Lead Designer

Join us as we work to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.

Position Summary

Help shape the next generation of athenahealth's patient experience products by designing solutions that make healthcare simpler, safer, and more effective. The Lead Designer partners with Product Management, Engineering, and other cross-functional teams to translate research insights, user needs, and product strategy into clear workflows, interaction models, and design solutions for patients and healthcare professionals. This is an individual contributor role based in Austin, TX, focused on improving patient and practice experiences across complex healthcare workflows. This role reports to a Senior Manager or Director, Experience Design.

About the Team

The Experience Design team creates user-centered solutions that reduce complexity across healthcare workflows and improve experiences for patients, clinicians, and administrative staff. The team partners closely with Product Management, Engineering, research, and design system teams to define and deliver product experiences from discovery through implementation. Designers use research, behavioral data, product analytics, design systems, prototyping tools, and AI-assisted workflows to inform decisions and develop solutions. The team also contributes to the development of AI-enabled capabilities that support clinical productivity, operational efficiency, and patient satisfaction.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Lead problem framing and solution development for complex patient health and administrative workflow challenges, guiding teams from discovery through delivery.
• Design efficient, safe, and intuitive workflows that coordinate patients, clinicians, and administrative staff across healthcare environments.
• Create design artifacts ranging from early concepts to detailed interaction flows, prototypes, and behavioral specifications that guide implementation.
• Partner with Product Management and Engineering throughout planning, design, development, and delivery to translate product strategy into clear experiences and ensure solutions meet design intent.
• Plan and conduct user, client, and domain research, using research insights, behavioral data, and product analytics to inform design decisions and evaluate product success.
• Apply established design system patterns and collaborate with design system teams to evolve components and interaction patterns based on product needs.
• Ensure product experiences meet UX quality standards for workflow design, interaction design, accessibility, and content.
• Guide less experienced designers through mentorship, design reviews, and coaching while contributing to team-wide design processes, tools, and practices.
• Use AI-powered and AI-assisted tools to support research synthesis, design exploration, prototyping, and product development, and contribute to the design of AI-enabled product capabilities.
• Travel approximately 5% annually.

Additional Job Responsibilities

• Facilitate discovery, problem-framing, and solution workshops with cross-functional teams.
• Partner with Product Management and Engineering to establish and support product and business goals.
• Translate initiative strategy into clear product experiences, workflows, and specifications.
• Promote effective design practices, including systems thinking and data-informed product design.
• Contribute to improvements in Experience Design processes, tools, and operating models.
• Build understanding of healthcare users and their operational environments across product and engineering teams.
• Explore emerging AI capabilities through experimentation and contribute perspectives that inform the team's evolving approach to AI-enabled design.

Expected Education & Experience

• Bachelor's or master's degree in design, Human-Computer Interaction, Cognitive Psychology, Computer Science, Business, or a related discipline.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in UX or product design.
• Experience designing for patients or consumers navigating complex or high-stakes experiences.
• Experience designing complex workflow systems within enterprise, SaaS, or regulated industries.
• Experience with UX design practices, including interaction design, prototyping, visual communication, and translating UX concepts into clear workflows, interaction models, or behavioral specifications.
• Experience planning or facilitating user research and translating research findings into product and design decisions.
• Experience collaborating with Product Management and Engineering teams in modern software development and delivery environments.
• Experience working within established design systems and providing feedback to improve shared components and patterns.
• Familiarity with modern design tools and AI-assisted design or research workflows.
• Ability to communicate clearly, work effectively across functions, navigate changing priorities and ambiguity, apply systems thinking, and make timely decisions that account for user, business, and technical needs.

Expected Compensation

$124,000 - $212,000

The base salary range shown reflects the full range for this role from minimum to maximum. At athenahealth, base pay depends on multiple factors, including job-related experience, relevant knowledge and skills, how your qualifications compare to others in similar roles, and geographical market rates. Base pay is only one part of our competitive Total Rewards package - depending on role eligibility, we offer both short and long-term incentives by way of an annual discretionary bonus plan, variable compensation plan, and equity plans.

About athenahealth

Our vision: In an industry that becomes more complex by the day, we stand for simplicity. We offer IT solutions and expert services that eliminate the daily hurdles preventing healthcare providers from focusing entirely on their patients - powered by our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.

Our company culture: Our talented  employees - or athenistas, as we call ourselves - spark the innovation and passion needed to accomplish our vision. We are a diverse group of dreamers and do-ers with unique knowledge, expertise, backgrounds, and perspectives. We unite as mission-driven problem-solvers with a deep desire to achieve our vision and make our time here count. Our award-winning culture is built around shared values of inclusiveness, accountability, and support.

Our DEI commitment: Our vision of accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all requires addressing the inequities that stand in the way. That's one reason we prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of our business, from attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce to maintaining an inclusive environment for athenistas, our partners, customers and the communities where we work and serve.

What we can do for you:

Along with health and financial benefits, athenistas enjoy perks specific to each location, including commuter support, employee assistance programs, tuition assistance, employee resource groups, and collaborative  workspaces  - some offices even welcome dogs.

We also encourage a better work-life balance for athenistas with our flexibility. While we know in-office collaboration is critical to our vision, we recognize that not all work needs to be done within an office environment, full-time. With consistent communication and digital collaboration tools, athenahealth enables employees to find a balance that feels fulfilling and productive for each individual situation.

In addition to our traditional benefits and perks, we sponsor events throughout the year, including book clubs, external speakers, and hackathons. We provide athenistas with a company culture based on learning, the support of an engaged team, and an inclusive environment where all employees are valued.

Learn more about our culture and benefits here: athenahealth.com/careers

https://www.athenahealth.com/careers/equal-opportunity