I'm Ben Roach. I specialize in turning complexity into clear, measurable business impact through design.

My work sits at the intersection of complex technology, human needs, and operational scale. I design everything from interfaces to the organizations and strategies required to deliver them.

At Google, I lead the global Privacy, Safety & Security UX design organization, which owns a wide portfolio of dozens of tools used to protect Alphabet's infrastructure and our billions of users from the world's most sophisticated threat actors. My team doesn't just "support" engineering; we are strategic partners in defining the future of cyber defense, data protection, risk management, and more.

Previously at Amazon, I led strategic design initiatives to fundamentally shift our search experience from a static list of products to a dynamic shopping engine. I've also spent time at leading digital agencies and start ups.

Resume

Experience

Google

Staff UX Manager

2019 – Present

Amazon

Principal UX Designer

2015 – 2019

Sapient

Experience Design Lead

2014 – 2015

Suite

Design Director (Founding)

2010 – 2014

How I lead

My leadership philosophy is built on years of hands-on experience and reinforced by research into the skills most essential for effective leadership.

Deliver results

I believe results are your most powerful form of currency. Designs that don't solve real-world problems are just art.

Set and achieve goals

I drive impact by setting ambitions targets and making the decisive calls necessary to keep my team aligned and focused through any challenge.

Set and achieve goals

I drive impact by setting ambitions targets and making the decisive calls necessary to keep my team aligned and focused through any challenge.

Set and achieve goals

I drive impact by setting ambitions targets and making the decisive calls necessary to keep my team aligned and focused through any challenge.

Prioritize & allocate resources

I prioritize high-impact work and manage our resources to ensure every team member is positioned to deliver their best results.

Prioritize & allocate resources

I prioritize high-impact work and manage our resources to ensure every team member is positioned to deliver their best results.

Prioritize & allocate resources

I prioritize high-impact work and manage our resources to ensure every team member is positioned to deliver their best results.

Drive AI transformation

I champion the strategic and responsible use of AI, coaching my team to experiment with new tools that transform how we work.

Drive AI transformation

I champion the strategic and responsible use of AI, coaching my team to experiment with new tools that transform how we work.

Drive AI transformation

I champion the strategic and responsible use of AI, coaching my team to experiment with new tools that transform how we work.

Empower the team

I believe leaders are measured by the success of their people. When you invest in individual potential, high performance becomes a natural byproduct.

Clear expectations & feedback

I drive impact by setting ambitions targets and making the decisive calls necessary to keep my team aligned and focused through any challenge.

Clear expectations & feedback

I drive impact by setting ambitions targets and making the decisive calls necessary to keep my team aligned and focused through any challenge.

Clear expectations & feedback

I drive impact by setting ambitions targets and making the decisive calls necessary to keep my team aligned and focused through any challenge.

Individual development

I partner with my team to understand their strengths and identify growth opportunities to advance their careers.

Individual development

I partner with my team to understand their strengths and identify growth opportunities to advance their careers.

Individual development

I partner with my team to understand their strengths and identify growth opportunities to advance their careers.

Strategic team growth

I build high-performing teams by hiring strategically and making talent decisions that support business objectives.

Strategic team growth

I build high-performing teams by hiring strategically and making talent decisions that support business objectives.

Strategic team growth

I build high-performing teams by hiring strategically and making talent decisions that support business objectives.

Cultivate culture

I believe culture is a team’s operating system. If the "how" is broken, the output suffers. True innovation thrives in inclusive environments where individuals feel safe taking calculated risks and swinging for the fences.

Role modeling

I lead by example, upholding a culture of respect and ensuring that how we achieve our goals is just as important as the results themselves.

Role modeling

I lead by example, upholding a culture of respect and ensuring that how we achieve our goals is just as important as the results themselves.

Role modeling

I lead by example, upholding a culture of respect and ensuring that how we achieve our goals is just as important as the results themselves.

Mission-first environment

I inspire my team by connecting their daily work to our broader mission as a company, encouraging them to innovate and excel together.

Mission-first environment

I inspire my team by connecting their daily work to our broader mission as a company, encouraging them to innovate and excel together.

Mission-first environment

I inspire my team by connecting their daily work to our broader mission as a company, encouraging them to innovate and excel together.

Team norms & wellbeing

I foster an inclusive culture by setting healthy team norms and balancing workloads to ensure my team stays supported and performs at a high, sustainable level.

Team norms & wellbeing

I foster an inclusive culture by setting healthy team norms and balancing workloads to ensure my team stays supported and performs at a high, sustainable level.

Team norms & wellbeing

I foster an inclusive culture by setting healthy team norms and balancing workloads to ensure my team stays supported and performs at a high, sustainable level.

Problems I solve

I specialize in solving multifaceted organizational and product challenges that directly impact business growth and social welfare. His expertise as a design leader is defined by his ability to transform high-stakes ambiguity into measurable success across several distinct problem categories.

Scaling design organizations in technical domains

I specialize in establishing design infrastructure within high-stakes, complex environments that lack existing UX maturity. I build global design functions from the ground up, implementing the operational processes and team culture necessary to scale from zero to a large, high-performing organization.

Translating user experience into revenue

I specialize in leveraging data-driven design strategy and rigorous experimentation to simplify workflows and drive customer conversion. I transform specific usability gaps into high-leverage opportunities that drive significant incremental annual revenue.

Navigating crisis and organizational change

I specialize in bridging critical gaps during organizational shifts or global crises where rapid response is essential. By converting reactive, one-off fixes into sustainable global operating models, I significantly excel at minimizing disruption and maintaining business momentum.

Driving AI transformation

I bridge the gap between advanced technical capability and actual team or user value by demystifying technologies like AI and Large Language Models (LLMs). I partner with engineering teams to create human-centered AI strategies that automate low-value tasks and drive measurable efficiency gains for end users.

Rearchitecting fragmented legacy ecosystems

I inject fresh life into disjointed legacy environments that suffer from years of siloed development and technical debt. I solve the problem of broken user journeys by auditing fragmented toolsets and implementing unified design systems that streamline workflows and reduce enterprise risk.

Scaling design organizations

Translating UX into revenue

Navigating crisis and change

Driving AI transformation

Rearchitecting legacy ecosystems

Off the clock

When I'm not chasing a single-digit handicap on the golf course or working in the garden with my kids (the "grounds crew"), you can usually find me in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes, on the couch watching the Green Bay Packers, or on the deck listening to live Grateful Dead shows at full volume.