Principal UX Designer

Description

Company Description

Aspida is a tech-driven, nimble insurance carrier. Backed by Ares Management Corporation, a leading global alternative asset manager, we offer simple and secure retirement solutions and annuity products with speed and precision. More than that, we’re in the business of protecting dreams; those of our partners, our producers, and especially our clients. Our suite of products, available through our elegant and intuitive digital platform, focuses on secure, stable retirement solutions with attractive features and downside protection.

A subsidiary of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) acts as the dedicated investment manager, capital solutions and corporate development partner to Aspida. For more information, please visit  or follow them on Linked In.

Who We Are

Sometimes, a group of people come together and create something amazing. They don’t let egos get in the way. They don’t settle for the status quo, and they don’t complain when things get tough. Instead, they see a common vision for the future and each person makes an unspoken commitment to building that future together. That’s the culture, the moxie, and the story of Aspida.

Our business focuses on annuities and life insurance. At first, it might not sound flashy, but that’s why we’re doing things differently than everyone else in our industry. We’re dedicated to developing data-driven tech solutions, providing amazing customer experiences, and applying an entrepreneurial spirit to everything we do. Our work ethic is built on three main tenets:
Get $#!+ Done, Do It with Moxie, and Have Fun.

What We Are Looking For

The Principal UX Designer is a hybrid role for a senior designer who leads high-impact, ambiguous design strategy as a hands‑on individual contributor while also managing and developing a team of designers who own both design and research for their product areas. There is no separate research‑only role on this team today — each designer conducts their own user research, usability testing, and validation alongside their design work.

This role exists for organizations that need both deep design craft at the portfolio level and day‑to‑day people leadership in a single seat, while ensuring that research embedded in the design workflow stays rigorous and consistent rather than ad hoc. The Principal Design Manager shapes experience architecture and major design patterns across product lines, while owning staffing, coaching, performance, and quality — including research quality — for the team they manage.

This role reports to the Sr. Director of Digital Product is required to be onsite at our Durham office 3 days a week.

What You Will Do Design Leadership (Individual Contribution)

• Lead ambiguous, high‑impact design strategy across product lines
• Shape experience architecture and define major design patterns used across the design system
• Drive design system maturity and consistency across product areas
• Influence executive‑level product and experience decisions through strategic design thinking
• Lead complex, portfolio‑level journey design where the problem space is not yet well defined

People Leadership (Management)

• Manage designers, including staffing, performance input, coaching, and career development
• Own design quality and delivery alignment across the team's work
• Create and maintain standards for design reviews, design QA, and design process
• Balance team workload across craft development, delivery commitments, and team health
• Act as the primary people manager and escalation point for the design team

Research Leadership (Management)

• Coach designers on research methods, study design, and synthesis, since each designer conducts their own user research as part of their design work
• Set priorities for research…