Principal System Designer

Job Description Imagine Your Future with Us! Since 1971, Paychex has been at the forefront of simplifying HR, payroll, and benefits for American businesses. Our digital HR technology and advisory solutions cater to the changing needs of employers and their employees. With our award-winning training and endless opportunities for growth and development, you can build a lifelong career with us. We pride ourselves on fostering an inclusive and innovative culture. Our leaders are here to support your career journey; they and our dedicated employees embody the values that drive us to support each other, our clients, and our communities. Join us to pursue your passion and unleash your potential. Overview We're looking for a Principal System Designer to lead the development, maintenance, and evolution of Paychex design system. In this role, you'll define and drive the system's vision, establish scalable design patterns and principles, and work closely with designers, engineers, and product managers to ensure consistency, usability, and performance across our platform. You'll take ownership of the design system roadmap and backlog—prioritizing initiatives, facilitating cross-functional input, and evolving the system to support the business as it scales. You'll also act as a design leader and mentor, guiding our product teams in adopting best practices and aligning on a shared visual and interaction language. Responsibilities Lead the vision, strategy, and ongoing evolution of Paychex design system—components, patterns, accessibility, documentation, and tooling. Own and manage the design system roadmap and backlog in collaboration with engineering and product partners. Fluency in AI tools that accelerate design system development—such as: o Builderio for Figma-to-code acceleration. o ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, or Uizard for design documentation, code snippet generation, or accessibility guideline automation. o Contrast or Stark for AI-powered accessibility testing. Define system governance models and contribute to scalable design ops processes that drive adoption and consistency across teams. Collaborate with front-end engineers to ensure seamless integration between design and code and maintain parity across Figma and component libraries. Facilitate contribution models from product teams and coordinate system releases and change management efforts. Serve as an advocate and subject matter expert for design systems across the organization—evangelizing its value and mentoring designers on implementation. Continuously audit and refine the system to improve usability, accessibility, and efficiency. Partner with accessibility, brand, and UX research leads to ensure the system reflects inclusive and research-backed design standards. Deliver high-quality documentation and internal education materials to support adoption and understanding across disciplines. Identify, evaluate, and implement tooling and workflows that enable better collaboration between design and development. Qualifications Bachelor's Degree in Design, HCI, Computer Science, or a related field - Required Master's Degree in Design, HCI, Computer Science, or a related field - Preferred 8 years of experience in in product design. 3 years of experience in focused on design systems at scale. Live the Paychex Values Act with uncompromising integrity. Provide outstanding service and build trusted relationships. Drive innovation in our products and services and continually improve our processes. Work in partnership and support each other. Be personally accountable and deliver on commitments. Treat each other with respect and dignity. What's in it for you? We value your well-being: We provide over 21 comprehensive rewards, including medical coverage, virtual wellness classes, tuition reimbursement, 401(k) + employer match, adoption assistance, financial assistance, and much more. We value your time: From paid time off to company holidays, culture days, and comprehensive work-life balance programs, we will ensure you have the flexibility you need to be your best. We value your development: Our award-winning training and development programs empower our employees with ongoing learning opportunities to give you the building blocks to grow your career. We value your perspective: Our company culture reflects the diversity of our employees. We want you to be you and your voice to be heard. We value our communities: We offer paid time off for volunteerism and promote many company-wide and local initiatives that benefit organizations you care about. Not sure if you meet every requirement? At Paychex, we know that great talent comes in many forms. If you're passionate about the role but don't check every box, we still encourage you to apply. You might be the right fit - either for this position or another opportunity with us. Paychex is an equal opportunity employer that fosters a workplace culture of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion. Our valued employees and commitment to DEI are the essence of our internal and external success.