Lead Designer

Join us as we work to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.

Position Summary

Help shape the next generation of athenahealth’s electronic health record and physician practice management products by designing solutions that simplify complex healthcare workflows. The Lead Designer partners with Product Management and Engineering to translate research insights, user needs, and product strategy into clear workflows, interaction models, and design solutions, with significant focus on scheduling and administrative experiences. This is an individual contributor role based in Austin, TX. This role reports to a Senior Manager or Director, Experience Design.

About the Team

The Experience Design team creates user-centered solutions that reduce complexity across clinical and operational healthcare workflows and improve the daily experience of healthcare professionals. The team partners closely with Product Management, Engineering, research, and design system teams to define and deliver product experiences from discovery through implementation. Designers use user research, behavioral data, product analytics, design systems, prototyping tools, and AI-assisted workflows to inform design decisions. The team also contributes to AI-enabled product capabilities that support clinical productivity, scheduling efficiency, and decision-making.

Essential Job Responsibilities

- Lead problem framing and solution development for complex clinical, scheduling, and operational workflow challenges from discovery through delivery.

- Design efficient, safe, and intuitive workflows that coordinate patients, providers, and operational staff across healthcare environments.

- Create design artifacts ranging from early concepts to detailed interaction flows, prototypes, and behavioral specifications that guide product development.

- Translate UX concepts into clear workflows and interaction specifications that support scalable software development and implementation.

- Partner with Product Management and Engineering throughout planning, design, and development to translate product strategy into clear experiences and ensure delivered solutions meet design intent.

- Plan and conduct user, client, and domain research, using research insights, behavioral data, and product analytics to inform design decisions and evaluate product success.

- Apply established design system patterns and collaborate with design system teams to evolve components and interaction patterns based on emerging product needs.

- Ensure product experiences meet UX quality standards for workflow design, interaction design, accessibility, and product content.

- Use AI-assisted tools to support research synthesis, design exploration, and prototyping, and contribute to AI-enabled product capabilities that support clinical productivity, scheduling efficiency, and decision-making.

- Travel approximately 5% annually.

Additional Job Responsibilities

- Facilitate discovery, problem-framing, and solution workshops with cross-functional teams.

- Partner with Product Management and Engineering to establish and support product and business goals.

- Draft UX workflows and interaction models that guide detailed software design and development.

- Guide less experienced designers through mentorship, design reviews, and coaching.

- Promote effective design practices, including systems thinking, design-to-engineering alignment, and data-informed product design.

- Contribute to team-wide initiatives that improve design processes, tools, and operating models.

- Build understanding of healthcare users and their operational environments across Product Management and Engineering teams.

Expected Education & Experience

- Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, Computer Science, Business, or a related discipline.

- Minimum of 5 years of experience in UX or product design.

- Experience designing complex workflow systems within enterprise or SaaS products.

- Experience with UX design practices, including interaction design, prototyping, visual communication, and translating UX concepts into clear workflows, interaction models, or behavioral specifications.

- Experience facilitating user research, synthesizing findings, and applying insights to product and design decisions.

- Experience collaborating with Product Management and Engineering teams in modern software development and delivery environments.

- Experience designing within established design systems and contributing feedback to improve shared components and patterns.

- Familiarity with modern design tools and AI-assisted design or research workflows.

- Ability to communicate clearly and influence project direction while working across functions without direct authority.

- Ability to navigate ambiguity and changing priorities, apply systems thinking, evaluate alternatives, and connect user needs with business and technical requirements.

Expected Compensation

The base salary range shown reflects the full range for this role from minimum to maximum. At athenahealth, base pay depends on multiple factors, including job-related experience, relevant knowledge and skills, how your qualifications compare to others in similar roles, and geographical market rates.  Base pay is only one part of our competitive Total Rewards package - depending on role eligibility, we offer both short and long-term incentives by way of an annual discretionary bonus plan, variable compensation plan, and equity plans.

About athenahealth

Our vision: In an industry that becomes more complex by the day, we stand for simplicity. We offer IT solutions and expert services that eliminate the daily hurdles preventing healthcare providers from focusing entirely on their patients — powered by our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.

Our company culture: Our talented    employees — or athenistas, as we call ourselves — spark the innovation and passion needed to accomplish our vision. We are a diverse group of dreamers and do-ers with unique knowledge, expertise, backgrounds, and perspectives. We unite as mission-driven problem-solvers with a deep desire to achieve our vision and make our time here count. Our award-winning culture is built around shared values of inclusiveness, accountability, and support.

Our DEI commitment: Our vision of accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all requires addressing the inequities that stand in the way. That's one reason we prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of our business, from attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce to maintaining an inclusive environment for athenistas, our partners, customers and the communities where we work and serve.

What we can do for you:

Along with health and financial benefits, athenistas enjoy perks specific to each location, including commuter support, employee assistance programs, tuition assistance, employee resource groups, and collaborative    workspaces   — some offices even welcome dogs.

We also encourage a better work-life balance for athenistas with our flexibility. While we know in-office collaboration is critical to our vision, we recognize that not all work needs to be done within an office environment,   full-time. With consistent communication and digital collaboration tools, athenahealth   enables   employees to find a balance that feels fulfilling and productive for each individual situation.

In addition to our traditional benefits and perks, we sponsor events throughout the year, including book clubs, external speakers, and hackathons. We provide athenistas with a company culture based on learning, the support of an engaged team, and an inclusive environment where all employees are valued.

Learn more about our culture and benefits here: athenahealth.com/careers

https://www.athenahealth.com/careers/equal-opportunity