Description

Overview:

At Zebra, we are a community of innovators who come together to create new ways of working. United by curiosity and a culture of caring, we develop smart solutions that anticipate our customer's and partner's needs and solve their challenges.

Being part of Zebra Nation means you are seen, heard, valued, and respected. Drawing from our unique perspectives, we collaborate to deliver on our purpose. Here you are part of a team pushing boundaries today to redefine the work of tomorrow for organizations, their employees, and those they serve.

You'll have opportunities to learn and lead in a forward-thinking environment, defining your path to a fulfilling career while channeling your skills toward causes you care about-locally and globally.

Come make an impact every day at Zebra.

What We're Looking For:

The Senior Manager User Storytelling and Experience Design drives customer-centric experience initiatives by leading the creation of high-impact visual narratives, storyboards, personas, journey maps, and multimedia assets that support enterprise-level product and solution strategies. Operating within the Chief Technology Office, this role partners closely with research, engineering, product, and business stakeholders to translate customer insights into compelling, actionable design artifacts.

This role requires deep expertise in design, exceptional storytelling ability, and the capacity to influence cross-functional teams. This role must be able to architect end-to-end experiences, synthesize qualitative insights, and communicate vision to senior leadership while maintaining a high bar for design quality across a complex portfolio of work.

This role is a hybrid position and requires a minimum of three days per week in one of the Zebra office locations listed below: Zebra reserves the right to modify your work location based on business need.

- Lincolnshire, IL
- Holtsville, NY

- Austin, TX

- Kennesaw, GA

Responsibilities:

• Coordinate projects across multiple business units and ensure that designers are meeting deliverables.
• Coordinate storytelling and design efforts across multiple business units, ensuring alignment and timely delivery.
• Lead discussions and drive collaboration across engineering, product, marketing, and research teams.
• Present customer narratives, and design strategy to internal stakeholders and customers; lead regular check-ins to share progress.
• Serve as a senior-level design expert who guides teams through complex decisions and elevates design quality across the organization.

• Attend customer interviews and research sessions to observe behaviors, capture detailed notes, and identify emerging themes.
• Synthesize qualitative input into structured insights that inform product, marketing, and experience decisions.
• Partner with research leads to validate findings and ensure accuracy, context, and alignment with strategic objectives.

• Create high-quality personas, customer journey maps, experience flows, and storyboards based on observed interviews and research findings.
• Produce executive-ready presentations, videos, motion graphics, and multimedia assets that communicate customer insights in compelling ways.
• Develop visual narratives that simplify complex concepts and resonate with both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Maintain high standards of visual design quality across all deliverables and ensure alignment with brand guidelines.

• Lead all stages of the design development process, from early conceptual exploration through research validation, prototyping, and final execution.
• Work with engineering leadership to ensure designs are implemented using Agile best practices.
• Make informed tradeoffs on design decisions in collaboration with product and engineering stakeholders.
• Manage multiple design projects autonomously, setting deadlines, milestones, and expectations.

• Support resource planning, capacity discussions, and workflow coordination across design and production teams.
• Drive process optimization efforts, including workflow improvements, template creation, and design system alignment.
• Collaborate on schedules and budgets to ensure on-time delivery of projects.
• Occasionally write user stories and support Agile ceremonies as needed.

• Maintain a structured repository of personas, journey maps, storyboards, and multimedia artifacts for organizational reuse.
• Ensure documentation, templates, and processes are up-to-date, accessible, and consistently applied across teams.
• Support planning and scoping of research-related deliverables, including timelines, expectations, and quality standards.
• Present vision to internal stakeholders and customers and leads regular check-ins to share their team's work.

• Leads all stages of design development process from early conceptual development, customer research and validation, prototyping and execution.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or certificate in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Design, Visual Communication, Human-Centered Design, Marketing, Psychology, or Communications or equivalent. MS preferred.
• 12+ years of professional experience as a user storytelling and experience design including senior-level leadership through influence.

Key Skills and Competencies

• Strong problem-solving and conceptual development ability, with experience guiding work from concept through production.
• Proficiency with design and collaboration tools such as Balsmaiq, Figma, Miro, Airtable, Adobe Creative Suite, or similar platforms.
• Demonstrated experience with qualitative research methods (e.g., interviews, contextual inquiry).
• Ability to architect complex product ecosystems and customer experiences.
• Exceptional visual communication and multimedia design skills (presentations, video, motion graphics).
• Strong communication skills, including written, verbal, and executive-level presentation abilities.
• Ability to manage project schedules, roadmaps, and cross-functional alignment.
• Ability to influence without authority and drive outcomes across multiple teams.
• Ability to make design tradeoffs in collaboration with product and engineering stakeholders.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Zebra is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability and protected veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by law. If you are an individual with a disability and need assistance in applying for a position, please contact us at workplace.accommodations@zebra.com.

Know Your Rights:

https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/EEOC_KnowYourRights_screen_reader_10_20.pdf

Conozca sus Derechos:

https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRightsSp_10_20.pdf

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation at workplace.accommodations@zebra.com .

Pay Range:
$156,960.00 - $235,440.00 Annual

Incentive Compensation:
In addition to base pay, Zebra offers this role the opportunity to earn a performance-based annual cash incentive, at a target equal to 20% of base pay, in accordance with the terms of the applicable incentive plan.

Zebra Total Rewards:

Zebra Total Rewards includes more than just pay and is structured to meet the needs of our changing global business and evolving talent. We are committed to providing our employees with a benefits program that is comprehensive and competitive - including healthcare, wellness, inclusion networks, and continued learning and development offerings. We offer community service days, in addition to the traditional insurances, compensation, parental leave, employee assistance program and paid time off offerings depending on the country where you work.

Salary offered will vary depending on your location, job-related skills, knowledge, and experience.

Additionally, all Zebra roles are eligible for cash incentive programs. For example, sales roles have additional opportunity to earn substantial variable compensation tied to quota achievement. In most other roles, the Zebra annual cash incentive program links Company and individual performance together. Some roles may also be eligible for long-term incentive equity awards.

Benefits:

We understand the importance of work-life balance and wellbeing, which is why we offer flexibility for our teams including: hybrid work, adaptable hours, Summer Flex Fridays, Focus Fridays, and an annual companywide well-being day to promote revitalization and success.

Job Posting Statement:

To protect candidates from falling victim to online fraudulent activity involving fake job postings and employment offers, please be aware our recruiters will always connect with you via @zebra.com email accounts. Applications are only accepted through our applicant tracking system and only accept personal identifying information through that system. Our Talent Acquisition team will not ask for you to provide personal identifying information via e-mail or outside of the system. If you are a victim of identity theft contact your local police department.

AI Technology Statement:

Zebra Technologies leverages AI technology to evaluate job applications using objective, job-relevant criteria. This approach enhances efficiency and promotes fairness in the hiring process. However, every decision regarding interviews and hiring is made by our dedicated team, because we believe people make the best decisions about people. For more on how we use technology in hiring and how we process applicant data, see our Zebra Privacy Policy.