New positions the market is asking for: what are "UX leaders", why are they so coveted and how much do they earn?

It is one of the youngest positions in the business structure, but also one of the most coveted: user experience leaders or simply UX, for User Experience.

These are those in charge of designing the experience that the consumer –and also the internal public– will have throughout their contact with the company.

Indeed, today they are sought after for two reasons: many companies need to reinvent themselves in the relationship with customers; while others need to redesign their processes in the digital world.

"The discipline is in a mature phase, but consolidating itself as a key part of the business of several of the most successful companies in the market," Sebastián Maciarello, head of Recruitment and Selection at Auren, told iProUP.

According to the manager, there are "two large groups of skills that are most sought after in industry leaders today." And separates them into:

For Sebastián Divinsky, general director of EducaciónIT, he proposes iProUP to this we must add that they are people who can "question the status quo".

"This is essential for creative thinking, which is called 'thinking outside the box.' ideation, creativity, design thinking, etc.", he completes.

Divinsky highlights that these professionals must have "a profile oriented towards analysis and research. Before starting to prototype, it is always essential for this position to do user research tasks".

UX leaders are one of the most coveted positions globally since, due to their education and training, they have the ability to help create products that are highly valued by users.

"In this sense, the companies that currently hire them the most are creative agencies, startups, health, ecommerce and online companies. However, the shortage of talent in the Argentine market is very marked, not only in this sector but also in others," adds Maciarello.

Alejandro Servide, director of Professionals and RPO at Randstad, tells iProUP that for these positions "multinational companies are very attractive, due to the possibility of relocating to other cities or countries and due to their global reach."

"These firms usually have different specialized areas on technology, therefore, these candidates are required for the analysis, prototyping and evaluation of different interfaces and the various tools that the company has in order to improve the user experience involved", complete.

According to the executive, "this profile is not usually demanded by SMEs given the limited size of their structure and financial resources. Small and medium-sized national firms tend to pay salaries in pesos and in lower bands than product companies."

On the other hand, startups, due to their recent existence and their focus on technological innovation, have a high demand for these professionals.

"They look for them both for the creation of ecommerce and the development of their websites, with the aim of making them attractive and functional. Without a doubt, today the boom is fintech and cryptocurrency companies, which emerge as startups and grow from in a very accelerated way in short terms", complements Servide

In this regard, Solange Clark, Associate, Argentina & Uruguay in Grupo DNA, affirms to iProUP that "although it was a highly developed labor market in digital companies, the fintech and electronic commerce boom that grew in Argentina by close to 80% prompted other industries, some much more traditional, to identify or prioritize the hiring of this type of professional".

Rodrigo Blanco, CEO of Alliancers, indicates that "in the banking sector, both digital and traditional, they are recruiting a good number of employees and paying very well. They are looking for a good track record in technology companies or in application development"

"Then, software companies that permanently develop mobile projects or applications follow. In the games and gaming industry there is also a growing demand," he details.

For his part, David Wilson, partner at Ceibo Digital, tells iProUP that being a new discipline, "the seniority and expertise of the collaborators that we find in the market still does not respond to a normal distribution."

"On the contrary, it is more like an asymmetric distribution skewed to the right, in which there are more candidates who are starting to take their first steps in the world of UX, analysts and juniors with between 0 and 3 years of experience ", indicates.

In addition, Wilson points out that there are also professionals "recently converted from other professional careers, and then semi-seniors and seniors from between 4 to 9 years old. Finally, in the tail, UX experts and leaders, of whom there is a high demand and little supply, highly valued".

Going digital

In some ways, the pandemic turned most leaders into innovation leaders, taking us all out of our comfort zone.

"The ability to innovate and modify structures and habits in record time is what has allowed many organizations not to lose effectiveness," Graciela Vinocur, manager of Bprofessional, told iProUP.

In this sense, he details that "if the physical experience helps you better understand the need and pain point of the user, it will be welcome, and a contribution to integrate with the specific knowledge of the development of digital products that are expected from a UX designer: psychology, anthropology, sociology, communication, marketing, business and knowledge of graphic or industrial design, among others".

And he adds: "the pandemic has prompted many industries to develop new sales and interaction channels with their public. Although digital channels were being developed mainly in retail and service companies, the need for isolation had an effect precipitator, even in industries that did not originally see it as an alternative.

How much do they earn?

UX leaders get to have salaries that start between 200,000 and 250,000 pesos, but they can grow depending on the type of company in which they work.

"Managements are positioned in a range from $280,000 to $330,000, depending on the size and category of the firm," reveals Carla Cantisani, Director of Services for Adecco Argentina & Uruguay.

In addition, it points out that "innovation and project development departments, in larger or larger companies, especially in multinationals, these positions are already becoming more relevant, both in terms of salaries and intradepartmental infrastructure."

"Thus, they move in a minimum salary target that goes from $350,000 to $400,000 gross per month, considering that this type of seniority in these segments is accompanied by interesting benefits," explains Cantisani.

To this, Noelia Villagrán, Regional Talent Acquisition Head of Readiness Global, assures iProUP that other advantages are added:

Cantisani, from Adecco, stresses that "the demand for these profiles has increased outwardly or inwardly, developing talents that bring know-how and experience and incorporate innovative and disruptive methodologies to transform and make changes happen."

"To this end, many Senior Management teams in large organizations have defined specific Innovation Leaders complemented by Cultural Change Agents and Human Resources Departments that are well present working on the reskilling of collaborators capable of driving all this in the arteries of the company," he concludes.