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Design Lead Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Design System Lead

Vienna, VA · On-site

$110K - $144K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

Job#: 3043577 Design System Lead Location: Vienna, Virginia (Hybrid) Role Overview The Platform Design Systems Lead is responsible for the strategic development, governance, and adoption of design ...

Senior UI/UX Front-End Design Lead

Reston, VA · On-site +1

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

Senior UI/UX Front-End Design Lead #1086 Clearance **US Citizenship required, Must be able to obtain and maintain a DHS Public Trust. Senior UI/UX Front-End Design Lead Clearance Must be able to ...

Design System Lead (HYBRID)

Vienna, VA · On-site

$80K - $91K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Overview BRMi is seeking a Design System Lead who will be responsible for leading the strategy, governance, adoption, and continuous improvement of the design system for an assigned product platform.

Design System Lead (HYBRID)

Vienna, VA · On-site

$80K - $91K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Overview BRMi is seeking a Design System Lead who will be responsible for leading the strategy, governance, adoption, and continuous improvement of the design system for an assigned product platform.

Design System Lead (HYBRID)

Vienna, VA

$80K - $91K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

BRMi is seeking a Design System Lead who will be responsible for leading the strategy, governance, adoption, and continuous improvement of the design system for an assigned product platform. This ...

Senior UI/UX Front-End Design Lead

Reston, VA · On-site

$130K - $165K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Vision

  • Life

  • Retirement

  • PTO

Senior UI/UX Front-End Design Lead #1053 Clearance **US Citizenship required, Must be able to obtain and maintain a DHS Public Trust. Overview Dev Technology Group is seeking a Senior UI/UX Front-End ...

Associate Design Director

Arlington, VA · On-site

$125K - $160K/yr

  • Medical

  • Dental

  • Retirement

Serve as the design lead across projects, partnering with the Creative Director to ensure work is visually exceptional, strategically aligned, and cohesive across channels. * Act as the primary ...

Associate Design Director

Arlington, VA · On-site

$125K - $160K/yr

Serve as the design lead across projects, partnering with the Creative Director to ensure work is visually exceptional, strategically aligned, and cohesive across channels. * Act as the primary ...

Showing results 21-40

Design Lead information

See Virginia salary details

$39

$59

$81

How much do design lead jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 17, 2026, the average hourly pay for design lead in Virginia is $59.73, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $46.25 and $71.49 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a design lead?

A Design Lead is a senior professional responsible for guiding the creative direction and execution of design projects within an organization. They oversee design teams, collaborate with stakeholders, and ensure that visual and user experience standards are met. Design Leads often mentor junior designers, manage project timelines, and help align design strategies with business goals. Their role blends creative leadership with project management to deliver effective and innovative design solutions.

How does a design lead typically balance hands-on design work with team leadership responsibilities?

As a Design Lead, you'll often split your time between guiding and mentoring your team, setting the creative direction, and contributing directly to high-priority projects. While your leadership duties—such as conducting design reviews, coordinating with stakeholders, and ensuring alignment with business goals—will take up a significant portion of your schedule, most organizations still expect you to remain actively involved in the design process. This balance requires strong organizational skills and the ability to delegate effectively, ensuring both team growth and high-quality deliverables.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a design lead, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Design Lead, you need a solid background in design principles, user experience (UX), and visual communication, typically supported by a degree in design or a related field. Proficiency with industry-standard tools such as Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, and knowledge of project management systems is crucial. Strong leadership, collaboration, and communication skills help you guide teams and articulate design vision effectively. These skills ensure projects are delivered with high-quality design, aligned with business goals, and foster innovation within teams.

What is the difference between Design Lead vs UX Designer?

AspectDesign LeadUX Designer
CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Design, Graphic Design, or related fields; experience in leadership rolesBachelor's or Master's in Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, or related fields; portfolio showcasing UX projects
Work EnvironmentLeads design teams, collaborates with product managers and developers, oversees project directionFocuses on user research, wireframing, prototyping, and usability testing within product teams
Industry UsageCommonly found in tech, advertising, and design agenciesPrimarily in tech companies, startups, and digital product firms

The main difference is that a Design Lead oversees the entire design process and team, providing strategic direction, while a UX Designer concentrates on creating user-centered experiences through research and design. Both roles require strong design skills, but the Design Lead has broader responsibilities and leadership duties.

What are the most commonly searched types of Design Lead jobs in Virginia?

The most popular types of Design Lead jobs in Virginia are:

What are popular job titles related to Design Lead jobs in Virginia?

For Design Lead jobs in Virginia, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What cities in Virginia are hiring for Design Lead jobs?

Cities in Virginia with the most Design Lead job openings:

Infographic showing various Design Lead job openings in Virginia as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 80% Full Time, 7% Part Time, and 13% Temporary. Highlights an 87% In-person, and 13% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $124,247 per year, or $59.7 per hour.

