Senior UX/UI Designer
CommonLit is a nonprofit EdTech organization dedicated to providing high-quality literacy instruction to low-income students and students of color to prepare them for success in college and careers. We operate a free online reading and writing program, www.commonlit.org, that is used by millions of teachers and students worldwide monthly. We are a quickly growing team of passionate professionals - many of whom are former teachers. Our team is now almost 100 full-time employees spread across ~20 states.
About the Role
As a Senior UX/UI Designer at CommonLit, you’ll design user interfaces and experiences for millions of students and their teachers as part of our digitally-delivered literacy curriculum. You’ll work closely with many teams at CommonLit (Product, Engineering, Curriculum, Data, and Partnerships) to understand user needs and customer priorities, develop and test prototypes, design wireframes and mockups, support engineers and product managers throughout development, and track and continually improve product usability.
CommonLit’s product roadmap is driven by user research, data, feedback from teachers through our User Support team, and partnerships with schools and districts across the country. We work in small iterations and deploy several times a day. We’re building an application that’s used by students and teachers across a broad range of technology and connectivity access, and we take accessibility seriously.
The ideal candidate is a self-starter who is committed to our mission and excited to work for a fast-paced nonprofit startup.
Responsibilities:
Serve as a leader across product and engineering teams, uniting product managers, user researchers, engineers, and other designers in understanding design processes and how design relates to broader company strategy and goals
Work closely with user researcher to deeply understand users/customers and their needs and ensure that all designs solve for user/customer problems
Articulate and advocate for key design needs to the design team and the Chief Product Officer
Create UX/UI prototypes for new products to be used on both desktop and mobile devices
Work with user researchers and product managers to test and iterate on prototypes
Design wireframes and mockups for new and existing portions of the CommonLit user experience
Ensure that designs are technically feasible within project scope, performant, consistent with style guide, and user-friendly
Work with engineers and product managers to turn designs into implemented markup and code
Creatively problem-solve technical and usability challenges
Develop designs for multiple projects simultaneously
Optimize existing user interface designs for usability and performance
Qualifications:
5+ years experience in UX/UI design working for SaaS products (edtech experience a big plus)
Deep knowledge of information architecture, usability, and UX/UI best practices for both mobile and desktop applications
Strong understanding of functions you’ll work closely with, e.g. frontend engineering, product management, user research, marketing
Ability to communicate design needs clearly and confidently to leadership and other stakeholders, and unite a team around design strategy and processes
Expert in accessible design practices and ADA requirements
Experience implementing a component library and design systems
Experience working with UX researchers/UX research methods to deeply understand, empathize with, and advocate for end-users
Experience conducting prototype and usability testing
Experience leading design sprints and working with PMs, engineers, and UX researchers to solve user and business problems
Keen design eye and ability to design within a consistent style/brand guide
Experience with data visualizations and designing for data storytelling
Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
Expertise working in Figma and in wireframing tools like Balsamiq or Whimsical
A portfolio with 2-3 case studies that clearly demonstrate how you led a team to solve a problem for end-users and the design processes you used
Authorization to work in the U.S. without employer sponsorship
The following skills are appreciated and should be highlighted in a cover letter:
Experience working in/with communities of color
Previous people management or team lead experience
Knowledge of front-end development web programming languages such as HTML and CSS, JQuery, and JavaScript
Compensation:
$120,000 - $140,000 (commensurate with experience) plus full benefits including health care, 401k, dental, vision, and parental leave.
Apply by Date:
Please apply by January 1, 2023.
As an equal opportunity employer, CommonLit values having a diverse workforce and continuously strives to maintain an inclusive and equitable workplace. We encourage people with a diverse range of backgrounds to apply. We do not discriminate against any person based upon their race, traits historically associated with race, religion, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy or related medical conditions, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristics. If you are a qualified applicant requiring assistance or an accommodation to complete any step of the application process due to a disability, you may contact us at careers@commonlit.org.
