Jason Ruud

Jason Ruud has a diverse work experience spanning over 20 years. Jason has held various roles in companies such as Hitachi Solutions America, Paylocity, Grainger, Sears Holdings Corporation, rudelyinteractive.com, Artisan Inc., and Heller Financial.

In their most recent role at Hitachi Solutions America, as Senior Director of User Experience & Product Innovation, they lead the User Experience practice for North America projects, working with Microsoft and clients to solve complex user and business challenges. Jason is responsible for scaling the practice, managing budgets, and leading product strategy initiatives.

At Paylocity, they served as the UX Category Team Leader, leading a team of 6 user experience professionals across multiple products. Jason was also responsible for driving Lean, Design Thinking, and Scrum methodologies.

Before that, at Paylocity, they were the User Experience Manager, leading a large, multi-disciplinary UX organization servicing 18 independent product initiatives. Jason grew the UX team from 5 to over 18+ members in 2 years.

Jason Ruud also has experience as the Creative Manager on the User Experience department at Grainger and served in various roles at Sears Holdings Corporation, including Associate Creative Director/Creative Technologist and Manager of Front End Development.

Additionally, they worked as an Independent Consultant at rudelyinteractive.com and as a Graphic/Web Designer at Artisan, Inc. and Heller Financial, where they worked on a range of design projects for various clients and was involved in ground-level ecommerce initiatives.

Overall, Jason Ruud has a strong background in user experience, product innovation, team leadership, and design across both digital and print platforms.

Jason Ruud attended Illinois Wesleyan University from 1994 to 1998, where they obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. During their time at the university, they focused their studies on Graphic/Web Design and Photography. In addition to their undergraduate education, Jason has also obtained certifications in the field of design and project management. Jason completed the Design Sprint Masterclass at AJ&Smart GmbH in May 2019 and became a Certified Scrum Master through the Scrum Alliance in April 2015.