UX Design Lead

About Onward

At Onward, we believe transportation should never be a barrier to health, connection, or quality of life. Our Companion rideshare service and transportation management platform empower older adults and individuals with cognitive or mobility challenges to safely access healthcare, social visits, and essential services.

We partner with health systems, PACE programs, transit agencies, and caregivers to deliver compassionate, reliable transportation that supports better outcomes and independence.

As we scale our platform, we’re seeking a
UX Design Lead
to shape intuitive, accessible, and human-centered experiences across our ecosystem of products.

Overview

We are seeking a
UX Design Lead
who will guide the design and user experience strategy across Onward’s platform while remaining hands-on in the design process.

Working closely with the Sr. Director of Product, this role will translate product vision and feature concepts into intuitive user journeys, wireframes, prototypes, and production-ready designs. The UX Design Lead will play a critical role in ensuring our products are accessible, easy to use, and thoughtfully designed for the diverse users we serve—including older adults, caregivers, healthcare staff, and drivers.

You will design experiences across our
driver mobile app, rider experiences, booking platforms, operational dashboards, and administrative tools
, ensuring that complex workflows are simplified into clear, intuitive interfaces.

This role is ideal for a designer who enjoys both
craft and leadership
—someone who can shape UX direction while also producing high-quality designs and establishing scalable design practices.

Key Responsibilities

Product Experience Design

• Lead UX design across Onward’s suite of products, including mobile and web applications
• Translate product concepts and requirements into user flows, wireframes, prototypes, and final UI designs
• Simplify complex operational workflows into intuitive and efficient user experiences
• Ensure experiences are accessible, inclusive, and designed for users with diverse abilities and technical comfort levels
• Partner with the Sr. Director of Product to ensure design solutions balance user needs, technical feasibility, and business goals

User Research & Insight

• Conduct user research to better understand the needs and behaviors of riders, drivers, caregivers, and healthcare staff
• Run usability testing to validate designs and uncover friction points
• Translate research findings into actionable design improvements and product recommendations
• Ensure customer insights are incorporated into product development and iteration

Design Systems & Consistency

- Establish and maintain a scalable
design system and component library
- Ensure visual and interaction consistency across platforms and applications
- Collaborate with Engineering to ensure design implementation aligns with intended user experience
- Develop reusable patterns that improve development efficiency and design consistency

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Product and Engineering throughout the product lifecycle
• Participate in product discovery, refinement sessions, and sprint planning to clarify UX flows and interaction patterns
• Provide design feedback during feature development and product demos
• Help ensure design quality and usability across product releases

What We’re Looking For

• 7+ years of experience in UX/UI design, product design, or interaction design
• Experience leading UX teams
• Strong portfolio demonstrating thoughtful UX process and shipped digital products
• Experience designing complex mobile and web application workflows
• Strong skills in wireframing, prototyping, interaction design, and visual design
• Experience conducting user research and usability testing
• Ability to translate complex systems into simple, intuitive experiences
• Excellent collaboration skills working with product managers and engineering teams
• Passion for designing technology that supports accessibility, independence, and dignity

Nice to Have

- Experience designing products in
healthcare, mobility, logistics, or NEMT environments
- Familiarity with
accessibility standards (WCAG) and inclusive design principles
- Experience designing products for
older adults or accessibility-focused use cases
- Experience building and maintaining
design systems
- Experience using tools such as
Jira, Figma, FigJam, Maze, Mixpanel, or similar

Why Join Onward?

- Mission-Driven Impact:
Help remove transportation barriers and improve access to healthcare and essential services.
- Design for Real People:
Create products that support independence and dignity for older adults and individuals with mobility challenges.
- Shape the UX Foundation:
Play a central role in defining how our platform evolves as we scale.
- Collaborative Product Culture:
Work closely with a product and engineering team deeply committed to building meaningful technology.