Design System Lead

Apex Systems

Vienna, VA • On-site

$110K - $144K/yr

Other

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement

Posted 6 days ago


Job description

Job#: 3043577
Job Description:
Design System Lead
Location: Vienna, Virginia (Hybrid)
Role Overview
The Platform Design Systems Lead is responsible for the strategic development, governance, and adoption of design-system practices for an assigned platform. This role ensures platform-specific design tokens, components, patterns, and documentation stay aligned with enterprise guidance. The position enables scalable, consistent, and accessible digital experiences by fostering shared patterns, reusable guidance, and sustainable design-to-development workflows.
Key Responsibilities
  • Define and evolve the platform design-system roadmap in alignment with product goals and enterprise guidance.
  • Champion design-system adoption within the assigned platform, driving consistent use of approved patterns, tokens, and components.
  • Represent platform needs and feedback in design-system conversations to ensure practical platform implementation.
  • Partner with platform design, engineering, product, and accessibility stakeholders to ensure solutions meet user and business needs.
  • Maintain platform-level governance models, contribution workflows, and scalable processes.
  • Apply working knowledge of front-end technologies to evaluate implementation feasibility and support collaboration with engineering partners.
  • Build and maintain platform documentation in tools such as Storybook and Zeroheight.
  • Create training, workshops, and support materials to onboard platform teams and promote best practices.
  • Plan and conduct regular platform audits for design consistency, code alignment, and accessibility conformance.
Required Qualifications
Experience: 5+ years of experience in design systems, product design, design operations, front-end engineering, or a related digital product discipline. A proven track record of leading, governing, or significantly contributing to design-system adoption for a product area, platform, or large-scale digital experience is required.
Technical Skills: A working knowledge of front-end technologies such as HTML, CSS/SCSS, JavaScript/TypeScript, and modern component frameworks or libraries such as React or Vue is necessary. Familiarity with design token management, theming systems, and component-library architecture is expected. An understanding of CI/CD concepts relevant to design-system delivery, including build, test, release, versioning, and documentation workflows, is also required. Experience with design tools such as Figma and documentation platforms such as Storybook or Zeroheight is needed.
Other Skills: The role requires the ability to identify technical and process gaps and collaborate with designers, developers, and product partners. A strong understanding of design principles, UI/UX best practices, accessibility standards (including WCAG), and inclusive digital experience practices is essential. Excellent communication, facilitation, leadership, and change-management skills are required.
Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience partnering with front-end engineering teams on component-library workflows, design token pipelines, or CI/CD practices.
  • Hands-on experience creating front-end prototypes or implementation examples using technologies like HTML, CSS/SCSS, JavaScript/TypeScript, React, or Vue.
  • Experience supporting a hybrid design-system model where enterprise guidance is adapted into platform-specific practices.
  • Experience with mobile or cross-platform design-system considerations, including React Native, SwiftUI, or Jetpack Compose.
  • Background in design operations, design tooling, documentation strategy, or platform-level design-system governance.
  • Experience supporting accessibility audits, design-system quality reviews, or adoption measurement.
  • Contributions to open-source design systems, UI libraries, or reusable internal platform libraries.

Everforth Apex is a world-class IT services company that serves thousands of clients across the globe. When you join Everforth Apex, you become part of a team that values innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning. We offer quality career resources, training, certifications, development opportunities, and a comprehensive benefits package. Our commitment to excellence is reflected in many awards, including ClearlyRateds Best of Staffing in Talent Satisfaction in the United States and Great Place to Work in the United Kingdom and Mexico.
Everforth Apex uses a virtual recruiter as part of the application process. Click for more details. By applying for this job, you agree to receive calls, AI-generated calls, text messages, or emails from Everforth Apex and its affiliates, and contracted partners. Frequency varies for text messages. Message and data rates may apply. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. You can reply STOP to cancel and HELP for help. You can access our privacy policy at
Everforth Apex Benefits Overview: Everforth Apex offers a range of supplemental benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and other insurance plans that offer an optional layer of financial protection. We offer an ESPP (employee stock purchase program) and a 401K program which allows you to contribute typically within 30 days of starting, with a company match after 12 months of tenure. Everforth Apex also offers a HSA (Health Savings Account on the HDHP plan), a SupportLinc Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with up to 8 free counseling sessions, a corporate discount savings program and other discounts. In terms of professional development, Everforth Apex hosts an on-demand training program, provides access to certification prep and a library of technical and leadership courses/books/seminars once you have 6+ months of tenure, and certification discounts and other perks to associations that include CompTIA and IIBA. Everforth Apex has a dedicated customer service team for our Consultants that can address questions around benefits and other resources, as well as a certified Career Coach. You can access a full list of our benefits, programs, support teams and resources within our 'Welcome Packet' as well, which an Everforth Apex team member can provide.
Everforth Apex Systems is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate or allow discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, genetic information, registered domestic partner status, marital status, disability, status as a crime victim, protected veteran status, political affiliation, union membership, or any other characteristic protected by law. Everforth Apex will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable law.
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