Strategy Lead, UX (Freelance)

Instrument is a remote-first digital product and brand experience agency with over 200 talented people across four teams, each focused on a core offering and dedicated to producing best-in-class work. Our shift to a fully remote model has amplified our ability to foster creativity, build strong relationships, and engage with clients in dynamic ways. This flexibility has not only strengthened our company culture but also enabled us to embrace diverse perspectives. We remain deeply committed to career advancement, personal support, and ensuring a healthy work-life balance for everyone we hire.

You are an experienced lead strategist that enjoys translating the complexity of human motivation and behaviors into the production of beautiful, yet functional digital products, services and engagement platforms. You understand the nuances and complexities of how a brand shows up across the digital landscape and can communicate that brand’s purpose in a way that’s authentic, inspiring and innovative. From driving loyalty and retention to launching new products and services, you understand how to leverage digital technologies to connect brands with their customers. You’re an excellent communicator and influencer that thrives in a fast-paced, highly-collaborative and multi-disciplinary team. You know your client’s business as well as, or better than they do - and know how to maintain vibrant and compelling client relationships that contribute to the bottom line.

• Report to the Strategy Director
• Partner with the Strategy Director on your team to contribute to the broader strategic direction across the team, including creating case studies and sharing internal knowledge, mentoring less senior strategists and creating deeper relationships with clients
• Lead the strategy process on 1- 2 client projects within an integrated client team
• Work with the team, but also operate autonomously and provide value throughout the entire project cycle
• Partner with the account leadership team to build and deepen trusted relationships with clients
• Advocate for putting humans at the center of the digital experiences that we design for clients
• Navigate the balance of user needs, client goals and the requirements of the team throughout a project
• Present approaches and recommendations in a compelling way to our teams and clients
• Design and facilitate client workshops, stakeholder and consumer interviews. 

• 7+ years of experience in user experience, information architecture, digital narrative development and brand foundations, including projects for large and small brands. 
• Comfort working on a singular account and or iterative project for 1+ years in addition to intermittent shorter term engagements
• Ability to contribute to the work, from concept to completion, with an understanding of the design, technical and business effects associated with user-centered strategic recommendations
• Experience designing and defining documentation for digital experiences and products, such as functional requirements, experience maps, wireframes, personas, user flows, and other UX artifacts
• A demonstrated ability to think strategically across a range of projects and industries. In addition to UX, experience could include digital brand, digital content and information architecture, digital user experience and interaction design, mobile applications, digital marketing, social media and campaigns, and digital transformation 
• Experience leading and supporting workshops with mid-senior level clients applying Design Thinking frameworks
• Experience with user testing tools, to conduct research and determine informed insights to guide the refinement of digital products and experiences
• Success partnering with and presenting to clients, managing their requests and implementing feedback
• Experience working closely with creative and technical partners
• Experience mentoring less senior strategists in the craft

• The expected pay range for this role is $84-$103 per hour
• Our company has three regional pay bands that it adheres to depending on your location, we reference them as US 1, US 2, and US 3.
• US 3 is our base pay. Examples of cities in US 3 are Portland, Houston and Miami.
• US 2 pay is 7.5% higher than US 3 to meet the market rates. Examples of cities in US 2 are Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle.
• US 1 pay is 15% higher than US 3 to meet market rates. Examples of cities in US 1 are ​​Brooklyn and San Francisco.
• If you are curious which region you are in, please apply and get connected with our recruiting team!