Senior Product Designer
Position based in Cambridge, Massachusetts | Product team | Full-time
CollegeVine is looking for a senior designer to help define the future of guidance and higher education attainment.
The right applicant for this role has proven experience with leading Product Design from start to finish, is well versed in the UX and UI processes involved, cares about the big goals their work helps achieve, and is discerning about company culture.
First, we are leveling the playing field of higher education for all students, regardless of socioeconomic status. To do this, we intend to make virtual guidance services available through data and technology. As a Designer at an early-stage company with national reach, you will influence the entire next generation of high schoolers and college grads-to-be. We encourage all applicants to learn more at https://www.collegevine.com.
Second, we are looking for candidates who wish to join an R&D organization centered around autonomy, authenticity, excellence, and pragmatism.
A few things to know about us:
- You will be working on a cross-functional team with a product manager and engineers, and in close collaboration with all stakeholders across the company. Every team member here cares a lot about product.
- We keep in touch with real users of our product (through usability tests, conversational interviews, data, etc.) every week, and expect the product to reflect what we've learned.
- Old-school ed-tech user experiences are not acceptable to us. Our offerings must impress and work for a wide audience since we serve students and their families. On any given day, our product is used by high schoolers, college students, young professionals, guidance counselors, parents, and grandparents from all walks of life.
- And finally, we hope to set and maintain a level of excellence in the tools we build.
What We Expect From You
- An appetite for clear reasoning and data-supported design decisions
- A portfolio of work demonstrating your process, the business context, the final product, learnings, and results. We especially appreciate an ability to make the case for the value of design via compelling case studies
- 4+ years of industry experience, including project leadership
- Flexibility to move between quick experiments and high-polish design work, depending on business need
- Active participation in prioritization & business discussions
- Comfort with ambiguity
Responsibilities
- Solve user problems start to finish: from initial research, to delivering polished UI, to measuring results
- Own the quality of your work
- Be nimble in moving from early experiment mode (quickly identify the best-performing ones among many ideas) to refinement mode (optimize an existing feature so that it delights users)
We offer a competitive salary, equity, and a full suite of benefits. Some of them are unconventional, but awesome for the right person.
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance with a very generous employer contribution.
- Flexible hours with a 4-hour core - plan the rest of your workday as you wish, just give us the majority of your most creative hours. Productivity ideas: avoid traffic, never wait in line at the grocery store, wake up without an alarm clock, be around for your family.
- Goal-based environment (as opposed to grind-based or decree-based environment; work smarter, not harder; intelligently, not mindlessly). We collaborate on setting goals, but you set your own process for accomplishing those goals. You will be entrusted with a lot of responsibility and you might even experience fulfillment and self-actualization as a result.
- Join an R&D culture that celebrates mindfulness and takes the quality of your attention seriously. We don't spam our slack channels; your manager will not come tap you on the shoulder asking for pointless things; we write things down after we discuss them in person; we try to minimize meetings.
- Active participation in prioritization & business discussions
- Comfort with ambiguity
This position is based in Cambridge, MA. You must be willing and able to join us at our Cambridge office (near the Alewife T Station) for a majority of the workday.
Expect autonomy in exchange for transparency and results. Since you are well-read, curious, and self-aware, we will treat you like the awesome, interesting adult that you are. We have core hours and a goal-based environment; we understand mindfulness and the value of deep focus. We're chasing a big idea and we need every good teammate we can find.