Vice President, Associate Experience Design Director
Updated: October 8, 2026
Location: Santa Monica, CA, United States
Job ID:
18557 Our GSW Santa Monica team is hiring a VP, Experience Design Director. This is a hybrid role if living in the LA area. Will consider remote PST or MST candidates. The VP Experience Design Director leads the creative direction and delivery of brandexperiences across multiple healthcare accounts. This role partners with seniorExperience Design leadership to translate brand strategy and audience needs into intuitive, engaging experiences across web, mobile, immersive environments, and emergingplatforms. The VP Experience Director provides day-to-day team direction, maintainscreative standards, and builds trusted client relationships while helping shape theagency’s experience design practice. The ideal candidate combines exceptional visual and interaction design judgment with advanced, hands‑on Figma expertise. They lead with professionalism and accountability, approaching challenges constructively and taking initiative to turn concerns intoactionable solutions. They can guide complex design systems and prototypes, resolvedesign challenges directly, and develop the capabilities of the team. Success requiresclose partnership with UX, technology, copy, creative, account, strategy, and medicalteams to create accurate, accessible experiences for healthcare professional, patient, andconsumer audiences.
Responsibilities:- Lead experience design across multiple accounts, partnering with seniorExperience Design leadership to establish and maintain the creative vision forassigned brands.
- Provide day-to-day direction to the experience team, facilitate creative reviews, andreview all experience work for strategic alignment, brand consistency, accessibility, and creative quality.
- Drive strategic and tactical discussions with clients and account teams. Partnerwith strategy, account, and medical leads on overarching brand experienceinitiatives and client points of view.
- Build and nurture client relationships, present work with clear rationale, andproactively identify promotional opportunities and organic account growth.
- Set standards for Figma design systems, component libraries, and collaborativeworkflows. Personally resolve complex design and prototyping challenges andcoach designers in advanced Figma practices.
- Guide concepts, interaction models, prototypes, animations, and presentationsthat explain what should be built, how it should work, and why it matters to theaudience.
- Partner with UX and technology teams to ensure experiences are feasible, accessible, and responsive to audience needs across digital and emergingchannels.
- Review scope assumptions and creative team hours for deliverables with accountand project management partners, aligning creative ambition with availableresources.
- Manage sta
- Ning and workloads, match talent to project needs, and maintain highstandards across concurrent engagements.
- Mentor designers and design leaders through clear feedback, performanceguidance, and active support for career development.
- Consult with creative leadership, account services, project management, and otheragency partners to achieve agency objectives and resolve delivery challenges.
- Participate in agency leadership, champion the agency’s vision and initiatives, andlead experience design eNorts for new business pitches.
- Keep the team current with design tools, emerging technologies, healthcareaudience expectations, and regulatory considerations relevant to the work.
Qualification Requirements:- 10+ years of relevant experience in digital design, experience design, interactivedesign, or a related creative discipline, with demonstrated leadership acrossmultiple accounts and multidisciplinary teams.
- Advanced Figma skills are required, including scalable component libraries, variants and component properties, auto layout, variables and modes, advancedinteractive prototyping, and collaborative workflows.
- Demonstrated ability to build, govern, and evolve Figma design systems, troubleshoot complex files, and extend components without breaking existingsystems. Must be able to work directly in Figma and teach advanced techniques toothers.
- A strong portfolio demonstrating exceptional visual and interaction design, scalabledesign systems, and the ability to connect creative decisions to audience needs andbusiness objectives.
- Deep understanding of typography, composition, brand identity, visual hierarchy, and interface design across web and mobile.
- Proven ability to direct creative work, develop talent, manageworkloads, and assess scope assumptions and creative eNort.
- Strong client presentation and relationship skills, with experience leading strategicdiscussions, supporting account growth, and contributing to new business pitches.
- Proficiency with Adobe Creative Cloud and modern digital design tools such asFigma Weave or Comfy
- Familiarity with healthcare communications, regulatory review, and the accuracyrequired in healthcare advertising.
- A bachelor’s degree in design, visual communication, or a related creativediscipline, or equivalent specialized education and relevant experience supportedby a strong portfolio.
- Experience with XR/VR/AR or other emerging channels is a plus.
The annual base salary for this position ranges from $145,000 to $170,000. The base salary range represents the anticipated low and high of the Syneos Health range for this position. Actual salary will vary based on various factors such as the candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role. In addition, some positions may include eligibility to earn commissions/bonus based on company and / or individual performance.
At GSW, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace. If your past experience doesn’t align perfectly, we encourage you to apply anyway. At times, we will consider transferable skills from previous roles. We also encourage you to join our Talent Network to stay connected to additional career opportunities.
GSW is a full-service healthcare communications agency that goes beyond advertising to create personalized brand experiences that involve, inspire, educate and activate people through ongoing brand journeys. As one of the world’s ten most-awarded healthcare advertising agencies, GSW is hell-bent not to replace the same old with the same old. This is achieved through a provocative premise — if other brands communicated the way healthcare brands do, how many customers would they have? GSW turns against this premise through discovery of beneath-the-surface customer insights that we impact with stories, simplicity and authenticity.
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Syneos Health companies are affirmative action/equal opportunity employers (Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled)
At Syneos Health, we believe in providing an environment and culture in which Our People can thrive, develop and advance. We reward and recognize our people by providing valuable benefits and a quality-of-life balance. The benefits for this position will include a competitive compensation package, Health benefits to include Medical, Dental and Vision, Company match 401k, flexible paid time off (PTO) and sick time. Because certain states and municipalities have regulated paid sick time requirements, eligibility for paid sick time may vary depending on where you work. Syneos Health complies with all applicable federal, state, and municipal paid sick time requirements.
Discover what our more than 25,000 employees already know: work here matterseverywhere. We work hard, and smart, all in the name of getting much-needed therapies to thosewho need them most. A career with Syneos Health means your everyday workimprovespatients’ lives around the world. Selecting us as an employer secures acareer inwhich you’re guaranteed to:
Syneos Health® is a leading fully integrated biopharmaceutical solutions organization builtto accelerate customer success. We translate unique clinical, medical affairs and commercialinsights into outcomes to address modern market realities. To learn more visit syneoshealth.com .Syneos Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receiveconsideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, marital status, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protectedveteran status, disability or any other legally protected status and will not bediscriminated against. If you are an individual with a disability who requires reasonableaccommodation to complete any part of our application process, including the use of thiswebsite, please contact us at: Email: [emailprotected] One of our staff members willwork with you to provide alternate means to submit your application.
