Principal UX Designer - AI Incubation Lab in City of Westminster

Principal UX Designer - AI Incubation Lab in City of Westminster

City of Westminster Full-Time 55000 - 65000 £ / year (est.) Home office (partial)
Expedia, Inc.

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead UX design for AI-driven travel projects and create innovative prototypes.
  • Company: Join Expedia Group, a leader in global travel technology.
  • Benefits: Enjoy travel perks, flexible work, generous time-off, and career development resources.
  • Other info: Collaborative environment with opportunities for growth and innovation.
  • Why this job: Shape the future of travel with cutting-edge AI solutions and impactful design.
  • Qualifications: 12+ years in product or UX design with strong storytelling skills.

The predicted salary is between 55000 - 65000 £ per year.

Expedia Group brands power global travel for everyone, everywhere. We design cutting‑edge tech to make travel smoother and more memorable, and we create groundbreaking solutions for our partners. Our diverse, vibrant, and welcoming community is essential in driving our success.

Why Join Us? To shape the future of travel, people must come first. Guided by our Values and Leadership Agreements, we foster an open culture where everyone belongs, differences are celebrated, and we know that when one of us wins, we all win. We provide a full benefits package, including exciting travel perks, generous time‑off, parental leave, a flexible work model (with some pretty cool offices), and career development resources, all to fuel our employees' passion for travel and ensure a rewarding career journey.

We’re building a more open world. Join us. To fuel each employee’s passion for travel, we offer a wellness & travel reimbursement, travel discounts, and an International Airlines Travel Agent (IATAN) membership.

Expedia Group builds end‑to‑end experiences that millions of travelers, partners, and employees rely on every day. Within the Design team, we’re reimagining how people discover and book trips across Hotels.com, Vrbo, and Brand Expedia. We’re looking for a Principal UX Designer for incubation, helping explore the possibilities that AI opens in the space of travel and transfer that knowledge into current products.

In this position, you’ll be a part of a small prototype‑oriented team that helps explore different futures and initiatives to inform Expedia’s key strategies. You will work autonomously and will balance strategic thinking with the ability to produce tangible artifacts and conduct evaluations as well as share learnings.

In this role, you will:

  • Lead the end‑to‑end vision, strategy, and UX design execution for AI‑driven incubation projects that inform the future of travel across Expedia Group brands.
  • Explore, define, and prototype novel AI‑powered product experiences, creating experiential artifacts that bring ambiguous opportunities to life for travelers, partners, and internal teams.
  • Design and iterate conceptual, visual, and interaction patterns that evolve the Expedia brand experience in response to emerging AI capabilities and future customer needs.
  • Produce tangible prototypes and experiments, including “vibe‑coded” or coded artifacts, to evaluate ideas with users and stakeholders and to inform strategic decisions.
  • Collaborate closely with a small cross‑functional incubation team to transform early concepts into higher‑fidelity experiences and potential customer‑facing experiments, safely integrating AI/ML‑enabled solutions that improve outcomes.
  • Synthesize and communicate key insights, learnings, and design directions through compelling storytelling to senior leaders and peers, transferring knowledge into current product teams and fostering a fast‑paced culture of AI‑first innovation.

Minimum Qualifications:

  • 12+ years of experience in product or UX design, including substantial experience shipping high‑quality digital products or services at scale.
  • Bachelor’s degree or higher in a related field (Design, Human‑Computer Interaction, User Experience or similar), or equivalent relevant experience.
  • Proven ability to take ambiguous, technically complex opportunities and translate them into clear, inspiring, and testable AI‑powered product experiences and prototypes.
  • Demonstrated expertise in interaction, visual, and systems‑level experience design, including creating experiential artifacts (prototypes, coded demos, or similar) that guide strategic product decisions.
  • Strong communication and storytelling skills with a track record of influencing cross‑functional stakeholders and leadership in a highly collaborative environment.
  • Familiarity with AI‑driven systems, tools, or workflows and applying AI/ML concepts to real‑world products, including integrating AI capabilities into end‑to‑end customer journeys.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience leading incubation, exploratory, or zero‑to‑one design initiatives that shaped long‑term product or portfolio strategy in a complex ecosystem.
  • Background designing and evaluating AI‑assisted or AI‑first user experiences, including responsible application of AI/ML capabilities to improve decision making, automation, or personalization.
  • Demonstrated ability to safely integrate and operate AI/ML‑enabled solutions that improve customer and business outcomes, including partnering with product and engineering to define guardrails and evaluation criteria.
  • Proven success crafting and evolving design languages, pattern libraries, or interaction models to accommodate emerging AI‑driven behaviors across multiple products or brands.
  • Depth in creating and running higher‑fidelity prototypes and experiments (including data‑ or behavior‑informed prototypes) to validate AI‑centric concepts, and demonstrated experience taking products from concept to scaled adoption.

