21GRAMS- Director, Product Design (UI)

About Real Chemistry 21GRAMS is the advertising and education arm of Real Chemistry. Ranked the #2 health agency in the world by Cannes Lions. More than a name, 21GRAMS is the philosophy that guides everything we do. Inspired by the “21 Grams Experiment” of 1907, which tried to prove the existence of a soul – we believe great work connects with the human spirit. So we get to know our audiences better than anyone (through the ancient art of human interaction and Real Chemistry’s industry-leading data and analytics) and find the 21 grams that makes people tick. Our goal? Make advertising less of an interruption – and more worth people’s time, attention, and action – because it actually “gets” them. Creatively, our mantra is “medicine should be more inspiring than sneakers”. We aren’t here just to do the best work in our industry, but the most inventive work period. That ability is heightened, as part of Real Chemistry. Interacting and combining unalike disciplines, talents, and technologies (across Clinical, Commercial, and Corporate) to create new answers to modern health’s biggest challenges.

Real Chemistry

AdvertisingHealth CommunicationsPatient StorytellingHCPDTCStrategyAnalyticsand Film

R

21gramsworld.com

201-500 employees

Advertising Services

New York, NY

Privately Held

17k LinkedIn followers

Raised $8.1M

• The Director, Product Design is a senior design leader responsible for setting the product design vision, raising the quality of the work, and building the conditions for teams to deliver cohesive, accessible, and effective digital experiences. This role leads complex engagements across websites, platforms, products, services, and connected ecosystems, translating user needs, brand strategy, business goals, technology constraints, and healthcare requirements into clear experience direction.
• This is not solely an execution role. The Director is accountable for design strategy, client leadership, team development, resourcing, design operations, and measurable experience outcomes. They remain close enough to the work to guide critical decisions, facilitate discovery, critique design, and step into high-impact moments while enabling senior designers to lead day to day.
• Own the product design vision and experience strategy across a portfolio of complex client engagements, connecting user needs, brand intent, business objectives, and technical feasibility.
• Partner with Experience Strategy, UX, Product Management, Creative, Technology, Data, Medical, Strategy, and Account leadership to frame opportunities, define roadmaps, and establish measurable outcomes.
• Lead discovery and definition activities, including stakeholder alignment, experience principles, journey framing, service blueprints, value propositions, prioritization, and product or platform planning.
• Identify opportunities that extend beyond the immediate brief and turn them into clear, decision-ready recommendations for clients and agency leadership.
• Set and uphold a high bar for interaction design, visual design, responsive behavior, content hierarchy, prototyping, motion, and end-to-end experience coherence.
• Guide teams from early concepts through detailed design, validation, launch, and optimization, ensuring that strategic intent is maintained through implementation.
• Oversee scalable design systems, component libraries, pattern governance, and documentation in Figma, working with engineering partners to improve quality and delivery efficiency.
• Build accessibility into the work from the start, applying WCAG 2.2 AA principles and inclusive design practices rather than treating compliance as a final review step.
• Use qualitative research, analytics, usability findings, and business measures to evaluate design decisions and recommend iteration.
• Act as a trusted senior design partner to clients, clearly articulating experience strategy, design rationale, trade-offs, risks, and recommendations to executive and working teams.
• Lead high-stakes presentations, workshops, critiques, and decision-making sessions, creating alignment across internal and external stakeholders.
• Partner with project and account leadership on scope, staffing, schedules, assumptions, and change management; surface delivery risks early and propose practical solutions.
• Represent Product Design in new-business opportunities, estimates, proposals, capability presentations, and pitch work.
• Manage, coach, and develop product designers across levels through clear expectations, actionable feedback, growth plans, and regular career conversations.
• Create an environment where designers can do their best work, with strong critique, psychological safety, accountability, and thoughtful delegation.
• Partner with Experience leadership on hiring, staffing, performance management, succession planning, and capability development.
• Improve the Product Design practice through reusable methods, templates, standards, training, and responsible adoption of emerging tools, including AI-enabled workflows.
• Contribute to a culture of collaboration across Product Design, UX, Creative, Technology, and Strategy, reducing silos and improving continuity from concept through launch.
• Clients see Product Design as a strategic partner, not only a production capability.
• Teams have clear experience direction, decision criteria, and an appropriate level of design leadership from discovery through delivery.
• Creates a more consistent, accessible, and high-quality experience across the portfolio.
• Designers receive strong coaching, understand what is expected of them, and demonstrate measurable growth.
• The practice becomes more scalable through better systems, methods, staffing decisions, and cross-functional ways of working.
• Experience recommendations connect to defined user, client, and business outcomes.
• 10+ years of experience in product design, experience design, interaction design, or a related discipline, including 3+ years managing and developing designers.
• A portfolio demonstrating leadership across complex, multi-channel digital products or platforms, from strategy and concept through detailed design and launch.
• Experience leading multiple workstreams or a portfolio of client engagements in an agency, consultancy, product organization, or similarly complex environment.
• Deep fluency in human-centered design, interaction design, visual systems, prototyping, responsive design, information architecture, and design systems.
• Strong working knowledge of Figma and modern collaborative design workflows; familiarity with Adobe Creative Cloud and prototyping or motion tools is helpful.
• Practical knowledge of accessibility standards, including WCAG 2.2 AA, and the ability to guide teams in designing inclusive experiences.
• Demonstrated ability to partner with engineering, product, research, content, analytics, strategy, creative, and account teams.
• Excellent executive communication, facilitation, storytelling, critique, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Experience defining design outcomes and using research, usability testing, analytics, and performance data to improve experiences.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity, making informed trade-offs, and balancing strategic leadership with hands-on guidance when the work requires it.
• You can move between the 30,000-foot view and the detail that determines whether an experience actually works.
• You are direct, low-ego, generous with feedback, and able to challenge the work while supporting the people doing it.
• You bring structure to ambiguity, anticipate needs, and help teams make better decisions faster.
• You care about craft, but judge success by the quality, usefulness, accessibility, and impact of the experience.
• Our Company values – Best Together, Impact-Obsessed, Excellence Expected, Evolve Always and Accountability with an “I” – really speak to you.
• You are adaptable, resilient, and OK with adjusting your scope, responsibilities, and focus as we grow. When things change, so do we. We’re always evolving.
• You are proactive, driven, and resourceful with strong prioritization skills and a desire to dive into the data.
• You are highly organized self-starter, able to work independently and under tight deadlines.

