Most design leaders come from one context.

I come from three — agency, startup, and growth-stage SaaS. That range is what gives me a different lens on product problems. I’m not pattern-matching to what design usually does. I’m asking what the problem actually needs.

At SapientNitro I was Creative Director, Experience Design, leading multi-channel brand and product work for Fiat Chrysler, McDonald’s, and Illinois Lottery. I learned how narrative and business strategy work together, and what actually moves people to act. Four of five Fiat Chrysler sites I directed ranked in JD Power’s Top 10, earning the agency a $450K performance bonus. That kind of accountability — where design has a measurable number attached to it — shaped how I’ve approached every role since.

I build at three levels.

Most design leaders build products. I also build the practices and systems that determine how teams build. At Muck Rack I’ve operated well beyond traditional UX scope — authoring product opportunity docs, defining success metrics alongside engineering and product leadership, directing research programs that change what ends up on the roadmap, and running GTM initiatives end to end. In 2025 that work influenced multi-million dollar revenue impact.

In 2025 I also led my team through a deliberate reimagining of how UX work gets done. We ran 32 structured AI experiments across research synthesis, concept generation, content design, and prototyping — documented what worked, and built those workflows into how we operate permanently. I authored the Vibe Design Prototyping Guide to establish guardrails so AI-assisted exploration stays grounded in real problems. The goal wasn’t efficiency for its own sake. It was creating more space for upstream, strategic work that actually changes what gets built.

I’m also driving Muck Rack’s component library program — defining the governance model, decision rights, and contribution framework from scratch. It’s framed as an operational program with measurable outcomes, not a library to maintain.

How I think about the work.

My highest leverage is upstream — getting into conversations while problems are still shapeable and framing tradeoffs before teams are locked in. That requires trust, credibility, and a track record that isn’t purely aesthetic. All three take time to build.

My current team carries an engagement score of 91 vs. a company average of 78, and an eNPS of 80 vs. 40 — while shipping 49 features in a year that included an unexpected team departure. How you build a team matters as much as what the team ships.

What I’m looking for.

I’m looking for my next role at a company under 500 people where design has a genuine seat at the table. Not looking for a design job for its own sake — I want to do work that matters at the scope I actually operate at. I’m drawn to hybrid Product-UX, Head of Design, or Innovation leadership roles where strategy and execution stay close together.

If that sounds like a fit, I’d love to talk.