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Director, Experience Design - athenaConnect
full-time•Boston•$172k - $292k
About this role
Join us as we work to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.
Healthcare organizations depend on interoperability to function—but too often lack clarity, control, and confidence in how their data moves. athenaConnect® addresses this gap by serving as the central hub where athenahealth customers and partners configure integrations, monitor data flow, and make informed decisions about their ecosystem. As athenahealth invests in creating the connections, intelligence, and experiences that unify the healthcare ecosystem, athenaConnect is evolving into a more intelligent, actionable experience—one that turns integration complexity into visibility, insight, and better outcomes.
We are seeking a Director of Experience Design to take end-to-end ownership of the athenaConnect experience. This leader will define and steward the experience vision and architecture, build and develop a high-performing design team, and be accountable for experience quality across the entire athenaConnect app—including work delivered by product teams beyond their direct span of control.
This is a role for a design leader who can set direction and drive delivery—shaping long-term vision while ensuring high-quality experiences ship continually, and who invests deeply in growing their team’s capability and impact. You will work in close partnership with Product and Engineering to plan, learn, and iterate quickly in service of real customer and partner value.
What You’ll Do
Own the athenaConnect Experience Vision & Architecture
Define a unifying experience of vision and architecture that brings together interoperability products and services into one user-friendly platform.
Translate industry trends, regulatory shifts, and practice expectations related to healthcare data exchange into user-centered experiences that support critical jobs-to-be-done.
Align stakeholders around direction and tradeoffs through clear experience narratives, prototypes, and working examples.
Drive Delivery, Learning, and Iteration
Ship high-quality experiences continuously, balancing speed with clarity, usability, and trust.
Use behavioral analytics, qualitative research, and platform telemetry to establish fast feedback loops and adapt priorities based on real user signals.
Apply experimentation deliberately—especially with AI—to learn faster and improve outcomes, not to explore novelty.
Build and Grow a High-Impact Design Team
Lead and develop a team of 3-5 designers, establishing clear performance standards and providing regular coaching that elevates both craft and business impact.
Evolve the team’s contribution in an AI-first world, helping designers shift from hands-on execution to expert judgment, rationale, and influence as AI increasingly handles tactical design work.
Create operational rigor through design critique, quality review processes, and team rituals that build accountability and continuous improvement
Address performance gaps directly, making tough decisions about fit and capability when needed.
Develop individual growth plans that help each designer build the skills and confidence to influence product decisions and own outcomes
Own Experience Quality Across Product Teams
Own experience quality for athenaConnect end to end, including work delivered by teams you do not directly manage.
Define and operationalize experience standards, guidelines, and governance mechanisms that ensure consistency and coherence across the platform.
Establish and monitor customer satisfaction and value metrics (e.g., adoption, task success, trust) and use them to inform design and product decisions.
Partner Closely with Product & Engineering Leadership
Co-own strategy, roadmaps, and outcomes as a core member of the Product–Design–Engineering leadership triad.
Shape how AI-enabled capabilities are introduced, so they are understandable, explainable, and useful to technical users.
Build a team culture grounded in shared ownership, disciplined execution, and thoughtful innovation.
What You Bring
10+ years of experience in experience design, service design, or product design, including direct leadership of designers.
Proven ownership of platform- or system-level experiences spanning multiple teams and product surfaces.
Deep familiarity with healthcare, health IT, or regulated enterprise platforms, with experience in interoperability, data platforms, APIs, or partner ecosystems strongly preferred.
Established track record owning experience outcomes in technically complex environments, partnering closely with engineering leaders to deliver clarity for technical users.
Hands-on experience designing AI-enabled or data-intelligent products, particularly where trust, explain-ability, and governance were critical.
Strong facilitation, influence, and storytelling skills, used to align senior stakeholders and drive decisions.
Demonstrated ability to pair strategic vision with execution discipline, ensuring ideas turn into shipped, valuable outcomes.
Strong track record coaching designers to become more strategic and influential, with specific experience helping tactically focused designers develop business acumen and stakeholder credibility.
Demonstrated ability to establish team standards, processes, and operational excellence in fast-moving product environments.
Comfort having difficult performance conversations and making decisions about team composition.
How You’ll Work
You’ll be effective in this role if you:
Own outcomes, not just artifacts
Navigate ambiguity with structure and judgment
Operate as a true partner across disciplines
Design for trust, coherence, and long-term adoption
Use AI intentionally to accelerate learning and improve decisions
Learn through delivery and raise the bar over time
Invest in your team’s development with the same rigor you bring to product strategy
Hold high standards for both craft quality and business impact
Why This Role Matters
athenaConnect is foundational to how athenahealth connects customers, partners, and the broader healthcare ecosystem, and its importance will only grow as AI and interoperability reshape the industry.
