Must haves
6–10+ years of UX/Product Design experience, ideally including time in a consultancy, agency, or embedded-team setting where you've owned client or stakeholder relationships directly.
Demonstrated ability to flex between leading a project (or a small team) and contributing as a senior IC, depending on what the engagement needs.
Track record of improving existing products rather than designing greenfield experiences — measurable wins on usability, conversion, or workflow efficiency.
Strong visual and UI judgment for forms, workflows, CTAs, hierarchy, and layout. You can defend a layout decision on the merits.
Comfort working closely with engineering against live implementations — you can read a real interface and tell us what's wrong with it before opening Figma.
Ability to articulate why a design decision was made and what problem it solves, to audiences ranging from engineers to executives.
Experience facilitating cross-functional workshops and leading business reviews or strategic planning sessions with senior stakeholders.

Nice to have
Background designing for regulated or enterprise domains (finance, compliance, GRC, banking, or similar).
Experience designing software embedded inside third-party platforms.
Familiarity with mature component libraries and design systems (MUI or similar).
Experience mentoring or leveling up other designers through example and critique.
Working knowledge of HTML/CSS; JavaScript a plus.
Degree in Design, HCI, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field — or equivalent experience.