Director, Design - Conversational Design

Why USAA?

At USAA, our mission is to empower our members to achieve financial security through highly competitive products, exceptional service and trusted advice. We seek to be the #1 choice for the military community and their families.

Embrace a fulfilling career at USAA, where our core values – honesty, integrity, loyalty and service – define how we treat each other and our members. Be part of what truly makes us special and impactful.

We are proud to support active-duty military spouses. USAA roles may offer remote or hybrid flexibility for active-duty military spouses consistent with applicable policy and business needs.

The Opportunity

As a dedicated Director, Design - Conversational Design , you will lead a team in creating exceptional, human-centered conversational experiences across USAA’s digital experiences. You will set the strategic direction for conversational design, shaping intuitive, engaging, and seamless interactions that reflect USAA’s brand and elevate the member experience.

We offer a flexible work environment that requires an individual to be in the office 4 days per week.

This position can be based in one of the following USAA office locations: San Antonio, TX, Charlotte, NC, Plano, TX, Phoenix, AZ, Colorado Springs, CO, or Tampa, FL.

Relocation assistance may be available for this position.

What You'll Do

- Serves as a strategic partner by understanding business and technical models, processes, challenges, and performance metrics to ensure conversational design strategies balance member needs with business and stakeholder objectives.
- Sets the strategic direction for conversational design, guiding the creation of human-centered conversational experiences that are intuitive, engaging, seamless, and aligned with USAA’s brand.
- Champions the value of conversational and human-centered design and fosters a culture of empathy by building and maintaining trust-based relationships with executive leaders and partner groups across the enterprise.
- Leads cross-organizational and cross-functional efforts to understand complex business and member problems and translate them into conversational design solutions that achieve program and project objectives.
- Directs the creative review process for conversational experiences to ensure quality, consistency, and alignment with established design principles and the design language system.
- Provides thought leadership to deconstruct complex problems into clear and achievable design solutions that increase the value of member, employee, and business outcomes.
- Actively participates in design leadership efforts, helping set the vision and strategic direction for the design organization and advance its capabilities and development goals.
- Builds and leads a high-performing design team through recruiting, developing, retaining, coaching, guiding, performance management, and other managerial activities while cultivating a culture aligned with USAA’s mission and core values.
- Ensures risks associated with business activities are effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.

What You Have

- Bachelor's degree; OR 4 years of relevant education and/or experience.
- 8 years of relevant, on-the-job experience in Product Design, UX Design, Service Design, Design Research, or a related design discipline delivering complex design solutions for web and native applications.
- 3 years of relevant, on-the-job experience in Conversational Design.
- 3 years of direct team lead or management experience.
- Expert knowledge and experience in human-centered design, with the ability to lead high-performing cross-functional teams through all phases of the design lifecycle.
- Expertise in conversational design, product design, storytelling, and prototyping.
- Demonstrated knowledge of data analysis and research techniques to inform design decisions.
- Outstanding people leadership and management abilities, with demonstrated success creating an environment where teams can develop and succeed.
- Proven leadership and ability to influence stakeholders at all levels of management.
- Demonstrated experience working in a distributed, agile work environment.
- Subject matter expertise in facilitation, collaboration, and communication, with the ability to effectively present to and influence cross-functional teams and senior/executive leaders.

What Sets You Apart

- Deep understanding of conversational and AI technologies, including Natural Language Processing (NLP), Natural Language Understanding (NLU), and Large Language Models (LLMs).
- Exceptional writing and editing skills, with the ability to craft clear, concise, engaging, and natural-sounding dialogue.
- Strong understanding of linguistic principles and their application to conversational experiences and interfaces.
- Experience leveraging user research, usability testing, and data analysis to evaluate and improve conversational experiences.
- A strong portfolio demonstrating impactful conversational design work, strategic thinking, and design leadership.

Compensation range: The salary range for this position is: $164,780.00 to $314,960.00.

USAA does not provide visa sponsorship for this role. Please do not apply for this role if at any time (now or in the future) you will need immigration support (i.e., H-1B, TN, STEM OPT Training Plans, etc.).

Compensation: USAA has an effective process for assessing market data and establishing ranges to ensure we remain competitive. You are paid within the salary range based on your experience and market data of the position. The actual salary for this role may vary by location.

Employees may be eligible for pay incentives based on overall corporate and individual performance and at the discretion of the USAA Board of Directors.

The above description reflects the details considered necessary to describe the principal functions of the job and should not be construed as a detailed description of all the work requirements that may be performed in the job.

Benefits: At USAA our employees enjoy best-in-class benefits to support their physical, financial, and emotional wellness. These benefits include comprehensive medical, dental and vision plans, 401(k), pension, life insurance, parental benefits, adoption assistance, paid time off program with paid holidays plus 16 paid volunteer hours, and various wellness programs. Additionally, our career path planning and continuing education assists employees with their professional goals.

For more details on our outstanding benefits, visit our benefits page on USAAjobs.com.

Applications for this position are accepted on an ongoing basis, this posting will remain open until the position is filled. Thus, interested candidates are encouraged to apply the same day they view this posting.

USAA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.