This role will directly influence how intelligence, integration, and human decision-making come together in a high-stakes, highly technical platform—and how athenahealth shows up to the ecosystem over the long term.
Expected Compensation
$172,000 - $292,000The base salary range shown reflects the full range for this role from minimum to maximum. At athenahealth, base pay depends on multiple factors, including job-related experience, relevant knowledge and skills, how your qualifications compare to others in similar roles, and geographical market rates. Base pay is only one part of our competitive Total Rewards package - depending on role eligibility, we offer both short and long-term incentives by way of an annual discretionary bonus plan, variable compensation plan, and equity plans.
About athenahealth
Our vision: In an industry that becomes more complex by the day, we stand for simplicity. We offer IT solutions and expert services that eliminate the daily hurdles preventing healthcare providers from focusing entirely on their patients — powered by our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.
Our company culture: Our talented employees — or athenistas, as we call ourselves — spark the innovation and passion needed to accomplish our vision. We are a diverse group of dreamers and do-ers with unique knowledge, expertise, backgrounds, and perspectives. We unite as mission-driven problem-solvers with a deep desire to achieve our vision and make our time here count. Our award-winning culture is built around shared values of inclusiveness, accountability, and support.
Our DEI commitment: Our vision of accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all requires addressing the inequities that stand in the way. That's one reason we prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of our business, from attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce to maintaining an inclusive environment for athenistas, our partners, customers and the communities where we work and serve.
What we can do for you:
Along with health and financial benefits, athenistas enjoy perks specific to each location, including commuter support, employee assistance programs, tuition assistance, employee resource groups, and collaborative workspaces — some offices even welcome dogs.
We also encourage a better work-life balance for athenistas with our flexibility. While we know in-office collaboration is critical to our vision, we recognize that not all work needs to be done within an office environment, full-time. With consistent communication and digital collaboration tools, athenahealth enables employees to find a balance that feels fulfilling and productive for each individual situation.
In addition to our traditional benefits and perks, we sponsor events throughout the year, including book clubs, external speakers, and hackathons. We provide athenistas with a company culture based on learning, the support of an engaged team, and an inclusive environment where all employees are valued.
Learn more about our culture and benefits here: athenahealth.com/careers
What you'll do
- The Director of Experience Design will own the athenaConnect experience vision and architecture, ensuring high-quality experiences across the platform. They will lead a design team, drive delivery, and partner closely with Product and Engineering to enhance user-centered experiences.
About athenahealth
athenahealth strives to cure complexity and simplify the practice of healthcare. Our innovative technology includes electronic health records, revenue cycle management, and patient engagement solutions that help healthcare providers, administrators, and practices eliminate friction for patients while getting paid efficiently. athenahealth partners with practices with purpose-built software backed by expertise to produce the insights needed to drive better clinical and financial outcomes. We’re inspired by our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.
Our vibrant and talented employees spark the innovation and passion needed to accomplish our goals. We continue to expand our workforce with amazing people who bring diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives at every level, and foster an environment where we each feel comfortable bringing their best selves to work.
Our dedication to creating an exceptional workplace has been recognized with several prestigious awards. We've been honored as a 2024 Top Workplaces USA, named a Forbes 2024 America's Best Mid-Size employers, and celebrated as one of 2023 Glassdoor Best Large Companies to Work For. Additionally, we've been acknowledged as a 2023 Top Workplace in Austin, one of the 2023 Best Places to Work in Maine and a 2023 Top Workplace in MA by the Boston Globe. These accolades are a testament to our vibrant and diverse team that fuels innovation at athenahealth.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does athenahealth pay for a Director, Experience Design - athenaConnect?
athenahealth offers a competitive compensation package for the Director, Experience Design - athenaConnect role. The salary range is USD 172k - 292k per year. Apply through Clera to learn more about the full compensation details.
What does a Director, Experience Design - athenaConnect do at athenahealth?
As a Director, Experience Design - athenaConnect at athenahealth, you will: the Director of Experience Design will own the athenaConnect experience vision and architecture, ensuring high-quality experiences across the platform. They will lead a design team, drive delivery, and partner closely with Product and Engineering to enhance user-centered experiences..
Is the Director, Experience Design - athenaConnect position at athenahealth remote?
The Director, Experience Design - athenaConnect position at athenahealth is based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Contact the company through Clera for specific work arrangement details.
How do I apply for the Director, Experience Design - athenaConnect position at athenahealth?
You can apply for the Director, Experience Design - athenaConnect position at athenahealthdirectly through Clera. Click the "Apply Now" button above to start your application. Clera's AI-powered platform will help match your profile with this opportunity and guide you through the application process.