Ux/ui design lead (m/f/d)

BIRKENSTOCK is a global brand which embraces all consumers regardless of geography, gender, age and income. The company is deeply footed on a family tradition of shoemaking that can be traced back to 1774. With around 7100 employees worldwide, BIRKENSTOCK is the largest employer in the German footwear industry. To ensure our quality standards, we produce over 95% of our products in Germany and source more than 90% of our materials and components from Europe. The BIRKENSTOCK Group is headquartered in Linz am Rhein and maintains several locations in Germany, as well as sales offices in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia.

YOUR SHOES TO FILL:

• Lead the end-to-end UX/UI design process for BIRKENSTOCK's digital products and e-commerce experiences, from discovery and concept validation through wireframes, user flows, prototypes, and high-fidelity designs.
• Conduct and support user research activities such as usability testing, surveys, card sorting, or onsite analyses, translating customer insights into measurable product improvements and seamless user journeys.
• Champion a customer-centric design culture by advocating for user needs throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Partner closely with Product Managers, Development, and QA teams to shape product vision, participate in roadmap discussions, align design solutions with business goals and technical constraints, and ensure accurate implementation of design concepts.
• Own and continuously evolve the BIRKENSTOCK design system, component library, UI standards, and reusable design patterns, ensuring consistency, scalability, accessibility, and usability across platforms, regions, and customer touchpoints.
• Drive quality assurance for UX and UI execution and maintain design governance and best practices.
• Act as UX/UI expert and primary point of contact within the organization, guiding and sparring with team members, prioritizing projects and workload, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing, and helping build a high-performing, feedback-driven design culture.
• Stay at the forefront of UX, UI, accessibility, and emerging technologies, continuously identifying opportunities to enhance the customer experience.
• Promote and enable the responsible use of AI across the design process, including research synthesis, ideation, content creation, prototyping, workflow optimization, and overall design efficiency.

YOUR WALK OF LIFE:

• 8+ years of professional experience in UX/UI Design, including experience in a Senior, Lead, or comparable role, with a strong portfolio demonstrating expertise across the full product design lifecycle.
• Proven experience designing customer-centric digital products and complex user journeys, ideally within e-commerce, retail, fashion, or lifestyle environments.
• Strong expertise in User Research, User Testing, Interaction Design, Information Architecture, Visual Design, Design Systems, Accessibility, and Design Thinking methodologies.
• Advanced proficiency in Figma and modern design tools, with experience working in Agile product environments and collaborating through tools such as Jira and Confluence.
• Strong understanding of design system management, UX/UI governance, usability principles, accessibility standards, and scalable UI frameworks.
• Experience maintaining design guidelines, knowledge bases, and reusable design patterns that enable consistent user experiences across international markets and digital touchpoints.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills, with the ability to present design and UX recommendations, form strategic decisions, and articulate design rationale at all levels of the organization.
• Demonstrated experience coaching, mentoring, and supporting designers, fostering a collaborative and feedback-driven team culture, while helping prioritize workloads and balance project assignments to achieve business objectives.
• Curiosity and openness toward AI, emerging technologies, and innovative design practices, with the ability to evaluate and introduce tools that enhance team productivity and customer outcomes.
• Passion for staying ahead of UX, UI, accessibility, and AI trends and translating best practices into continuous improvements across the digital customer experience.
• A detail-oriented, hands-on problem solver with a continuous improvement mindset, adaptability in fast-paced environments, and a strong strategic execution approach that balances customer needs, business objectives, and technical feasibility.
• Fluent English is required; German language skills are a plus.

WE OFFER:

BIRKENSTOCK offers you all the advantages of a successful, fast growing, global company: dynamic work environment, considerable design freedom, authentic and open corporate culture and excellent development opportunities. Sounds exciting? It is. Our Talent Acquisition team is looking forward to receiving your online application! Please hand in your application in English.