Accommodation requests: If you need assistance with any part of the application or recruiting process due to a disability, or other physical or mental health conditions, please reach out to our Recruiting Accommodations Team through the Accommodation Request. Expedia is committed to creating an inclusive work environment with a diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Principal UX Designer - AI Incubation Lab in City of Westminster employer: Expedia, Inc.

Expedia Group is an exceptional employer that prioritises employee well-being and growth, offering a vibrant and inclusive work culture where diversity is celebrated. With a comprehensive benefits package that includes travel perks, flexible working arrangements, and ample opportunities for career development, employees are empowered to thrive in their roles while shaping the future of travel through innovative AI-driven projects. Join us in a collaborative environment that values your contributions and fosters a passion for exploration.

Expedia, Inc.

Contact Details:

Expedia, Inc. Recruitment Team

StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫

We think this is how you could land Principal UX Designer - AI Incubation Lab in City of Westminster

Show Off Your Portfolio

In the world of UX/UI design, your portfolio speaks volumes! Make sure it's packed with your best work and showcases your process, not just the final product. We want to see how you tackle design challenges, so consider adding case studies that reflect your thought process and user-centric approach.

Get Involved in Design Communities

Jump into local or online design meetups and workshops! Places like UXPA or local design events can be goldmines for networking and learning. Plus, mingling with fellow designers can introduce you to potential job openings that might not be listed elsewhere.

Tailor Your Applications

When you find a role that excites you, like the one at Expedia, Inc. for a Principal UX Designer - AI Incubation Lab, make your application count! Highlight specific projects and skills that directly relate to the job description. Hiring managers are looking for candidates who fit into their specific team, so show them you’re the one!

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We think you need these skills to ace Principal UX Designer - AI Incubation Lab in City of Westminster

UX Design
AI/ML Integration
Prototyping
Interaction Design
Visual Design
Storytelling
Cross-Functional Collaboration

Some tips for your application 🫡

Showcase Your Design Process:When you're applying for a UX/UI Design role like Principal UX Designer - AI Incubation Lab at Expedia, Inc., make sure to include examples that clearly highlight your design process. We want to see not just the final product but also the journey that led you there—wireframes, user personas, and iterations demonstrate your thought process and user-centric approach!

Tailor Your Portfolio:A tailor-made portfolio is crucial for a full-time design role! Curate your best projects that align with the kind of work Expedia, Inc. does. We suggest including 3-5 case studies that showcase a variety of skills such as wireframing, prototyping, and user testing to really make your application pop.

Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter should not just be a summary of your CV. Use it to express why you’re excited about UX/UI Design and what draws you specifically to Expedia, Inc.. Mention any relevant experience, tools you’re proficient in (like Sketch or Figma), and how you can contribute to their projects.

Highlight Collaboration Skills:In the world of UX/UI Design, teamwork is crucial. Make sure to highlight any past experiences where you worked in cross-functional teams. Illustrate how you communicated design decisions and listened to feedback, as this will resonate well with the culture at Expedia, Inc..

How to prepare for a job interview at Expedia, Inc.

Show Off Your Portfolio

When you're gunning for a full-time UX/UI design role, your portfolio is your best friend! Make sure you've got a solid selection of your work, showcasing not just the final designs, but the process behind them—think wireframes, user flows, and any user research you've conducted. During the interview with Expedia, Inc., be prepared to discuss your design decisions and how they solve specific user problems.

Prepare for Design Challenges

Expect to face some practical design tasks during your interview. Expedia, Inc. might ask you to tackle a quick design challenge or critique an existing interface. Brush up on your problem-solving skills and try to articulate your thought process as you work through these scenarios. Showing how you approach a design problem is just as important as the final output!

Know the Tools of the Trade

Familiarise yourself with the tools commonly used in the industry—figma, Adobe XD, or Sketch should be second nature to you. Be ready to discuss your preferred tools during the interview and how they've shaped your design process at previous positions. This knowledge could give you an edge at Expedia, Inc.!

Show Passion for User Experience

In a full-time UX/UI design role, having a genuine passion for improving user interactions can set you apart. Be prepared to share instances when you went above and beyond to ensure a great user experience in your previous projects. This will demonstrate that you’re not just a designer, but a user advocate, which is exactly what Expedia, Inc. is looking for.