Contract Principal Designer

The Motley Fool serves over 600k paying subscribers in the US, helping them become smarter, happier, and richer. Our team has rapidly enhanced our technological and product capabilities over the last 15 months, and now we’re looking for a Contract Principal Designer to guide and elevate the user experience for Fool.com and related digital products.

You will work alongside product managers and engineering leads in an empowered product team, ensuring that customer value, business viability, and technical feasibility are aligned with world-class UX/UI design.

We’re anticipating 20-40 hours per week (depending on the freelancer’s schedule) for at least 6 months. This role is flexible and 100% remote, however, applicants must reside in the United States for consideration.

About The Motley Fool

We’re a purpose-driven financial services company, dedicated to democratizing investing knowledge. We believe in continuous learning, fast iteration, and empowering teams to do their best work. As a Contract Principal Designer, you’ll be part of a cross-functional group that leverages modern tools to build intuitive, engaging, and scalable experiences for our users. The Motley Fool is a place where you can do your best work surrounded by people who enthusiastically support your success. 

What would you do in this role?

• Consult on the Design Vision & Strategy
• Own and articulate the user experience strategy for Fool.com’s public-facing site and related products, ensuring a consistent, delightful user journey.
• Collaborate with product managers and engineering leads to align design work with broader product and business goals, following product team principles (value, usability, feasibility).
• Drive User Centric Design and Design Thinking
• Conduct user research, stakeholder interviews, and usability testing to gather insights and validate design decisions.
• Iterate quickly on design concepts, leveraging rapid feedback loops, user testing and continuous discovery.
• Consult on End-to-End Design Execution
• Partner with developers to overhaul the current Fool.com site to NextJs, ensuring design consistency and an optimal user experience.
• Work with front-end teams to create high-fidelity designs, interaction flows with detailed definitions for development handoff.
• Establish and Maintain Design Systems
• Develop and maintain a robust design system, ensuring brand consistency across all platforms and products.
• Advocate for design best practices and accessibility, guiding teams on typography, color systems, and responsive layouts.
• Foster Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Collaborate with product managers, developers, cloud operations, cybersecurity, and more to deliver high-quality, user-centric solutions.
• Coach and mentor other designers, building a culture of learning, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
• Champion Data-Informed Decisions
• Use analytics, A/B testing, and other data-driven methods to iterate on design solutions.
• Communicate findings and design rationale effectively to stakeholders, ensuring transparency and alignment across teams.

What do you need to apply?

1. 8+ Years of Product/UX Design Experience

• Proven background leading design initiatives for consumer-facing web or mobile products.

• Expert knowledge of industry-standard design software and prototyping tools (Figma).
• Strong understanding of responsive design principles, information architecture, and visual hierarchy.

• Experience with user research, usability testing, and design thinking methodologies to uncover user needs and pain points.

• Track record of working in a cross-functional product team (PM + Design + Engineering).
• Ability to champion design solutions with clarity and data-backed reasoning.

• Familiarity with modern front-end frameworks (e.g., NextJs, React, or VueJs) and design constraints of each.
• Knowledge of HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript to effectively communicate with engineering teams.

• Ability to present concepts, facilitate workshops, and build consensus with diverse stakeholders.

• Interest in leveraging AI-driven design tools, automation, and machine learning insights to enhance user experiences and streamline design workflows.

It’s even better if you had…

• Experience leading or contributing to complex platform migrations (e.g., from VueJs to NextJs).
• Familiarity with analytics tools (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude etc.) to inform design decisions.
• Background in financial services, fintech, or content-driven products.
• Working knowledge of testing frameworks (Playwright, Cypress) and accessibility guidelines (WCAG).