Hire UX Strategists

Hire the Top 3% of Freelance UX Strategists

Hire UX strategists, experts, consultants, specialists, and professionals, on demand. Top companies and startups choose UX strategists from Toptal for user research, experience mapping, information architecture, conversion optimization, and more.

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No-Risk Trial, Pay Only If Satisfied.

Clients rate Toptal UX strategists 4.9 / 5.0 on average based on 2,836 reviews.

Trusted by leading brands and startups

Hire Freelance UX Strategists

Kevin Korpi

Verified Expert in Design
UTC-08:00
United States
Toptal Member Since March 26, 2018

Kevin is a product designer and writer who works and plays in the hills of the Pacific Northwest. Over the past 20 years, he's contributed to messaging-based, conversational experiences with Microsoft Research; Android, ads, and analytics with Google; connected action cameras with Contour; devices and reading experiences at Amazon; and consumer, financial, and enterprise products in the US and Japan.

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Kate Valdes

Verified Expert in Design
UTC-08:00
United States
Toptal Member Since March 4, 2020

With 15 years of design industry experience, Kate has produced successful digital experiences for both startups and well-known name brands alike, such as Netflix and BlackLine. This includes projects across industries and platforms. Leveraging her background in user research, Kate is able to bridge the gap between strategy and experience, integrating design thinking into the most complex of workflows.

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Jiyoun Lee-Lodge

Verified Expert in Design
UTC-07:00
United States
Toptal Member Since April 6, 2021

Jiyoun is a creative professional with 10+ years of experience developing quality products while focusing on new feature development, product usability, and customer journeys. Skilled in overseeing the user experience of a product from conception until launch. She's able to utilize a user-centered approach and design thinking skills; excel at conducting user research, defining challenges and constraints, proposing innovative solutions, and creating prototypes to share project vision.

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Guilherme Penalva

Verified Expert in Design
UTC-03:00
Brazil
Toptal Member Since May 10, 2023

Guilherme is a PM, UX researcher, content, and product designer who has worked on 52+ design projects in his 11 years of experience. He's collaborated with startups and worldwide billionaire corporations, handling deliveries in ideation workshops, new product discoveries, UI/UX improvements, and new business strategies. Guilherme has multidisciplinary knowledge in art, business, data analytics, marketing, media production, psychology, tech, and AI tools.

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Jonathan Vaughan

Verified Expert in Design
UTC+00:00
United Kingdom
Toptal Member Since November 13, 2019

From delivering a million pizzas in six months to the sale of the world’s most expensive car, Jonathan has accumulated a breadth of experience in the decade he’s worked in UX. He’s designed products and services used and loved by millions for Bentley, McDonald’s, Gucci, Expedia, and Unilever. As an award-winning experience director, he’s delivered world-class, multi-channel projects for R/GA, Huge, POSSIBLE, Publicis.Sapient, and VMLY&R.

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Rob Armes

Verified Expert in Design
UTC+00:00
United Kingdom
Toptal Member Since October 3, 2022

Rob is an entrepreneur and consultant passionate about how digital can enable organizations to rethink their business models and digital strategy shifting toward circularity. Rob has coached design thinking, steered product and UX strategy, assisted in recruitment, and helped win new business. He has worked with clients such as Aviva Investors Security Bank, Transport for Wales, London Metal Exchange, Rentokil Initial, HM Courts & Tribunals Service, The Scottish Government, and Randstad.

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Anton Roolaart

Verified Expert in Design
UTC+01:00
Netherlands
Toptal Member Since September 4, 2019

Anton is an award-winning creative UX leader with more than 20 years of experience designing user experiences. He is skillful in UX strategy, design, processes, user research, and prototyping, promoting design thinking methodologies. Anton's previous clients spring from various industries, including JPMorgan Chase Bank, Pfizer (site intelligence for clinical trials), Newmind (legal firm), Epidemic Sound (music licensing), Sirius Energy (alternative energy), Monex (fintech), Hilton, and more.

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Tom Welters

Verified Expert in Design
UTC+01:00
Germany
Toptal Member Since December 9, 2022

Tom has specialized in designing digital products from concept to production, focusing on synthesizing user experience and business strategy. With a diverse design and social science background, he developed a habit of looking for the bigger picture, building a vision of how every aspect of a user experience feeds into a larger user journey and product strategy. He loves solving complex design challenges while maintaining a beautiful, user-centric visual language.

