What Does A Head of UX Do?

WHAT DOES A HEAD OF UX DO?

Published: May 7, 2025 - The Head of UX sets strategy and leads a high-performing team to deliver user-centered, business-aligned experiences. This role drives design system improvements and cross-functional collaboration. The head ensures roadmap alignment and fosters innovation and team development.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Head of UX

1. Head of UX Duties

Design Process Optimization: Shape and optimise the design and research process
Data-Driven Design: Support designers in incorporating quantitative and qualitative data into their decision process and put the customer at the centre of their work
Research Methodology: Support researchers in defining best practices, strategies and methodologies to deliver the most accurate and actionable insights to product teams
UX Strategy Alignment: Translate business and product strategies to UX objectives, define teams' OKRs and connect company goals to UX goals and vice-versa
Cross-Level Collaboration: Collaborate with teams, departments and C-Levels to drive company-wide initiatives
Issue Resolution: Identify potential issues, resolve blockers, and spot design and research opportunities that generate value and impact
Resource Allocation: Allocate and distribute design and research resources across teams and initiatives
Team Leadership: Recruit, coach and lead a team of designers and researchers, evaluate the team's performance, define salaries, promotions and improvement plans
Growth Planning: Hold regular 1:1s, create individual growth plans with periodical check-ins
Budget Management: Administrate budget and initiatives for personal growth, and represent the team's and individuals' needs across the organisation
Team Identity Building: Promote and grow a team identity together with the team's values and principles
Design Evangelism: Promote and evangelise the value of design and research within the company (and outside)

2. Head of UX Details

Design System Management: Ensure the design system is healthy across all platforms
Tool Enablement: Enable the team with the right tools to be effective and create the conditions to collaborate effectively
User Research Advocacy: Encourage a constant stream of user research that leads to product change
UX Metrics Leadership: Define and drive UX metrics and work with the team to uplift them
Talent Acquisition: Hire amazing colleagues to build one of the best UX teams
Journey Communication: Help communicate future user journeys to the wider Wisr team
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Build collaborative relationships with product owners and developers
Team Mentorship: Inspire and mentor a global team of 3 product designers, teach best practices, and build a culture of design excellence
UX Oversight: Oversee the user experience and design language of all Papaya products from conception to launch
Visual Identity Management: Develop and manage product visual identities and digital design systems
Design Guidance: Work closely with the Product and R&D teams and guide the R&D team about the design

3. Head of UX Responsibilities

UX/UI Direction: Lead UX and UI direction to create and maximise new or existing products
Design Language Ownership: Define and own the design language, establish and implement best practices within the organisation
End-to-End Design: Own the end-to-end design process to drive high-velocity, high-quality product designs
UX Research Management: Own and improve the user experience research programs to constantly gather customer insights and validate problems and solutions
Data-Driven Design: Leverage quantitative metrics coupled with qualitative data and innovative design thinking to guide design decisions and outputs
Agency Collaboration: Build relationships with third-party agencies and outsource while ensuring core guidelines are not compromised
Community Building: Help build a customer-centric community within the organisation and a hub for sharing knowledge and improving the quality of design across the organisation
Product Improvement Leadership: Work closely with product teams/proactively to identify product improvements and lead the execution of the same
Cross-Team Relationships: Build relationships and operating rhythms with leaders inside and outside of the team, to socialize and synthesize experiences that are cohesive, inclusive, and well-informed
Organizational Guidance: Provide indirect leadership across a broader, multi-disciplinary UX organization to guide the collective ongoing evolution of UX and organizational best practices at the company

4. Head of UX Job Summary

Strategic Advisory: Act as, and be seen as, a respected and trusted strategic advisor both to the technology team and the wider organisation
Business Strategy Development: Proactively develop ideas and strategic proposals to drive the business forward
Team Motivation: Foster team morale and motivation and encourage a culture of innovation focused on adding value
Talent Nurturing: Proactively nurture talent to build high-functioning, motivated teams
Team Management: Lead recruiting, headcount management, planning, career growth and training of the team
Industry Trend Awareness: Develop and maintain an up-to-date knowledge of industry trends
Knowledge Sharing: Spread learning and knowledge sharing across the organisation
UX Strategy Design: Design and drive the UX strategy for the company that includes product design, user journeys and usability testing
User Journey Optimization: Ensure user journeys across mobile and desktop products are responsive and adaptive and meet the needs of customers
Usability Testing Strategy: Have a well-defined usability testing strategy that provides valuable insights on how to improve the UX experience
UX Team Leadership: Lead a team of talented, hard-working UX designers to deliver value to the business
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work collaboratively with product, creative and technology teams, marketing managers, country managers and senior executives to help bring product concepts to life and improve current user journeys
Team Development: Inspire and develop the UX team to be the best they can be

