Principal UX Engineer

Help redefine the digital experience for hearing care professionals by leading the UX strategy behind Starkey's industry-leading fitting software. This highly visible role combines UX leadership, clinical workflow expertise, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver intuitive software that improves both clinician efficiency and patient outcomes.

Starkey is a world leader in the manufacturing and distribution of advanced hearing technologies. We are in the business of connecting people and changing lives. Our teams come to work each day focused on ensuring people everywhere have the products and services they need to hear better and live better.

Founded in 1967 by Bill Austin, Starkey is known for our cutting-edge hearing health innovations, industry-leading research and development, and not being afraid to push the edge of what’s possible.

We are headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, have over 5,000 employees in 29 facilities across the globe, and do business in more than 100 markets worldwide.

Watch this video to see more of what sets Starkey apart: https://youtu.be/9cUYwTlCepg?si=wkovx8_R_iINfrc6

JOB SUMMARY DESCRIPTION / PRIMARY PURPOSE OF JOB

The Principal User Experience (UX) Engineer / Health Care Professionals is responsible for defining, guiding, and validating the usability of Starkey’s professional software products (e.g. fitting software). This role ensures that all innovations, design elements, workflows, and controls reflect an understanding of audiologists’ clinical workflows, goals, and preferences, enabling them to work efficiently and confidently. The role drives the UX and workflow discussion in a cross-functional team and partners closely with the Creative Design team in Marketing, R&D SW Engineering, the Audiology teams, Product Management, and Advanced Development teams.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES/RESULTS 

Drive UX design and usability test for Starkey’s professional fitting software

• Define and drive a usability strategy for hearing care professional (HCP) software solutions


• Conduct competitive and comparative analyses of professional fitting software to assess usability and workflow efficiency.


• Develop a deep understanding of HCP environments, clinical workflows, and decision-making processes.


• Partner with Product Management and Audiology teams to define and validate requirements


• Identify and document HCP personas and use cases across experience levels and practice settings.


• Identify the most effective usability solutions that balance clinical accuracy, efficiency, and ease of use for audiologists.


• Establish required end-to-end workflows and validate them against existing audiology workflows and industry-standard tools.


• Support design and engineering teams throughout implementation to ensure audiologist-centered usability intent is maintained.


• Plan, support, and evaluate usability testing with audiologists and professional users, incorporating findings into iterative design improvements.

Facilitate UX best practices across professional software development teams

• Create and review sitemaps, user flows, wireframes, and prototypes that enable intuitive user experiences.


• Define, direct, and design user stories and mockups across multiple platforms, devices, and interfaces.


• Gather and translate business requirements into clear UI/UX specifications.


• Test user-centered designs (e.g., usability testing, A/B testing, experiential evaluation) and iterate the designs based on findings


• Optimize and refine existing UI designs to continuously improve usability and efficiency.


• Prepare and present design concepts, prototypes, and findings to internal teams and key stakeholders.

Leadership, Collaboration & Continuous Improvement

• Coach and mentor junior team members to ensure high performance, collaboration, and professional growth.


• Collaborate closely with Creative Design team in Marketing to ensure visual and experiential consistency.


• Collaborate closely with Audio Systems team in R&D to ensure smooth integration of new audio functionalities in the fitting SW


• Advocate for professional user-centered design across teams.


• Stay current on UX trends, tools, and best practices to foster a strong design culture.


• Lead continuous improvement initiatives and encourage forward-thinking, innovation, and boundary-pushing design solutions.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Education
  
  
  
  • Master or similar 4-year degree in UX Design, Human Factors, or a related field.
  
  
  
  


• Experience 
  
  
  
  • 13+ years of experience in UX/UI design, preferably focused on professional or expert users.
  
  
  • Proven experience in interface and interactive design, user research, and digital product development.
  
  
  • Proven experience in delivering user-centric solutions in B2B healthcare environments, preferably in the field of hearing technology
  
  
  • Hands-on experience working in agile environments, including sprint-based UX design.
  
  
  • Practical and theoretical understanding of UX theory and application for professional software users.
  
  
  • Strong, professional leader and team player with strong executive-level presence and deep subject matter expertise
  
  
  • Ability to communicate and influence effectively at all organizational levels, including executive stakeholders.
  
  
  • Experienced in communicating, collaborating, and problem-solving across development teams, with strong understanding of design-to-code workflows
  
  
  • Experience working with vendors and consulting firms (e.g. UI/UX design, web development, developers)
  
  
  • Energetic, flexible, and highly proactive team leader with a track record of contributing to strategic initiatives
  
  
  • Experience in leading and working with international teams across multiple sites
  
  
  
  

Knowledge / Technical Requirements 

• Advanced working knowledge of UX design and prototyping tools.


• Strong understanding of software development lifecycles, processes, and libraries for PC-based software products.

Competencies, Skills & Abilities 

• Define, drive, and implement a cohesive UI/UX strategy and vision for our digital experience across all channels, aligned with our broader business strategy.


• Data-informed decision-making skills to improve user experience and introduce new functionality.


• Lead to balance UI/UX best practices, aesthetics, and user research with data and analytics when making design decisions


• Collaborate with the creative design team in marketing


• Maintain an understanding of digital trends and practice with the goal of establishing a strong design culture


• Works with teams on knowledge acquisition and professional development


• Lead continuous improvement and evolution of our digital channels while bringing others along for the journey


• Encourage progressive thinking and the pushing of boundaries of the digital user experience through various screen resolutions and devices


• Collaborate with members of cross-functional teams and advocate for consumer-centered design practices


• Expertise in UI/UX usability testing methodologies including A/B testing, multivariate, and experiential testing to ensure user experience is positive and continuously improving

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