Paychex — Scaling a distributed UX org people stay in

Leading UX design across HR/payroll SaaS; growing a distributed team and strengthening collaboration, delivery, and retention.

Role: UX Design Manager

Timeline: 2021-2023

Platform: HR/Payroll SaaS

Executive Brief

85% retention

Distributed team leadership

DesignOps practices

Mandate & Constraints

Multiple product lines, distributed contributors, and uneven design practices created friction in delivery and collaboration. The opportunity was to grow the team, clarify ways of working, and align objectives with Product & Engineering across programs.

Decision Framework

People First

Hire deliberately, mentor continuously, and create clear growth paths to keep designers engaged and invested.

Systems Over Heroics

Codify design practices and reusable patterns so velocity and quality don’t depend on a few individuals.

Rituals That Reduce Risk

Regular PM/Eng pairing and review cadences to catch complexity early and align outcomes across programs.

Plays I Ran

Team Growth & Mentorship

Hiring plans and coaching frameworks tailored for distributed contributors; clear roles, expectations, and feedback loops.

Design Practices & Systemization

Strengthened component usage and documented standards to improve consistency across products.

Cross‑Program Delivery Cadence

Shared rituals with Product & Engineering to sequence work, surface risks, and keep teams aligned.

Research Integration

Established an intake and prioritization loop so insights informed roadmaps across the portfolio.

Outcomes & Signals

85% retention across a distributed team, supported by mentorship and growth clarity.
Improved collaboration and delivery consistency across multiple HR/payroll products.

Evidence

UX vs UI overview; disciplines and practices (public-safe).

UX vs. UI — what we actually do

Clarifies where UX and UI differ, and how research and content feed design decisions. Good context for how the team operated.

Redacted org chart showing UX disciplines and reporting structure (names removed).

Career Pathing Snapshot (public-safe)

Redacted view of the growth framework—roles, fundamentals, and mentoring emphasis that supported 85% retention across a distributed org.

UX Org Structure Snapshot (public-safe)

Redacted, anonymized org view across design, content, research, and ops—illustrates how we scaled responsibilities without losing clarity.

What I'd Do Next

Skills matrix tied to growth paths and team planning.
Component and pattern adoption metrics across programs.