Senior UX Researcher/Designer

Do you have a passion for higher education? Do you want to make a positive impact on the college admissions process? Our staff helps to remove barriers and encourage students to forge their path to a better future. Common App is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to the pursuit of access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. Each year we support more than 1 million students, one-third of whom are first-generation, as they apply to our nearly 900 diverse member college & universities using the Common App's free online application. If you have a background in human-centered design and want to be part of a mission-driven non-profit that uses innovative technology to advance the college admission process, Common App may be a great match for you. Common App is currently searching for a User Experience Researcher/Designer.

Reporting to the Associate Director of User Experience, the User Experience Researchers/Designer is part of a team of designers that ensures an effective user experience across all Common App products. Possessing a deep knowledge of human-centered design and design-thinking methodologies, this individual will lead the ideation and design of user experience research methodologies that address the needs and goals of stakeholders. This includes proactively identifying, planning, and executing user testing activities including usability studies, focus group sessions, interviews, surveys, and other research-gathering methods that bring new and deeper insights to Common App. Our designers are evangelists for the user needs throughout project lifecycles. They partner with our project managers, product managers, developers, and QA testers to understand and achieve solutions that meet user needs through a collaborative and iterative process.

The ideal candidate will possess a bachelor's degree and least four to six years of professional experience in with human-centered design and design-thinking methodologies. Candidates must be highly proficient in planning, conducting, analyzing, and synthesizing user research into design strategy. They should highlight their expertise in research methods and tools, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, analytics tools as well as expertise in design concepts and tools such as Adobe XD, Adobe suite, Lucid chart, and Balsamiq. Candidates must possess exceptional communication, active listening, presentation, interpersonal, and analytical skills including the ability to communicate complex design concepts clearly and collaboratively across diverse audiences and varying levels of the organization. Experience in higher education or student-related work is preferred. Ability to work effectively in a diverse, virtual environment is required.

Common App employees may work virtually from anywhere in the United States. Common App values our employees' time and efforts. Common App's office is located in Arlington, Virginia, however we work in a virtual first environment. Our commitment to your success is enhanced by our competitive salary and an extensive benefits package including paid time off, medical, dental and vision benefits and future growth opportunities within the organization. Plus, we work to maintain the best possible environment for our staff, where people can learn and grow. We strive to provide a collaborative, team-oriented, creative environment where each person feels encouraged to contribute to our processes, decisions, planning and culture.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please submit your resume and cover letter with salary expectations at https://apply.workable.com/commonapp/.