[Sigia-l] Job- Open Senior UX Architect-NYC

[Laura Hunter]

My client in Midtown is one of the oldest most respected publications in the
western world on politics,  world affairs and economics.  With corporate HQ
in the UK, they are in the process of redesigning their online properties in
addition to a multitude of leading edge micro sites leveraging online
experiences for their spaces in a whole new way.  The environment is
exciting and fast paced, the UX group is small and growing and the
opportunity to make a dynamic and recognizable contribution to this over 100
year old publication is unprecedented!  The right candidate for this
position will posses excellent User Experience skills including but not
limited to strong Information Architecture skills and excellent user
research and testing experience.  The position is capped at 120,000 annually
with excellent bonuses, a liberal sick policy and fabulous benefits.  It's a
European company so there is a more robust and wizened approach to the
employee/company relationship.

 

The job description is below.  Interested parties please email a resume with
work samples to: laura.hunter at vividresources.com

 

User Experience Architect Description

The User Experience team is responsible for creating a world-class online
experience for a high-profile news site with a sophisticated, demanding and
international audience. This includes experience planning, information
architecture, user research, interaction design and visual design. 

The Senior User Experience Architect plays a key role in the team. With a
strong HCI (human computer interaction) background the architect helps lead
the online business by practicing user-centered design in a fast-paced,
rapid development environment.  

We are looking for a strong practitioner and leader who will gather
requirements, review customer feedback and market analysis, and help design
and analyze user research to create effective, desirable and intuitive user
interfaces that meet business and user needs and reduce time to market, and
who translates the design into actionable tasks and projects. 

The user experience architect works with editorial and commercial teams to
understand business goals and with designers and developers to guide the
prototyping and implementation process.

Projects include Web sites and applications, and products and services for
other delivery platforms.

This position may require up to 25% travel but will probably be somewhere
around2-3 one week trips per year.

 

Key accountabilities

.         Gather business requirements

.         Help design, conduct and analyze qualitative and quantitative
research 

.         Help develop presentations, personas and use cases to foster and
evangelize the understanding of the target audience, users and their goals
in the editorial, commercial and development teams

.         Define usability requirements

.         Establish and maintain industry best practices 

.         Translate business requirements and user needs into effective,
desirable, and intuitive user interfaces that meet business and user needs

.         Develop representations that communicate designs clearly for
developers and designers (e.g. conceptual diagrams, site maps, interaction
models, wireframes, and specifications).

.         Work closely with product development, technology, editorial and
commercial teams 

.         Conduct heuristic reviews and user tests to identify key user
problems 

.         Contribute to product development by introducing new ideas and
creative approaches

.         Advocate for and champion user experience

.         Maintain and share awareness of industry trends and new
technologies and explore those that would benefit the  business and the
audience

 

Decision rights

.         Schedule commitments for individual projects

.         Approve feature implementation by developers

.         Recommend design and implementation strategies to management.

.         Recommend procedures and processes to improve productivity 

.         Assist management in hiring new team members

.         Assist management in the selection of vendors and service
providers

 

Performance measures

.         Interfaces adhere to industry best practices

.         High level of customer satisfaction with user interface

.         Meets agreed deadlines in project plans

.         Meets objectives set out in specific projects

 

 


Skills and capabilities profile

 


Education and training

.         Bachelor's degree required

.         Degree or study in information architecture, human-computer
interaction, information design, or a related field

.         Graphic design and web development experience a plus


Previous work experience 

.         At least five years of experience as information architect,
interaction designer, experience designer or similar role

.         Three or more years of applied experience in designing usable web
interfaces

.         Three or more years of applied information architecture experience

.         Demonstrated ability to produce user-centered design solutions as
evidenced by a portfolio or samples of work

.         Proven experience creating successful, large-scale,
consumer-facing sites

.         Experience in gathering and documenting requirements for web-based
products

.         Experience designing accessible websites

.         Experience with qualitative and quantitative user studies (e.g.
usability tests, polls/surveys, field research)

.         Experience conducting usability testing

.         Proven experience in working with cross functional teams

.         Familiarity with technical issues around web development and
ability to work constructively with development teams 

.         A plus: Experience designing news and/or information interfaces

.         A plus: Experience designing and analyzing web statistics

.         A plus: Experience designing content management systems


Knowledge

.         Strong understanding of user-centered design methodologies

.         Fluency in human computer interaction 

.         Fluency in best practices for web-based information architecture
and design, as well as strong knowledge of usability principles, issues, and
techniques.


IT

.         Excellent wire-framing skills (Microsoft Visio or equivalent)

.         Very good Photoshop skills

.         Excellent Microsoft Office skills (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)


Personal attributes and skills

.         Exceptional written and oral communication skills (comfortable in
interacting with executives)

.         Comfortable working in a small team

.         Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment

 

 

Thank you,

Laura

 

 

Laura Hunter

Vivid Resources

office-559-684-1070

cell-559-303-9018

fax-559-684-0820

laura.hunter at vividresources.com

www.vividresources.com