Product (UX) Design Lead

Learning Ally is a leading nonprofit education solutions organization that transforms the lives of struggling learners by delivering proven literacy solutions that help students reach their potential. Our mission is to radically change education, transforming the lives of children by providing reading interventions and solutions to help them succeed academically, build self-confidence, and thrive in school and beyond. In the US, 65% of fourth graders read below proficiency and are 400% more likely to drop-out of high school. For most “at risk” students (students of color, low income, English Language Learners and students with learning disabilities) the problem is even more acute.

Learning Ally seeks to break this cycle. With early student assessment, intervention and accommodation and professional development for educators, Learning Ally can identify and prevent learning issues by working with schools and educators to support new and struggling readers. Our solutions build a strong foundation for independent, engaged learners who are empowered to achieve socially, emotionally, and academically, regardless of background or learning difference.

Founded in 1948 as Recording for the Blind, to help soldiers who lost their sight in combat continue their education with audiobook products, Learning Ally has evolved to help individuals understand the unique ways they learn and match them to the solutions that enable personal achievement. Today, Learning Ally reaches over 1,500,000 students, 200,000 educators and 18,550 schools across the country and continues to expand its reach. With a continued commitment to supporting students who learn differently, Learning Ally has joined researchers and neuroscientists from renowned institutions including UCSF and MIT, to better understand and address learning issues. You will find that our culture is one that is very committed to our mission, innovation, professional growth, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Are you a curious innovator who wants to make an impact on society? Do you want to craft delightful and important products for a company with inclusivity at its heart? If so, this is an opportunity for you.

We seek an experienced product (UX) design lead to bolster Learning Ally’s research and design capabilities. As a product design lead, you’ll play a pivotal role in defining and designing the experience of millions of students and educators – taking science-based reading practices and making them accessible, engaging, and joyful for the many stakeholders (students, guardians, teachers, school administrators, and more) in the education system. In addition, you will set the standard for quality design – developing the practices that ensure that our products are built on solid insights and scalability and deliver on outcomes.

Responsibilities:

• Partner with product and technology leadership: Craft Experience Strategies to set vision and influence strategic product roadmaps and tech strategy. Activities will include Workshop Facilitation, Concept Creation and Testing, Current State/Future State Analysis, and Roadmapping. Occasionally lead and regularly consult on how to measure the effectiveness of our experiences and solutions.
• Lead design on complex products: Execute on dev-ready designs ensuring they are delightful, inclusive, and sustainable. Activities will include Information Architecture, Interaction Design, Visual Design, and Usability Studies.
• Collaborate on Generative Research: Occasionally lead and regularly collaborate on generative research activities.
• Guiding Design Practices: You will outline best practices and guidelines for product managers, designers, engineering, and other stakeholders. In addition, you will support evangelizing human-centered design across the enterprise and help coach and mentor to evolve, integrate, or develop new products and services.
• Process Optimization: Help inform our Research and Design process to maximize our value and impact across the enterprise.
• Design Operations: Support the build-out and formalize our Design System and help manage design and research vendors.

Minimum Qualifications

• 5 years of experience in designing complex digital products with multiple user types
• Multiple projects demonstrate how you’ve impacted outcomes across a range of design projects and deliverables (UX, UI, Service Design, Product Design, etc.)
• Ability to craft approaches and drive multiple medium complexity initiatives with minimal guidance
• Hands-on experience conducting formative and summative research using various qualitative and quantitative methods
• Experience in Lean UX methodologies such as (Multivariate (A/B) Experimentation in Production)
• Experience designing with Accessibility
• Demonstration of an understanding of DEI in design approach
• Experience designing with a design system
• Ability to consult and mentor designers and other stakeholders
• An appreciation of the power of storytelling and experience present recommendations to internal stakeholders in a clear and compelling way
• A desire to lead the design and engage with collaborative, multi-disciplinary teams and other departments
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience
• Self-driven and independent

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience with Service Design
• Experience with building out and optimizing a Design System
• Hands-on experience conducting generative research
• Experience with ethnographic research
• Experience leading large bodies of work and research strategy against a diverse portfolio

Learning Ally is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.