Design and UX Senior Manager

Job Description

SUMMARY: The Senior Manager of UX Design applies a user-centered design methodology to design successful solutions for education-related applications that support business goals and user needs, while leading a team of UX Designers. As part of an agile team, the Senior Manager, UX Design initiates user research; translates user goals and requirements into interactive user experiences for desktop and mobile devices via concepts, wireframes, and prototypes; reviews the implementation; and provides recommendations based on usability testing results. The Senior Manager, UX Design acts as the lead on a scrum team, supervises designers, and determines schedules for deliverables.
 
The Senior Manager, UX Design will work with Principal and Senior UX Designers, Product Owners, and Developers on the UX design of complex applications and should be creative and technically adept, an effective people leader, highly collaborative yet also able to work independently, detail-oriented, self-motivated, and passionate about improving educational experiences for users.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:   Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

• Understands and articulates the product vision, problem definition, and opportunity;

• Plans and conducts user interviews and data collection, and synthesizes findings to ground design decisions in evidence;

• Develops process maps, user and data flows, and use cases to frame problems and make complex systems legible before solutioning;

• Employs user-centered methodology to design functionality that accommodates user needs and meets the standards of navigation, layout, and labeling;

• Collaborates with multidisciplinary teams in prioritizing functional requirements and developing design solution approach;

• Communicates solution approach through development of mock-ups, user and data flows, use cases, wireframes and interactive prototypes, and specifications;

• Identifies and develops new patterns as needed;

• Provides light front-end development support and collaborates closely with developers to ensure designs are feasibly and faithfully built (familiarity with HTML/CSS and component-based UI);

• Communicates with colleagues and management to ensure product remains true to stated goals of functional design throughout development of product;

• Initiates and incorporates feedback from usability testing of designs;

• Understands and incorporates design principles and accessibility and mobile-friendly/responsive guidelines into product designs;

• Contributes to continuous improvement of the scrum team, agile processes, and the User Experience community at K12 and proactively supports knowledge-sharing within and outside the UX team;

• Leads team of UX Designers and occasional flex contributors; Provides guidance on design craft, research practice, and quality standards; sets goals, conducts performance reviews, and supports career development;

• Works closely with Product, Engineering, IT Managers, and senior executives to align UX initiatives with organizational objectives. Ensures that design solutions adhere to governance and compliance requirements, including student data privacy;

• Acts as the Lead UX Designer on a Scrum team. This involves:

• Partnering with product owners to understand the vision and business value for the feature or project; participating in planning sessions to develop and maintain the feature or product roadmap.

• Understanding the product backlog and user story prioritization in order to conduct and incorporate user research and deliver designs before implementation;

• Collaborating with cross-functional teams comprised of product management, UX Designers, Visual Designers, Developers, Testers, and other subject matter experts to understand information needs and functionality requirements, dependencies and impacts, and facilitate user story development and design.

• Ensuring delivery of artifacts as agreed to by the team including flow diagrams, conceptual designs, wireframes, interactive prototypes, visual designs, and specifications that adhere to accessibility and mobile-ready guidelines.

• Reviewing implementation for adherence to designs and style guide/

• Participating in daily standups and taking the initiative to prepare for and organize other necessary meetings such as design reviews.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES Directly supervises 6-12 Full-time Equivalent (FTE) regular employees and/or contractors.  Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

MINIMUM REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:   

• Bachelor’s degree in user experience design, human-computer interaction, product design, or related field AND
• Five (5) years of experience in planning and executing successful web applications OR
• Equivalent combination of education and experience

Certificates and Licenses: None required.

OTHER REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Solid understanding of user-centered design principles.
• Experience solving complex design problems for Web interactions or software solutions.
• Solid understanding of innovative graphical user interface design, information design, and interactive design.
• Ability to craft visual representations of large systems, complex relationships, data and task flows.
• Experience with Agile/Scrum and responsive design or mobile applications. Excellent written, oral and diagrammatic communication skills.
• Adept with relevant design and information flow software, such as Sketch or Axure.
• Ability to clear required background check

Desired Qualifications: 

• Experience designing for accessibility (WCAG 2.0).
• HTML and CSS coding experience.
• Experience working with geographically-dispersed teams.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• This position is virtual and open to residents of the 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Compensation & Benefits: Stride, Inc. considers a person’s education, experience, and qualifications, as well as the position’s work location, expected quality and quantity of work, required travel (if any), external market and internal value when determining a new employee’s salary level. Salaries will differ based on these factors, the position’s level and expected contribution, and the employee’s benefits elections.

We anticipate the salary range to be $93,328.50 to $130,000. Eligible employees may receive a bonus. This salary is not guaranteed, as an individual’s compensation can vary based on several factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, geographic location, experience, training, education, and local market conditions. Stride offers a robust benefits package for eligible employees that can include health benefits, retirement contributions, and paid time off.

The above job is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned by their supervisor.  All employment is “at-will” as governed by the law of the state where the employee works.  It is further understood that the “at-will” nature of employment is one aspect of employment that cannot be changed except in writing and signed by an authorized officer. 

Job Type

The above job is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned by their supervisor. All employment is “at-will” as governed by the law of the state where the employee works.  It is further understood that the “at-will” nature of employment is one aspect of employment that cannot be changed except in writing and signed by an authorized officer.

If you are a job seeker with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to apply for one of our jobs, you can request the appropriate accommodation by contacting stridecareers@k12.com.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

Stride, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants receive consideration for employment based on merit without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status, or any other basis prohibited by federal, state, or local law. Stride, Inc. complies with all legally required affirmative action obligations. Applicants will not be discriminated against because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant.