Open to opportunities

Caryn Gallis

@caryngallis

Message

Design operations leader driving cross-functional alignment, scalable systems, and measurable UX impact.

United States

Message

What I'm looking for

I seek a senior design ops role where I can scale processes, improve tooling and governance, and demonstrate measurable UX impact within collaborative, growth-oriented teams.

I am a design operations leader who builds structure from ambiguity to drive clarity, speed, and measurable business impact. I establish governance, standardize tools and workflows, and create repeatable processes that enable design teams to deliver reliably at scale.

Across global enterprises and consulting engagements, I have led initiatives that reduced roadblocks, optimized tooling (Figma, Jira), and improved capacity visibility—recovering costs and accelerating delivery. I launched learning programs, redesigned rituals, and scaled teams while maintaining budget discipline for multi-million dollar portfolios.

I combine a practitioner’s design background with program management rigor to connect strategy to execution, improve stakeholder alignment, and champion design excellence and culture. I seek opportunities to continue improving operational maturity and demonstrate design’s impact on business outcomes.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Adjunct Design Professor

Current

Kean University

Jan 2020 - Present (6 years)

Taught design courses as an adjunct professor, developing curriculum and mentoring students in user experience and product design principles.

Curriculum Development Teaching Mentorship Portfolio Review Instructional Design

Director, UX Operations

GEP

Jun 2025 - Dec 2025 (6 months)

Established foundational design operations including 13 SOPs, standardized Figma and optimized Jira to accelerate delivery and reduce roadblocks; launched OKR-linked UX tracker and dashboards to increase visibility into design impact.

Design Operations Figma Jira SOP Development OKRs Stakeholder Management Capacity Planning

Director, CX/UX Team Operations

Prudential Financial

Jan 2020 - Feb 2025 (5 years 1 month)

Managed operations for a 150-person CX organization and $16M portfolio, formalizing governance, requirements processes, and vendor management while launching the annual Align Conference that grew attendance from 250 to 1,000+ and achieved a 76 NPS.

Operations Management Governance Airtable Miro Vendor Management Budget Management

Manager, User Experience

Prudential Financial

May 2016 - Dec 2019 (3 years 7 months)

Led digital transformation in Group Insurance, delivering a redesigned management portal that secured $2M in new business and scaled Design Sprint training to 500+ employees with a 92 NPS.

UX Design Digital Transformation Design Sprints Adobe XD Design Systems Training Development Customer Insights Product Roadmap

User Experience Designer

Slalom Consulting

Jan 2013 - Apr 2016 (3 years 3 months)

Delivered an international portal redesign for 120k users across 12 languages, driving a 300% increase in adoption and optimized executive dashboards to improve business decision-making by 20%.

UX Design Internationalization User Adoption Dashboard Design Research Agile