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Al Khan

Verified Expert in Design
UTC+01:00
Switzerland
Toptal Member Since February 11, 2022

Ali is an enthusiastic and passionate product designer who enjoys the challenge of transforming complex workflows across several industries into elegant UI/UX solutions. His adaptability, analytical mindset, and strategic approach combined with a stellar eye for design makes Ali consistently deliver intuitive and enjoyable experiences across iOS, Android, and responsive web. Ali holds a bachelor's degree in architecture and a master's degree in integrative design from Basel.

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Brian Pagán, EngD, MSc

Verified Expert in Design
UTC+02:00
Netherlands
Toptal Member Since June 7, 2019

Brian is a US ex-pat working as a human experience designer focused on healthcare, sustainability, fintech, and IoT. For 20 years, Brian helped startups and businesses like Philips, ING, Land Life Company, and WaitWhat turn innovation strategies into award-winning products and services. His specialties include prototyping, behavioral design, and UX strategy. Brian has given talks and workshops in 12 countries. His first book, The Creative Empathy Field Guide, is available in ebook and paperback.

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Sayeed Afzal

Verified Expert in Design
UTC+05:00
India
Toptal Member Since July 28, 2022

Sayeed has been working as a UI/UX professional for 5+ years with top clients from the fintech, blockchain, and edtech industries. Currently leading Wilson Wings' product design team, he specializes in UX strategy, UI/UX design, UX audit, rapid prototyping, and consulting. Sayeed is willing to help new clients by using his 6-phase approach to solve UX problems and build products that users love and competitors struggle with.

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Discover More UX Strategists in the Toptal Network

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Toptal in the press

... allows corporations to quickly assemble teams that have the right skills for specific projects.

Despite accelerating demand for coders, Toptal prides itself on almost Ivy League-level vetting.

Our clients
Creating an app for the game
Conor Kenney
Creating an app for the game
Leading a digital transformation
Elmar Platzer
Leading a digital transformation
Building a cross-platform app to be used worldwide
Building a cross-platform app to be used worldwide
Drilling into real-time data creates an industry game changer
Drilling into real-time data creates an industry game changer
Testimonials

How to Hire UX Strategists Through Toptal

1

Talk to One of Our Client Advisors

A Toptal client advisor will work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics.
2

Work With Hand-selected Talent

Within days, we’ll introduce you to the right UX strategy designer for your project. Average time to match is under 24 hours.
3

The Right Fit, Guaranteed

Work with your new UX strategist for a trial period (pay only if satisfied), ensuring they’re the right fit before starting the engagement.

EXCEPTIONAL TALENT

How We Source the Top 3% of UX Strategists

Our name “Toptal” comes from Top Talent—meaning we constantly strive to find and work with the best from around the world. Our rigorous screening process identifies experts in their domains who have passion and drive.

Of the thousands of applications Toptal sees each month, typically fewer than 3% are accepted.

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Capabilities of UX Strategists

UX strategy connects user insight to product direction. By grounding decisions in research and validating outcomes through measurable results, UX strategists help teams design experiences that evolve around real user needs while supporting long-term business objectives.

Strategic Direction

Product roadmaps are strongest when they’re shaped by real user insight. UX strategists ground design direction in research while aligning plans with business goals, helping teams move forward with confidence and balance user satisfaction with long-term commercial viability.

User Research and Analysis

Understanding how people actually use a product requires both observation and measurement. UX strategy designers synthesize qualitative and quantitative insight to uncover real pain points, guiding design decisions that address proven needs rather than assumptions.

Collaborative Research Artifacts

Shared understanding helps teams make better decisions. UX strategy designers use personas and journey maps to visualize user needs, surface gaps across experiences, and align stakeholders with the people they’re building for, reinforcing why each customer experience matters.

Business Alignment

Effective UX strategy connects user needs to measurable business outcomes. Toptal UX strategists align roadmaps with organizational goals by linking user stories to growth opportunities and defining KPIs that reflect both user satisfaction and real business impact.

UX Assessments

Clear assessments help teams understand where experiences break down. UX strategy designers evaluate digital products to uncover friction across journeys, then prioritize recommendations that align user needs with development efforts and strengthen overall product viability.

