Senior UX/UI Designer (Term)_

The Senior UX/UI Designer is a term-limited position that is part of the Digital Strategies team within the Communications and Marketing department at Vanderbilt University and is responsible for creating holistic user experiences and user interfaces for university-wide digital products. This position partners closely with development, content strategy, and project management to achieve design solutions that align with the university’s strategic goals, brand standards, technical needs, and usability best practices.Working closely with stakeholders across the university, this position is responsible for translating strategic marketing and communication goals, research, and discovery into end products that achieve results. Using a keen eye for typography, layout, and color the Senior UX/UI Designer will understand how to interpret or enhance the university’s design system into cohesive digital experiences that are in alignment with usability best practices and trends. Additionally, the Senior UX/UI designer needs to be proficient in understanding interactivity, functionality, accessibility, and screen responsiveness, as well as having experience working closely with developers or engineers to implement designs in a WordPress environment. Goals will include delighting users, promoting engagement, and encouraging desired actions that achieve KPIs with the university’s core audiences including prospective students, alumni, faculty, external academic thought leaders and athletics fans.Reporting directly to the Director of UX/UI, this position does not have supervisory responsibilities. This role only requires the ability to report to work in-person on the Vanderbilt University campus on a rare occasion with the option to work in-person more frequently if desired.The Digital Strategies team within Communications and Marketing is an expert group of designers, content strategists, web developers, and project managers. Its mission is to create and enable digital experiences that bring out the best in the Vanderbilt community and showcase its excellence to the world. The team is responsible for developing and executing strategic content and developing digital platforms that advance the university’s priorities and promote engagement amongst all core audiences.The Communications and Marketing team at Vanderbilt is a dynamic and collaborative group. The division serves as the institution-wide center of excellence for communications and marketing, developing, and executing strategies that inform, engage, and inspire others to participate in Vanderbilt University’s global academic and research mission. The division is a key strategic adviser and partner for the mission-based work of the university, providing comprehensive communications and marketing plans and thoughtful analysis of messaging opportunities and constraints. The Communications and Marketing team delivers impactful marketing and communications results across key audiences to serve the larger mission, values, and priorities of the university.NOTE: A Term position is a staff position that exists for a period longer than six months but is not expected to last beyond one year. Although a position may exist for a specified or indefinite period, staff who accept term positions are not guaranteed employment for the entire period; they are employed for indefinite periods within the limit of the appointment. There are no guarantees of continued employment, either within the term or when the term ends.Duties and Responsibilities:+ Help evolve the Vanderbilt design system and drive its adoption through a university wide migration project and stakeholder enablement initiative.+ Design digital experiences that translate research, discovery and strategy while meeting university and stakeholder objectives.+ Own all aspects of the design process for digital experiences including wireframing, mockups, high fidelity designs, prototyping, and hand-off to developers.+ Demonstrate a high level of comfort with HTML/CSS and Wordpress and a familiarity with Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, Miro, and other relevant tools.+ Oversee the implementation of solutions from design mockups to the final QA process, working closely with developers and project managers.+ Be a strong advocate for the end-user while influencing and addressing the expectations of key business stakeholders.+ Partner with content strategists, developers, analysts, and agencies to bring digital experiences to life with innovative, on-brand design solutions.+ Align digital content with mobile apps and other channels to promote optimal user experiences.+ Be an advocate for designs that achieve accessibility standards and device responsiveness.+ Efficiently and effectively manage multiple, complex, and results-oriented projects with both quick turn-around requirements and long lead times.+ Think creatively and pragmatically with a willingness to consider many options, problem solve and take directives as necessary.+ Serve as a self-motivated, self-critical, open-minded, creative, and engaged colleague interested in working in a collaborative and communicative environment.+ Demonstrate excellence in news judgment, written communications, and presentation skills with the ability to present creative rationales.+ Adhere to confidentiality and business ethics.+ Demonstrate understanding of the university’s mission, values, goals and priorities and an ability to ensure that all are considered when executing work.+ Operate in a highly organized fashion with attention to detail on all projects.+ Provide overall support as needed and assigned for department priorities.+ Perform other relevant duties as assigned.Qualifications+ A High School diploma or equivalent is necessary and a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education is preferred.+ 3-5 years of related work experience in UX/UI design is necessary.+ Proficiency in Figma is necessary, knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite, Miro, and Sketch, and user research tools such as hotjar, Google Analytics and Userlytics or equivalent is preferred.+ Adept in all aspects of visual design with a portfolio of previous work that demonstrates expertise is necessary.+ Experience working with and evolving design systems and pattern libraries is necessary.+ Experience working closely with developers to interpret designs is necessary.+ Familiarity with HTML/CSS and Wordpress is necessary.+ Thorough working knowledge of the full suite of Microsoft Office products is necessary.+ Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and InclusionAt Vanderbilt University, we are intentional about and assume accountability for fostering advancement and respect for equity, diversity, and inclusion for all students, faculty, and staff. Our commitment to diversity makes us who we are. We have created a community that celebrates differences and lets individuality thrive. As part of this commitment, we actively value diversity in our workplace and learning environments as we seek to take advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of everyone. The diverse voices of Vanderbilt represent an invaluable resource for the University in its efforts to fulfill its mission and strive to be an example of excellence in higher education.Vanderbilt University 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 status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.Please note, all candidates selected for an offer of employment are subject to pre-employment background checks, which may include but are not limited to, based on the role for which they have been selected: criminal history, education verification, social media review, motor vehicle records, credit history, and professional license verification.Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion At Vanderbilt University, we are intentional about and assume accountability for fostering advancement and respect for equity, diversity, and inclusion for all students, faculty, and staff. Our commitment to diversity makes us who we are. We have created a community that celebrates differences and lets individuality thrive. As part of this commitment, we actively value diversity in our workplace and learning environments as we seek to take advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of everyone. The diverse voices of Vanderbilt represent an invaluable resource for the University in its efforts to fulfill its mission and strive to be an example of excellence in higher education. Vanderbilt University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, people with disabilities, and protected veterans are encouraged to apply.