation, and with Customer Success on real-world adoption barriers. Communicate UX strategy, trade-offs, and recommendations clearly to executive stakeholders. QUALIFICATIONS Required 8+ years in UX, Product Design, or Human-Centered Design, with progressive scope and impact. Experience leading or mentoring designers; comfortable as a player-coach with at least one direct report. Demonstrated success building or significantly maturing a UX function — design system, research practice, or design ops — in a SaaS environment. Strong portfolio showing systems thinking, multi-product or multi-platform work, and measurable UX outcomes. Deep fluency across UX disciplines: research, IA, interaction design, accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA), and usability testing. Hands-on proficiency in Figma. Working fluency with Jira, Confluence, and modern product analytics tools. Track record using AI tools (Figma AI, v0, ChatGPT, research synthesis tools, etc.) to accelerate design workflows. Excellent communication with both technical and executive audiences. Bonus Experience unifying UX across acquired products or post-M&A portfolios. Background in B2B / B2G SaaS, civic tech, logistics, or operational software. Experience designing for both staff/operator users and consumer/resident-facing experiences (we have both). Familiarity with experimentation programs and adaptive/personalized UX. Passion for sustainability and a commitment to driving environmental impact through innovative technology solutions. BENEFITS Comprehensive benefits (medical with HSA option, vision, dental, and life insurance) Paid parental leave Medical and Dependent FSA 401K match Unlimited PTO Ten company holidays 1 Volunteer day Summer Friday's Routeware is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits all forms of discrimination or harassment. At Routeware, we are committed to the principle of equality, and all employment decisions are based on job requirements, business needs, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy), age, physical, mental or sensory disability, HIV Status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. About Routeware, Inc. Routeware is the industry leader in providing software and data analysis that enables public and private enterprises to improve the effectiveness of their waste and recycling programs. Our solutions help organizations save time and money, increase efficiency, improve safety and help make our world a greener place. Based in Portland, Oregon, the company employs a distributed team across North America and the UK. Our brands, products, and services provide an all-in-one platform to municipal and private waste haulers and other fleet services. As part of an essential and growing industry, we seek solution-oriented team players who want to positively impact the environment. Our work environment is collaborative, dynamic, fast-paced, and fun with a strong appreciation for innovation and initiative. Our Mission: Transform waste collection to drive a better future for generations to come. Our Values: Adaptability - The waste industry and technology are ever-changing, and the Routeware team never stops adapting to be at the forefront of technology innovation, supporting our customers to stay ahead. Mission-driven - At Routeware, it matters to us that our work has a lasting positive impact on our customers' outcomes, our fellow team members' well-being, and the long-term sustainability of our environment. Human-first - While technology drives our products; the real, live, caring people at Routeware are the true drivers of meaningful outcomes for our customers.