Director of UX | VP Design | Remote or Hybrid Atlanta

If you are building a design org, I want to talk.

I am actively looking for my next Director of UX or VP of Design role. People-management first, enterprise SaaS preferred, remote or hybrid Atlanta.

What I do

I build design organizations that function — not just design teams that ship.

That means standing up DesignOps where none existed, building research practices that actually change product decisions, and developing designers who grow into senior contributors and leaders. It means running a design system that holds together at scale and showing up as a peer to Product and Engineering rather than a service function taking orders.

I have done this at Logility, Paychex, and Deluxe across enterprise SaaS, HR tech, and financial services. The context changes. The work is the same at its core.

People management is not a side function of my role. It is the job. If you need a Director who is heads-down in Figma, I am not your person. If you need someone who grows teams, builds culture, and creates the conditions for great design work to happen consistently — let’s talk.

When I’m not building governance frameworks or arguing for humans in AI-first roadmap conversations, I run the filk music track at Dragon Con and write epic fantasy novels. I contain multitudes, to paraphrase Whitman. Hire accordingly.

I’ve led and partnered across companies like Logility (Enterprise Supply Chain SaaS), Paychex (HR/Payroll SaaS), Deluxe (financial services SaaS), The Home Depot, IBM Watson Media, and Turner Sports/NBA Digital.

At-a-glance

Open to Director of UX or VP of Design
People-management first
Enterprise SaaS background (supply chain, HR tech, financial services)
Remote or hybrid Atlanta
Available now

What I bring

People-first leadership

I hire deliberately, develop intentionally, and create clear growth paths. I have led 20+ designers across SaaS, HR tech, and fintech with 85% retention on a distributed team.

DesignOps from scratch

I have built DesignOps practices at three organizations with no existing infrastructure. Tooling, governance, onboarding, research ops — I know what order to build in and why.

UX maturity lift

I raised UX maturity from Level 1 to Level 3 on the Nielsen Norman scale at Logility in under twelve months. I know how to diagnose where an org is and what it takes to move.

Executive credibility

I translate design work into business outcomes and get a seat in roadmap conversations rather than receiving them as output. Design is a strategic function in organizations I lead.

AI-first thinking

I built a machine-readable design system specification at Logility that makes design standards legible to AI engineering platforms. I think about AI governance as a DesignOps problem.

What I am looking for

And what I am not — because fit goes both ways.

Role:

The right title

Director of UX or VP of Design. People-management is central, not incidental. If there is no team to lead, it is not the right fit.

Company type:

Agnostic to industry

Industry can be learned. I have worked across enterprise SaaS, HR tech, financial services, retail, and media. What matters is the complexity of the product and the seriousness of the investment in design.

Org stage:

Ready to invest

I have the most impact between Level 2 and Level 3 on the UX maturity scale — past early chaos, not yet fully mature. Real problems to solve and real appetite to solve them.

Location:

Remote or hybrid Atlanta

I have led distributed teams and built the infrastructure to make it work. If the role requires relocation, it is not a match.

What I am not looking for

Not a solo IC role

If the org needs one great designer doing everything, I am the wrong hire. I am a leader and operator, not a department of one.

Culture

Rooms where design has a voice

I need to be in roadmap conversations, not receiving them. If design is purely executional at your org and you want to change that, I am interested. If it is executional and you want it to stay that way, I am not.

What People Say

Amber is a passionate UX leader who understands the true scope of a user experience team. She is a fantastic advocate for her reports and always makes room for UX to have a seat at the table.
Sherry Rodriguez

She is a true manager of people and helps to build them up into sustainable and beneficial practices.
Jon Daiello

I always felt that she truly cared about our process and was willing to reach out to her immediate and extended network to find the best talent in a timely fashion.
Steve Feinberg