Principal Designer
Confirmed on the employer's own hiring board on Nov 5, 2026. First seen by Alion on Aug 5, 2026. Northern Trust scores B on the Alion truth index.
About Northern Trust
As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.
Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.
With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.
Overview
Northern Trust is seeking a Principal Product Designer to lead strategic design efforts on our flagship client facing wealth management platform at Northern Trust. A key contributor on our design team that’s transforming the way wealth management clients engage with our advice and financial services. Join us in collaborating with cross-functional product teams, facilitation of human centric design methodologies, ensuring agile delivery of high-quality financial service solutions and seamless experiences for high-net-worth clients and their advisors. Enjoy a culture of design excellence, continuous learning, and career growth opportunities. This is a full time, hybrid role in Chicago, IL.
As a key member of the design team, your primary role and responsibly is leading the design experience and maturity of our product design system, Storybook components, and Figma Library that support the design and agile teams. To improve client trust and perception of the firm's digital sophistication through a cohesive, polished, and premium user experience. And ensure that design assets, components, and experience standards continue to evolve with ever changing environment of digital products and services.
Working Model: Hybrid
We have a balanced hybrid working model to ensure you get the flexibility you need, and the successful candidate will spend their time between working in the office and working from home.
Objectivesand Responsibilities :
Accelerate product delivery by increasing the availability of reusable, production-ready components, templates, patterns, and page frameworks.
Improve consistency across advisor, client, prospect, and operational experiences through standardized interaction and visual patterns.
Strengthen alignment between future-state experience vision, product roadmaps, and implementation through continuous Storybook enhancement.
Reduce long-term technical and design debt created by delivery-driven compromises that were necessary to support near-term roadmap commitments.
Increase operational efficiency by reducing duplicate component development and fragmented experience patterns across domains.
Improve scalability of the platform by creating extensible component architectures that support future products, channels, and business capabilities.
Increase development efficiency through improved component documentation, implementation guidance, governance, and code reuse.
Expand enterprise design system integration to ensure greater consistency across platforms, business domains, and delivery teams.
Continuous accessibility maturity by systematically remediating gaps and aligning digital experiences with evolving accessibility standards and best practices.
Summary
A Principal Designer ensures that the design of a new or existing product or offering exceeds the needs of the people who these experiences serve. The principal design is a subject matter expert, with deep experience, who leads and collaboratesto create truly differentiating experiences reflective of Northern Trust’s capabilities and business objectives as well as client and partner needs and behaviors.
Principaldesignerswork withleadership to craft, refine, implement, and communicatedesignvision and strategy acrossteams, business units, and the larger organization.
Principal designers take ownership for complexdesign initiatives, delivering solutions that are driven by deep design and business experience.Theyact as a resource for colleagues with lessexperience andwill run point on specific design activities.They are a master storyteller, systems thinker, and have high levels of influence withinbusiness,and technology teams.
MajorDuties
Helps to establish an open culture of optimism, experimentation, curiosity, and rapid prototyping
Leads multidisciplinaryteamsto work together with a shared purpose to deliver great designthat addressesuser’sneeds.
Achieves success through trial and experimentation, recognizes that prototyping can be done at various levels of fidelity, and has experience doing and leading work
Comfortable synthesizing multiple and sometimes conflicting inputs into a common point-of-view
Designs and specifies user interfaces and information architecture using human-centered techniques including observational studies, client and partner interviews, and usability testing
Has a passion for developing others and will help to identify talent and build teams with a lens to how different personalities and capabilities could fit together on a project to create real impact
Looks outside for inspiration around new approaches and tools and has a desire to build bridgestocorporate innovation initiativesand the broader design community
Knowledge/Skills
Ability to put Human-Centered Design and UI/UX best practices to work within a professional setting
Ability to recognize, predict and incorporate use cases and user interactions into design
Expertisein a range of relevant design methods and concepts, which mayincludelow-fidelity sketching, information architecture, wireframe development, usability testing, research planning, competitive analysis
Exceptionalpresentation and storytelling skills, leading teams to a common vision.
Highly flexible, adaptable to change and comfortable with ambiguity
Exceptionaluse of collaborative/communication tools, able to present work and decisions effectively within EDR team, through presentation and storytelling skills
Clear growth mindset, looking for opportunities to learn and motivated to approach challenges proactively
Experience Required
12+years demonstrated work experience delivering digital experiences
Educated in design or related field, formally or though comparable training
Design thinking and UI/UX best practices, as demonstrated in a portfolio of professional work.
Experience working with a cross-functional team or large-scale software development lifecycle, preferably in an agile environment
Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future. Northern Trust will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, F-1, J-1, OPT, CPT or any other employment-based visa)
Salary Range:
$137,400 - 233,600 USDSalary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits. Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.
Work Authorization
Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future. Northern Trust will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, F-1, J-1, OPT, CPT or any other employment-based visa).
Working with Us
As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve.
Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust’s history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.
Reasonable Accommodation
Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at [email protected], or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.