Senior UX Strategist

Sr. UX Strategist

Overview

Penguin’s ICE Software products enable the deployment, provisioning, management, and monitoring of some of the world’s most powerful computational systems. As part of our remote-first Software Engineering organization, we are seeking a Senior UX Strategist to drive the vision, design strategy, and user experience direction for our web-based management interface and related tools.

This role combines a deep understanding of user-centered design with the ability to translate complex system interactions into intuitive, elegant user experiences. The Senior UX Strategist will serve as the bridge between user needs, product goals, and engineering realities shaping how users experience our ICE ClusterWare ecosystem and influencing long-term design evolution. This role also plays a key part in product discovery - bridging user research, business goals, and design to ensure every product direction is grounded in validated insight.

The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker and hands-on practitioner who can rapidly conceptualize, prototype, and iterate on workflows for multiple personas from highly technical cluster administrators to general users interacting with monitoring and provisioning tools. This position requires close collaboration with Product Managers, UI Designers, and Front-End Engineers to ensure the user experience aligns with product vision and market expectations.

Responsibilities

UX Strategy & Leadership

• Define and champion a cohesive UX strategy that aligns with the goals of ICE Software products and their diverse user base.
• Collaborate closely with Product Managers to translate user and market insights into actionable design priorities.
• Serve as the UX thought leader within the engineering organization advocating for  user-centered decision-making throughout the product lifecycle.
• Lead UX discovery initiatives in partnership with Product Management to understand user workflows, pain points, and success metrics across different personas, working towards validated solutions.
• Help shape long-term design vision, ensuring consistency, scalability, and alignment with technical realities.

User Research & Persona Development

• Conduct or synthesize user research, stakeholder interviews, and market analysis to inform UX direction.
• Define and maintain user personas representing technical operators, system administrators, and general portal users.
• Translate findings into user journeys, information architecture diagrams, and experience maps that guide design decisions.
• Collaborate with Product Managers to ensure UX strategy is grounded in real-world user needs and business context.
• Partner with Sales, Services and Product to identify behavioral insights and success metrics that validate discovery outcomes.
• Develop and maintain a shared repository of discovery insights, experience principles, and validated opportunities to inform prioritization across product lines.

Prototyping & Design Execution

• Develop rapid prototypes, wireframes, and interactive flows to communicate and test design concepts. Leverage prototypes as part of the discovery process.
• Create tangible design outputs such as user flow diagrams, interactive mockups, and low- to mid-fidelity prototypes to guide implementation.
• Work with UI Designers and Front-End Engineers to validate usability and maintain fidelity between design intent and implementation.
• Facilitate design reviews and usability evaluations to continuously refine the user experience.

Collaboration & Cross-Functional Alignment

• Partner with software engineers, UI designers, and QA engineers to ensure smooth translation of UX strategy into functional product experiences.
• Collaborate with Product Managers and Product Architects to balance user needs, technical feasibility, and business objectives.
• Contribute to the definition and evolution of design standards, component libraries, and interaction guidelines.
• Advocate for UX metrics and feedback loops to measure the impact and success of design decisions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Interaction Design, Cognitive Science, or a related field—or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of experience in UX design, UX strategy, or product design for complex web applications or technical products.
• Demonstrated ability to define, communicate, and drive UX strategy in collaboration with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong background in user-centered design methodologies, usability principles, and information architecture.
• Experience designing for both technical and non-technical users in complex, data-rich environments.
• Proficiency with modern design and prototyping tools (e.g., Figma, Sketch, Axure, or Adobe XD).
• Ability to produce rapid prototypes, user flows, and wireframes that convey complex interactions.
• Strong analytical skills with experience interpreting research findings, analytics, and user feedback.
• Exceptional communication and storytelling abilities. Capable of articulating design rationale to both technical and business audiences.
• Collaborative mindset with a passion for cross-functional teamwork in an agile environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience designing user experiences for infrastructure management, HPC, or enterprise software platforms.
• Familiarity with data visualization, system dashboards, and monitoring interfaces.
• Understanding of UX research techniques including heuristic evaluation, usability testing, and field observation.
• Familiarity with modern front-end technologies (HTML, CSS, React) sufficient to prototype or communicate effectively with engineers.
• Advanced degree in Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, or Design Strategy a plus.
• Experience leading product discovery activities in agile environments.
• Familiarity with frameworks such as Lean UX to guide strategic decision-making.
• Demonstrated success translating discovery insights into roadmap influence or measurable product outcomes.

Location

• This is a fully remote position in the United States.

Travel

• Minimal

Compensation & Benefits

The base pay range that the Company reasonably expects to pay for this position in the United States on a remote basis is $150,000-$180,000; the pay ultimately offered may vary based on business considerations, including job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and education. The position is bonus-eligible, and there are medical, dental, and vision benefits available. There is a 401k saving plan and other benefits, such as Paid Time Off, Life Insurance, and an Employee Assistance Plan.   

Diversity and Inclusion Statement

We are committed to creating an inclusive environment that embraces differences and fosters belonging for all.

Equal Opportunity Statement                                                                                  

We are an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and strongly committed to all policies which will afford equal opportunity employment to all qualified persons without regard to age, national origin, race, ethnicity, creed, gender, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.