Lead UX Engineer

Lead UX Engineer

PODS is revolutionizing the moving industry by building a new online experience that aligns with how modern customers want to manage their moves. Our goal is to empower customers to book, manage, and interact with their moving partners seamlessly through our digital platform, making their experience stress-free. As a Lead UX Engineer, you'll play a crucial role in bringing this vision to life by designing, prototyping, and shipping innovative digital experiences. You will use AI-assisted prototyping to move from concept to working, testable code faster than traditional design workflows allow, turning research insights and business requirements into functional, high-fidelity experiences that exceed customer expectations.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Lead the design process from ideation to implementation:

• Develop a long-term UX vision and an annual roadmap that aligns with business goals.
• Translate concepts into user flows, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and production-quality coded prototypes using Figma, Framer, Miro, and AI prototyping tools (e.g., v0, Lovable, Claude, Cursor, Figma Make).
• Gather user feedback throughout the design process and iterate on designs accordingly.
• Build working, code-based prototypes using AI-assisted tools to validate interactions, test with real users, and reduce handoff friction with engineering.
• Partner with engineering to ensure prototypes translate cleanly into production, contributing directly to front-end code and design system components when appropriate.

• Champion user-centered design:

• Plan and conduct user research using various methods (usability testing, user interviews, card sorting, A/B testing, etc.).
• Analyze research data to understand user needs, behaviors, and pain points.
• Advocate for user needs within the product development process.

• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams:

• Work closely with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders across different departments (marketing, finance, IT, operations).
• Facilitate workshops and design sprints to foster collaboration and alignment.
• Communicate design decisions clearly and persuasively to stakeholders at all levels.

• Stay ahead of the curve:

• Keep up-to-date with the latest UX trends, design tools, AI prototyping platforms, and emerging front-end technologies.
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of design systems.

Management & Supervisory Responsibilities:

• This role does not have direct reports.

• May mentor junior designers and engineers or provide guidance to colleagues on UX and prototyping best practices.

• Other duties as assigned.

Job Qualifications: Essential Skills, Abilities and Example Behavior(s)

• User-centered design expertise: Demonstrated ability to apply user-centered design principles throughout the product development lifecycle.

• Strong visual and interaction design skills: Ability to create aesthetically pleasing and highly usable interfaces that meet user needs and business goals.

• Proficiency in design and prototyping tools: Expertise in Figma, Framer, and Miro, plus working fluency with AI prototyping tools (v0, Lovable, Claude, Cursor, or similar) and comfort reading and writing HTML, CSS, and component-level JavaScript/React to produce functional prototypes.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills: Ability to effectively communicate design decisions, articulate design rationale, and collaborate with cross-functional teams.

• Analytical and problem-solving skills: Ability to analyze user research data, identify user needs, and translate them into design solutions.

• AI-accelerated prototyping fluency: Demonstrated ability to use AI coding and prototyping tools to generate, iterate, and refine interactive prototypes quickly; strong judgment about when AI output is production-ready, when it needs human refinement, and when a lower-fidelity artifact is the better answer.

• Passion for creating great user experiences: A strong desire to deliver exceptional digital experiences that delight customers and drive business value.

Job Qualifications: Education & Experience Requirements

• 10+ years of experience as a UX Engineer, UX Designer, or Interaction Designer, including hands-on experience building interactive or coded prototypes.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Design, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).

• A strong online portfolio showcasing your UX skills, including interactive or coded prototypes, with a focus on end-to-end user-centered design solutions across various platforms.

• Experience designing complex workflows and customer-facing retail products is highly desirable.

• Demonstrated experience using AI prototyping and coding tools (e.g., v0, Lovable, Claude, Cursor, Figma Make, or similar) in a professional design or product workflow.

• Experience with design systems and pattern libraries is a plus.