Product Roadmaps

Strong product roadmaps balance ambition with reality. Toptal UX strategists shape plans around user needs while accounting for technical constraints, timelines, and business priorities, helping teams deliver milestones that create immediate value and support long-term, iterative product growth.

Cross-functional Collaboration

User-centered thinking works best when it’s shared across teams. UX strategists help align product, design, engineering, and marketing decisions around a common understanding of user needs, reducing fragmentation and ensuring experiences and messaging move forward with clarity and cohesion.

UX KPIs

Clear metrics help teams understand whether design decisions are working. UX strategy designers define and track KPIs that reflect user behavior and satisfaction, using performance signals over time to validate choices, surface friction, and guide product direction with confidence.

Internal Alignment

Alignment happens when teams build solutions together. Toptal UX strategists facilitate collaborative sessions that surface diverse perspectives, clarify user challenges, and create shared ownership around decisions, helping organizations move forward with confidence and a stronger commitment to execution.

User Advocacy

When you keep real users at the center of decision-making, product direction stays aligned with genuine demand. Toptal UX strategists reinforce priorities through ongoing research and feedback, helping teams evaluate new ideas with evidence rather than through assumptions.

FAQs

  • Typically, you can hire UX strategists with Toptal in about 48 hours. For larger teams of talent or full end-to-end project delivery, timelines may vary. Our talent matchers are highly skilled in the same fields they’re matching in—they’re not recruiters or HR reps. They’ll work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics, and match you with ideal candidates from our vetted global talent network.

    Once you select your UX strategist, you’ll have a no-risk trial period to ensure they’re the perfect fit. Our matching process has a 98% trial-to-hire rate, so you can rest assured that you’re getting the best fit every time.

  • To hire the right UX strategist, it’s important to evaluate a candidate’s experience, technical skills, and communication skills. You’ll also want to consider the fit with your particular industry, company, and project. Toptal’s rigorous screening process ensures that every member of our network has excellent experience and skills, and our team will match you with the perfect UX strategists for your project.

  • At Toptal, we thoroughly screen our UX strategy designers to ensure we only match you with the highest caliber of talent. Of the more than 200,000 people who apply to join the Toptal network each year, fewer than 3% make the cut.

    In addition to screening for industry-leading expertise, we also assess candidates’ language and interpersonal skills to ensure that you have a smooth working relationship.

    When you hire UX strategy designers with Toptal, you’ll always work with world-class, custom-matched UX strategists ready to help you achieve your goals.

  • You can hire UX strategists on an hourly, part-time, or full-time basis. Toptal can also manage the project end-to-end based on your specific requirements as part of our Consulting and Services offerings. Whether you hire a UX strategist for a full- or part-time position, you’ll have the control and flexibility to scale your team up or down as your needs evolve. Our UX strategists can fully integrate into your existing team for a seamless working experience.

  • We make sure that each engagement between you and your UX strategist begins with a trial period of up to two weeks. This means that you have time to confirm the engagement will be successful. If you’re completely satisfied with the results, we’ll bill you for the time and continue the engagement for as long as you’d like. If you’re not completely satisfied, you won’t be billed. From there, we can either part ways, or we can provide you with another UX strategist who may be a better fit and with whom we will begin a second, no-risk trial.

Toptal Lets You Hire Fast,
With Unparalleled Success

  • Trusted Talent Only

    Trusted Talent Only

    Our talent network is composed of thoroughly vetted professionals who ramp up quickly, function as essential team members, and deliver results.

  • Precise Matching

    Precise Matching

    Our experienced talent matchers specialize in identifying talent that fits your needs. They work to understand your exact requirements and hand-select the best professionals for your project.

  • Seamless Hiring

    Seamless Hiring

    We handle all aspects of billing, payments, and NDAs, streamlining the hiring process so you can focus on innovation, not overhead.

  • No-risk Trial Period

    No-risk Trial Period

    We want to be sure your engagement is a total success, so we offer a no-risk trial period. Work with your new hire for up to two weeks and pay only if you’re satisfied.

  • Effortless Scaling

    Effortless Scaling

    We help you scale your team up or down as needed, with quick and efficient hiring in under 48 hours.

  • Flexible Engagements

    Flexible Engagements

    Our flexible engagement models allow you to choose the engagement type that suits your needs and adjust it anytime: hourly, part time, or full time.

Top UX Strategists Are in High Demand.

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