Preferred

• Healthcare, pharmaceutical, patient support, medical technology, or other regulated-industry experience.
• Experience with privacy, consent, regulated content, and design considerations for patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.
• Experience supporting business development, scoping, estimating, and presenting capabilities or pitch work.
• Experience leading enterprise websites, authenticated platforms, service ecosystems, omnichannel programs, or AI-enabled experiences.
• Real Chemistry is proud to be Great Place to Work® certified; check out what our people shared about our culture and workplace on our Great Places to Work Profile here.
• We believe we can do our best when feeling our best, which is why we’ve put together a benefits program designed to give you the support you and your family need at every stage of life. Real Chemistry offers a comprehensive benefit program and perks, tailored to your region. Globally, this includes offices in our key markets with free snacks to keep you running all day long, generous holiday and paid time off, options for private medical, dental, and vison plans, and support in saving for the future. Other perks include mental wellness coaching and support and access to more than 13,000 online classes with LinkedIn Learning. Learn more about our great benefits and perks and search specific offerings in your region at: www.realchemistrybenefits.com.
• At Real Chemistry, we believe we're at our best when we're connected. Our Real Hybrid and Regional Teams (Real HART) approach is designed to foster collaboration, learning, innovation, and meaningful relationships while providing flexibility where appropriate. Because our workforce spans multiple countries, regions, and client needs, work arrangements may vary by role and location. Some positions offer hybrid or remote flexibility, while others require regular in-office presence. For example, certain teams and regions, including some of our UK operations, have office-based requirements. Your recruiter will discuss the specific expectations for the role you're pursuing during the interview process and keep you informed throughout the hiring journey. For employees located within a one-hour commute of a Real Chemistry office, we require in-person attendance two days per week, either from a Real Chemistry office or when working onsite with clients. Employees in regions without a nearby office may work remotely and come together throughout the year for collaboration, culture-building, learning, and team connection opportunities. While these guidelines reflect our current workplace model, we understand that everyone’s circumstances are unique. If you require additional flexibility, we welcome an open conversation with your recruiter and our HR team to discuss your needs and determine what may be possible.
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• Private medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Mental wellness coaching
• LinkedIn Learning access
• Paid time off
• Holiday pay