5. Head of UX Accountabilities

User Research: Plan and conduct user research and competitor analysis
Regulatory Understanding: Understand the governance and compliance requirements of the regulated market categories in which clients are working
UX Accountability: Accountable for all Web/UX from planning, ideation, development, execution and analysis of UX/UI activities
Strategic UX Direction: Provide strategic direction of UX/UI design that will support marketing plans, goals and objectives
Agile Design Sprinting: Participate in a design sprint by working with clients and their digital vendors on backlog prioritization and ensure the practical use of agile
ROI Analysis: Measure and analyze the effectiveness and ROI of Web/UX activities, working closely with the Performance Analytics team to ensure they provide business value
Conversion Testing: Develop experimentation programs (A/B, Multivariate testing and Personalization campaigns) to maximize conversions by conducting rigorous and iterative testing
Client Relationship Management: Manage relationship with clients and creative agencies (UX/UI designers), ensuring consistency of the experience on the digital front-end across all digital channels
Creative Collaboration: Assist in the development of effective ad copy, landing pages and guide creative on ideal assets
UX Writing Leadership: Manage, mentor, and inspire a team of UX writers, providing direction and pushing the quality of the work
Content Advocacy: Represent the discipline of UX Writing across the Design team and the company
Team Representation: Lead and represent the team effectively, substantiate the work and the decisions behind them, and be an advocate for user-centered content
Cross-Functional Communication: Build relationships with cross-functional team members and executives across organizations, and effectively speak to process, goals, and team vision
Workflow Optimization: Help the team become more efficient by improving processes and workflows
Content Strategy Integration: Identify opportunities for the writing team to offer a content strategy perspective throughout the product development process, and to lead projects and initiatives

6. Head of UX Functions

Design Team Leadership: Drives a high level of focus and excellence with a strong, talented, opinionated team
Inspirational Leadership: Leads with passion and convictions and has the innate ability to inspire passion in others
Design Quality Improvement: Raises the bar on design quality with a team of strong design managers
Embedded UX Leadership: Leads an embedded user experience team through partnership, driving clarity in defining customer success
Cross-Team Alignment: Owns and drives mechanisms for alignment on customer problems, product vision, and priorities
Experience Health Measurement: Drives key functions to measure the health of the customer experience quantitatively and qualitatively
Stakeholder Relationship Management: Responsible for building and maintaining healthy relationships with partners and stakeholders worldwide
Customer-Driven Prioritization: Prioritizes well based on customer need, not internal dialogue
Judgment and Negotiation: Exhibits excellent judgment and negotiates challenging issues to move the product forward
Executive Communication: Communicates clearly and compellingly within the team, across peers, and with senior leadership
Design Community Impact: Driving force in the design community with unique ideas about the creative process and leadership
Execution Excellence: Drives design and execution excellence across diverse product releases and platforms
UX Advocacy: Advocates effectively for UX teams and users, empowering them both visibly and behind the scenes

7. Head of UX Job Description

Design System Documentation: Producing/updating design system, documents and standards
UX Design Support: Providing UX design expertise and practical support to the software development team
Usability Metrics Management: Establishing and maintaining appropriate and proportional usability metrics
User Feedback Analysis: Collecting, collating and reviewing user and customer feedback
Standards Compliance: Verifying product compliance with design and usability standards
Strategic Experience Design: Apply strategic thinking to design effective, engaging end-to-end experiences
Agile Team Collaboration: Work in an agile, multi-disciplinary team to design digital services that meet user needs
Research-Based UX: Develop a user experience based on research and insight
Web Standards Advocacy: Deliver design work that's in line with best practices for web standards, acting as an advocate for accessibility
Design Communication: Confidently communicate design decisions to other digital and wider business colleagues

8. Head of UX Overview

UX Team Strategy: Create the strategy and lay the foundation for a high-performing, highly motivated UI/UX team that delivers best-in-class experiences through products
End-to-End Experience: Own end-to-end user experience and maintain and improve the design system
Prototype Development: Deliver innovative, engaging prototypes using the latest in front-end technologies
Customer Insight: Thoroughly understand customers and users, and identify opportunities
UX Roadmap Planning: Develop a prioritized roadmap for exceptional and intuitive user experiences while aligning with business goals
Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner cross-functionally with leaders across the divisions to evangelize and actualize best UI/UX practices
Process Integration: Integrate the design team with other functions, and provide leadership to improve existing processes
Product KPI Ownership: Accountable for product key performance indicators around growth, engagement and outcomes
Design System Enhancement: Enhance and maintain the design system and MFE
Data Visualization Design: Build next-generation data visualization and charting capabilities
Stakeholder Engagement: Hold frequent conversations with key stakeholders to socialize and validate the portfolio roadmap
Vision Feedback Facilitation: Provide opportunities for all S&P employees to review and provide feedback on the long-term vision and strategy
Roadmap Alignment: Work with product managers to ensure that their product roadmaps align with the long-term vision and strategy
Team Development: Manage and develop teams and individual contributors