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Nationwide are hiring a

Manager, UX Design & Research Operations

If youre passionate about helping a Fortune 100 company with nearly $70 billion in annual sales drive their strategy forward through innovative product development and advancing strategic partnerships to protect customers, then Nationwide is the place for you! At Nationwide, "on your side" goes beyond just words. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and were looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care.

Job Title

Manager, UX Design & Research Operations

This role is critical to scaling user experience excellence across Nationwides digital ecosystem, ensuring that our design system and research operations deliver consistent, accessible, and high-quality experiences for our UX designers and researchers, as well as our Technology partners. As the leader of the Nationwide design system delivery team, you will drive operational rigor, foster collaboration across Design and Design Engineering, and enable global teams to adopt best-in-class UX practices. This is an opportunity to shape the future of design operations at Nationwide, influencing how we deliver innovative, AI-powered, and inclusive experiences at scale.

Responsibilities

  • Lead and manage the design system delivery team (Designers, Design Engineers), as well as the Research Operations Coordinators and Researchers, providing day-to-day direction, prioritization, and coaching.
  • Run the operational cadence for the design system, ensuring continuous delivery of new components, enhancements, and defect fixes across our many supported platforms.
  • Partner with the Practice Leads to translate enterprise priorities into a clear, sequenced roadmap for Design & Research Operations.
  • Coordinate work with the Nationwide India Office (NIO) by standing up shared workflows, onboarding programs, and governance.
  • Drive DesignOps and ResearchOps maturity and governance by standardizing processes, documentation, metrics, and quality checks.
  • Provide people leadership and talent development for Bolt designers, UI engineers, Research Ops coordinators, and at least one researcher.

Requirements

  • Experience: 5+ years in UX, Design and/or Research Operations, or related fields, with at least 1 year in a leadership or management role.
  • Skills: Strong understanding of design systems, UX research operations, and agile delivery practices; ability to manage cross-functional teams and complex workflows.
  • Technical Knowledge: Familiarity with design tools (Figma), research platforms (Dscout, User Interviews), accessibility standards (WCAG), and experience preparing design systems for AI-enabled workflows.
  • Leadership: Proven ability to coach and develop talent, foster collaboration, and drive operational excellence.
  • Communication: Exceptional ability to translate strategic priorities into actionable plans and communicate effectively.
  • Global Collaboration: Experience working with distributed teams and managing workflows across multiple time zones.

Additional Information

This role does not qualify for employer-sponsored work authorization. Nationwide does not participate in the Stem OPT Extension program. Due to the nature of this role, candidates need to be hybrid to the Columbus offices.

Job Description Summary

Do you have a keen understanding of the value that human-centered design provides in achieving strategic objectives and can you articulate that value? If youre capable of leading teams through the design process to distill complex problems into clear solutions, then we want to know more about you! As a manager in our User Experience (UX) organization, youll lead a team to drive the delivery of outstanding customer experiences.

Key Responsibilities

  • Consults and collaborates with stakeholders to provide strategic, creative, and technical direction.
  • Advocates for empathetic, human-centered design and helps mitigate risk by pursuing work based on insights.
  • Problem solves, thinks big, and explores divergent ideas while understanding how to converge and build iteratively towards the best solution.
  • Designs and recommends innovative multi-platform solutions that balance customer needs with business viability and technical feasibility.
  • Participates in and facilitates idea-generating sessions evaluating those ideas.
  • Mentors and guides the team in their craft to uplift the quality of our work.

Reporting Relationships

Reports to Director/Associate Vice President/Vice President. Manages a team of four or more associates based on organizational structure.

Typical Skills and Experiences

  • Education: Undergraduate studies in UX, human-computer interaction, psychology, graphic design, or related fields preferred.
  • Experience: Typically, five or more years professionally practicing some aspect of human-centered design.
  • Knowledge, Abilities and Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Solid understanding of UX principles and the human-centered design process.

Job Conditions

  • Overtime Eligibility: Not Eligible (Exempt)
  • Working Conditions: Normal Office Environment. Extended work hours may be necessary during heavier volume work periods. Travel required as necessary.

Benefits

We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including medical/dental/vision, life insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off, 401(k) with company match, and more.

Nationwide is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels challenged, appreciated, respected, and engaged.

Note

Nationwide pays on a geographic-specific salary structure. The national salary range for Manager, User Experience is $108,000.00-$200,000.00. The expected starting salary range is $108,000.00 - $162,000.00.