Associate/Senior Associate Director, User Experience (UX)

The University of Virginia Advancement Operations team is actively seeking an experienced and dynamic tech professional for the role of Senior Associate/Associate Director of UX, a new position pivotal to supporting Advancement’s technology ecosystem. This visionary leader will possess strong communication and collaboration skills and will be responsible for inspiring and motivating teams to shape a top-tier user experience for our university advancement partners that includes identifying, evaluating, and implementing our first generation of AI tools for user support.

This role must develop a technology support operation that seamlessly works with cross-functional teams in both in-person and remote settings. With a creative and innovative mindset, this individual demonstrates resilience and commitment to continuous improvement, and will serve as a mentor and advocate for user-centered design principles.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership and Team Management:

• Provide servant leadership and guidance to a matrixed team of support personnel, ensuring effective collaboration and productivity.
• Serve as the product owner for a suite of tools used by 600 users across various Advancement departments and units.
• Leverage task forces and scrum teams to deliver next-generation technology and business process improvements.
• Establish and maintain KPIs, ensuring high standards of customer service excellence, and driving measurable results for multi-year goals.
• Foster a positive and innovative team culture, encouraging continuous learning and career development.
• Ability to present to audiences and demonstrate tools effectively.

Technology:

• Provide enterprise technology systems and support for large groups of decentralized users, while reinforcing our organizational culture of customer service excellence, collaboration, and technical innovation.
• Implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) for help desk and customer service, including chatbots, AI-enabled productivity tools, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) for summaries and searchability.
• Conceptualize modern approaches to technology support, transforming ideas into wireframes, flowcharts, mockups, and rapid prototyping, ensuring intuitive and seamless user experiences.
• Consult with clients to understand the requirements and goals of advancement users in a university setting.
• Stay current on industry trends and technologies, particularly in the realm of AI-driven customer service.
• Familiarity with enterprise software platforms such as Salesforce, UCI ascend , Marketing Cloud, Eventbrite, Cvent, GiveCampus, Evertrue, Freshservice, Monday.com, Drupal, and others.

Minimum Requirements:

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, MIS, Computer Engineering, or related discipline
• Experience: At least three years of experience. Relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.

Highly Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrable direct customer service.
• 7-10 years of experience; preferences given to candidates with demonstrable skills and or more years of related experience.

Demonstrable Skills:

• Usability Testing: Experience in planning, conducting, and analyzing usability testing sessions to gather valuable feedback from end-users, ensuring the optimization of user interfaces.
• Accessibility Design: Familiarity with designing and implementing accessible user interfaces, ensuring inclusivity and compliance with accessibility standards such as WCAG.
• User Research: Proficiency in conducting user research, including interviews, surveys, and usability studies, to inform design decisions and enhance the overall user experience.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including developers, marketers, and project managers, to ensure a holistic approach to user experience.
• Prototyping Skills: Proficient in creating interactive prototypes using tools like Sketch, Figma, or Adobe XD to visualize and iterate on design concepts.
• User-Centered Design (UCD): Strong understanding and application of User-Centered Design principles throughout the design process, ensuring a focus on end-users' needs and preferences.
• Agile Methodology: Experience working in an Agile development environment, collaborating closely with development teams and adapting to iterative design processes.
• A/B Testing: Knowledge of A/B testing methodologies to assess and optimize the performance of different design variations based on user engagement and feedback.
• Data Analysis: Basic skills in data analysis, allowing the User Experience Officer to interpret user behavior data and make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement
• Change Management: Ability to navigate and lead through change, supporting users and stakeholders during transitions in technology or business processes.
• Vendor Management: Experience managing relationships with external vendors, particularly those providing tools, platforms, or services related to user experience.

UVA Advancement offers a flexible and hybrid workplace. All team members must have access to and maintain a secure home office environment with high-speed internet service and work collaboratively with others using a variety of technologies and tools. This position is eligible to be performed remotely, with an occasional presence in our shared office space located in Charlottesville, Virginia.

For additional information about the position, please contact April Sibiski, at nbu2ag@virginia.edu.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, University Advancement honors your experiences, perspectives, and unique identity. Together, we strive to create and maintain working environments that are inclusive, equitable, and welcoming so we can best achieve our mission of supporting our broadly diverse partners, schools, and networks of engaged alumni, parents, and friends of the University.

This is an exempt level, benefited position. This position is a restricted position and is dependent upon project need, availability of funding and performance. The anticipated Hiring Range: $70,000 - $80,000 (Associate) or $80,000 - $95,000 (Sr. Associate), commensurate with education and experience. The University will perform background checks on all new hires prior to employment.

To Apply:

Please apply https://jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/ , and search for R0059166 . Internal applicants must apply through their UVA Workday profile by searching ‘Find Jobs.’ Complete an application online with the following documents:

• Resume

• Cover letter

Upload all materials into the resume submission field, multiple documents can be submitted into this one field. Alternatively, merge all documents into one PDF for submission. Applications that do not contain all required documents will not receive full consideration.

References will be completed via UVA’s standardized process Skill Survey. A total of five references will be requested via SkillSurvey during the final phase of the interview process.

For questions about the application process, please contact Bill Crane , Senior Academic Recruiter at Xer5ff@virginia.edu

For more informat/.ion about UVA and the Charlottesville community please see http://www.virginia.edu/life/charlottesville and https://embarkcva.com

The University of Virginia, i ncluding the UVA Health System which represents the UVA Medical Center, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, UVA Physician’s Group and the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, are fundamentally committed to the diversity of our faculty and staff. We believe diversity is excellence expressing itself through every person's perspectives and lived experiences. We are equal opportunity and affirmative action employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, veteran status, and family medical or genetic information.