Director of Product Design
Codecademy has helped over 26 million people learn to code. Join one of the most exciting technology companies in New York as we change the way people learn.
Millennials are highly-educated, tech-literate, and mission-driven. Yet seven years after the great recession ended, nearly half of young university grads are underemployed, meaning they aren’t working jobs that require a degree. And the situation has only recently begun to improve. This year US students will graduate with $37,000 in debt, only to accept unpaid internships and part-time jobs.
Meanwhile, software is eating the world, disrupting first media, publishing, and entertainment, and now food, transportation, and travel, creating millions of new technology jobs that companies are eager to fill. By 2020 there will be a shortage of 1 million more tech jobs than computer science grads.
We can be the bridge. We can help this generation gain the skill to fill these jobs and enjoy happier, more fulfilling careers. Join us.
Codecademy’s mission is to provide people with the skills they need to upgrade their careers, while offering them a personalized learning experience that caters to each individual’s goals. As the Director of Product Design, you will lead and grow a cross-disciplinary team of Designers, Researchers, UX Writers, and Brand/Communication Designers, across all our product lines. You'll inspire your team to innovate and invent by taking smart risks, learning quickly, and optimizing accordingly. You will articulate a product design vision and drive consensus with engineering and product management leadership. You will develop talent and mentor individual contributors, design and research leads, and managers. You will guide research and design processes and methodologies.
Role:
- Lead all phases of product design work; including research, conceptual design, prototyping, detailed design, usability testing, and implementation.
- Attract, mentor, and retain Designers, Researchers, and Writers.
- Partner with Product Management and Engineering to align Design vision and activities to achieve
- Continually improve research, design, and development processes to gain efficiency, remove obstacles, and simplify problems.
- Create and run project schedules, budgets, and strategic plans. Lead regular design reviews and participate in team-wide design initiatives. Build connections and collaborate with other departments inside the company.
You will be successful if you:
- Are a great design team leader, manager, systems-level design thinker, and visionary - with strong design instincts and excellent intuition - who will provide leadership and direction for a team of designers.
- Have a “Founder” mentality - are relentless, resourceful, proactive, and loves to be a “player coach”. We’re big believers in leading from the front, by example.
- Have an uncanny sense for clean design, is a fierce advocate for the user, and is committed to creating elegantly simple user experiences from otherwise complex workflows.
- Can optimize not just the execution side of design, but the business aspects of the products as well.
- Have demonstrated strong ability to work with product & engineering teams in prototyping features & products.
Minimum Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in a UX-related field (human-computer interaction, human factors, behavioral research, or graphic design), or equivalent practical experience.
- 3-5 years of experience managing and guiding a product design team.
- 3-5 years as a Product Designer or User Researcher working on complex web or desktop applications.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in a UX-related field (human-computer interaction, human factors, behavioral research, or graphic design).
- 5+ years of experience managing a product design team.
- Experience designing for multiple device types and contexts (desktop, tablet, smartphone).
- Proven leadership in communicating research, conceptual ideas, and design rationale; all within a user-centered design process.
- Effective analytic, design, and management skills and a proven track record of shipping successful software experiences.
- Demonstrated problem-solving, and verbal and written communication skills.
At Codecademy, we are committed to teaching people the skills they need to upgrade their careers. Codecademy aims to educate a richly diverse demographic of users with our product and in order to accomplish this, we believe our team should reflect that rich diversity. Our company celebrates diversity in all of its forms-- race, gender, color, national origin, marital status, sexuality, religion, veteran status, age, ability, disability status-- and works to create an inclusive workplace where people of all backgrounds and beliefs are empowered to better their futures.