Senior Lead Experience Design - Bond and Specialty -Surety

Senior Lead Experience Designer

Travelers' Experience Design (XD) team creates best-in-class experiences for our customers, agents, employees, and partners. We're looking for a Senior Lead Experience Designer to join our Bond & Specialty Insurance (BSI) Experience Design team, supporting the One Surety Value Stream which includes Commercial Surety & Construction Services business area as we grow and transform. In this role, you'll lead a small team of designers while personally driving research and design for high-impact initiatives — including a major business transformation and the integration of AI-enabled capabilities into cross-cutting experiences.

You'll set experience vision and strategy, turn insights into action, and define, test, and implement product and service solutions. Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the US. The company does not sponsor/support H-1B petitions, TN, or Forms I-983/STEM OPT, this this role.

The Senior Lead Experience Designer provides domain expertise and design leadership within the One Surety Value Stream, shaping experience vision and strategy while collaborating with product, engineering, data, and business stakeholders to deliver unified, inclusive, and valuable experiences for customers, agents, and employees.

• Provide domain expertise and design leadership across initiatives, supporting product and journey vision and strategy, mitigating risks, and informing organizational decision-making.
• Lead the research and design of solutions for products and services by defining, creating, and improving models, concepts, and design elements (e.g., experience goals, journey maps, information architecture, scenarios, personas, interactions, content, visuals, etc.) guided by established design objectives, principles, and standards.
• Plan and execute qualitative user research and usability testing; lead strategic synthesis and insights generation; analyze and communicate results and recommendations to stakeholders.
• Guide collaborative activities with end users, business and technology partners, and outside partners, integrating a human-centered focus informed by research-based insights and design exploration.
• Communicate design direction and rationale clearly; solicit and synthesize feedback; lead prioritization.
• Drive the application of accessibility standards including WCAG and Travelers Digital Accessibility Policy, integrating inclusive design principles and demonstrating familiarity with accessibility testing tools such as Axe, and screen readers.
• Apply the Travelers Design System and Agile methodology, demonstrating and leading design phases using the Human-Centered Design Double Diamond approach.
• Leverage experience strategy and design to enhance business outcomes; identify missed opportunities and areas where experiences no longer align with goals, influencing strategic direction and improvements.
• Identify and advocate for the adoption of improved tools, methods, and processes within the XD practice.
• Provide day-to-day guidance and leadership to a small team of designers across the One Surety Value Stream, without formal HR or performance management responsibility.
• Mentor and coach XD team members to support their advancement; contribute to team and practice development, grow leadership capacity, and help attract top design talent.
• Ensure all design work is aligned with brand guidelines and standards, maintaining a high bar for quality and consistency across projects.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously, and prioritizing tasks to meet deadlines.
• Stay current on industry trends and best practices in experience design and apply them to advance the practice.
• Actively participate in and contribute to Experience Design Community events, sharing knowledge across value streams and the broader enterprise to advance design practices.
• Continuously learn and mentor others in adopting emerging tools, methods, and processes; embody a growth mindset and actively seek personal development of leadership skills.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

The ideal candidate will have:

• Deep experience in UX/experience design, including research, strategy, and end-to-end delivery
• Demonstrated ability to lead designers and influence cross-functional partners
• Strong design thinking and ability to work across complex, multi-channel environments
• Excellent communication and stakeholder presentation skills
• Strong knowledge with AI-enabled product design

Strong knowledge of most of the following, with proficiency in application of three or more:

• Design research
• Information architecture
• Interaction design
• Visual design
• Service design
• Presentation and communication
• Collaboration and facilitation skills
• Prototyping
• Accessibility
• WCAG 2.1
• Figma Make
• Claude Code
• Claude Design
• Facilitator of workshops
• Usability testing
• Design Systems

A must have:

• Bachelor's degree or its equivalent in work experience.
• Six years of related experience.

What is in it for you?

• Health Insurance:
  Employees and their eligible family members – including…