Head of Design and User Research

About Transcend

Transcend is the privacy platform that makes it easy to encode privacy across your tech stack.
We believe that engineering privacy rights and making them easily accessible to the world is one of the most high-impact ways we can spend our time. That's why we're building an ambitious team that’s passionate about solving the important problems of the future and having fun while doing it. We’re backed by Accel, Index, 01A, StepStone Group, and HighlandX growing fast, and are serving some of the most iconic brands in the world.
(Even if you don't see a good fit below, we'd still love to stay in touch. Email us at recruiting@transcend.io).

About the role

As Head of Design and User Research at Transcend, you will lead our design and research efforts across our privacy management platform while also maintaining some hands-on responsibilities for critical projects. This dual role demands a blend of design leadership, user research expertise, strategic thinking, and hands-on design skills to create intuitive, user-centric products that align with both customer needs and business objectives. The ideal candidate will excel at translating complex privacy concepts into coherent design strategies, fostering a culture of user-centered design throughout the organization, and delivering high-quality design work.

What you'll do

• Lead the vision, strategy, and execution of design and user research initiatives across Transcend's product suite, with a strong focus on improving overall user experience and product adoption
• Spearhead the redesign and simplification of our product onboarding process to reduce friction and accelerate time to value for new customers
• Develop and implement strategies to measure and improve key metrics such as time to value, user engagement, and customer satisfaction
• Build, manage, and mentor a team of designers and researchers, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence in user-centered design
• Collaborate closely with product and engineering teams to ensure seamless integration of design and research insights into product development, with a focus on simplifying complex workflows
• Establish and maintain design systems and research methodologies that scale across the organization and support rapid iteration and improvement
• Conduct and oversee user research to inform product decisions, identify pain points in the current user journey, and validate design improvements
• Translate research findings into actionable design recommendations and product improvements that demonstrably enhance user experience and reduce time to value
• Present design strategies and research insights to senior management and stakeholders
• Champion user-centered design principles throughout the company, emphasizing the importance of intuitive interfaces and streamlined user flows
• Proactively communicate design decisions and research findings to non-technical teams, ensuring alignment on UX improvement goals
• Perform hands-on design work, including creating user interfaces, interaction designs, and visual designs for key products and features, with a focus on simplifying complex privacy concepts
• Contribute to the development of design patterns and style guides  that promote consistency and ease of use across the product suite
• Participate in design critiques and provide constructive feedback to team members, always pushing for simpler, more intuitive solutions

Who you are

• You have a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Design, HCI, or a related field
• You have 8+ years of experience in UX design and user research, with at least 3 years in a leadership role
• You have a proven track record of leading design and research teams in a B2B SaaS environment, with demonstrable successes in improving user experience and product adoption
• You possess deep knowledge of design thinking, user-centered design processes, and various research methodologies, particularly those focused on improving onboarding and reducing time to value
• You have excellent leadership, communication, and presentation skills
• You maintain a strong individual contributor skillset in UX/UI design, with a portfolio demonstrating your work in simplifying complex products and improving user flows
• You are proficient in industry-standard design tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite)
• You have experience designing complex B2B products and can balance user needs with business requirements, particularly in streamlining onboarding processes
• You have a track record of using data and user research to drive design decisions and measure the impact of UX improvements
• You are passionate about privacy and eager to contribute to a mission-driven organization
• Experience in the data privacy or security domain is a plus

Why join us?The people at Transcend are driven, kind and know how to balance work, life and memes. We learn from each other and have a strong support system. 
You’re joining a fast growing start up, with opportunities to help define and grow the organization.
We have a strong mission to protect user privacy rights everywhere. The privacy compliance landscape is growing, and we are at the forefront of building solutions that protect user privacy rights with modern infrastructure and automation.
You will have autonomy and trust to drive initiatives from the start.
We believe that turning the principles of data privacy into exercisable human rights is one of the most high-impact ways we can spend our time, and so we're building an ambitious team that’s passionate about solving important problems and having fun while doing it.
As the best-in-class solution in a new market, Transcend is a fast-paced and exciting workplace. The product evolves quickly to meet new client needs and adapts to the rapidly advancing world of privacy law. As one of Transcend’s earliest hires, you’ll get to work on a wide array of exciting projects.
Additional InformationTranscend is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity, inclusion and belonging. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We will consider for employment all qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in a manner consistent with applicable law.
Our comprehensive compensation packages play a big part in how we recognize you for the impact you have on our path to bringing data rights to everyone.
For this role, the estimated annual total salary ranges are below. The actual annual salary will vary based on various factors, including market and individual qualifications objectively assessed during the interview process.
The listed range below is a guideline, and the annual total salary range for this role may be modified. Transcend offers attractive health benefits, equity, and perks in addition to cash compensation.
BenefitsTaking Care of You and Yours ⭐

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance: 80% coverage for you, and 50% coverage for all your dependents.
• Voluntary disability insurance: short-term disability, long-terms disability, and life insurance.
• 401(k) plan with 4% matching.
• Free One Medical membership sponsored by us.
• Access to our EAP (Employee Assistance Program).

Flexible PTO 🌴

• Take as many vacation, sick, and mental health days as you need.
• 13 additional company holidays, plus 4 Transcend Days Off.
• Generous parental leave, caregiver, emergency, and compassionate leave policies.

Setting You Up For Success 💳 🥐

• A unique and diverse remote-first company culture, shaped by people with entrepreneurial mindset who build together and aim for excellence always.
• $360 a month for all meals.
• Flexible spending accounts for commuter costs, and healthcare expenses.
• Meaningful equity.
• Company retreats.

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