Open to Freelance or Full-Time

Kaplan is one of the world’s largest, most economically stable, and most diverse education providers. Owned by the Graham Holding Company (GHC) for over fifty years, Kaplan operates in 30+ countries, employs over 13,500 employees, and has 245 Kaplan campuses (offices and locations). Because of our long-term, quality oriented ownership position, we’re able to serve more than 1.4 million learners, maintain relationships and partnerships with more than 1,000+ school districts, colleges and universities, and over 10,000 corporations and businesses. Our stability, as well as our breadth and depth of capabilities and assets, truly sets us apart from our competitors. 

Kaplan Test Prep (KTP), a unit of Kaplan, Inc. is the pioneer and leader in the test prep industry, with a mission of helping individuals achieve their education and career goals. KTP was founded by Stanley Kaplan in 1938, the son of immigrants who believed in the power of test prep in creating educational opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds. Since then the company has long been a beacon for expanding educational access and a leader in instructional innovation, helping millions of students succeed throughout our 80+ year history. We are entering the next chapter of growth. ​If you are passionate about improving people’s lives through education and learning and are interested in working in an environment where you can lead the organization in creating world-class learning experiences, then Kaplan has a great opportunity for you. 

As a Director of User Experience Strategy, you will lead the design of the most strategic product area at the company - the company’s next generation, digital-first product experience. You will succeed in our dynamic environment by focusing relentlessly on your customers, striking a balance between data-driven and human insights and advocating tirelessly for experiences that affect measurable improvement in their educational outcomes. You will inspire teams of makers, thinkers and doers with compelling strategic narrative as well as your openness and humility.

We are looking for someone to: 

• Craft and deliver an inspiring and compelling set of user experiences for our new suite of new desktop and mobile app products, identifying and solving customer problems with meaningful solutions

• Manage all aspects of UX strategy and rapid execution of the company’s next generation of digital-first experience, including freelance UI designers, with a team of world-class engineers and cross-functional team members including product managers, content strategists, learning scientists 

• Develop a strong UX culture around data, learning efficacy and delivering both student and business outcomes

• Quickly establish design-thinking processes around user research, rapid prototyping, testing, iterating and deploying to maximize efficiency.

• Lead and synthesize various forms of research that leads to insight

• Motivate and inspire teams with information and insight, while crafting a strategic narrative that drives consensus across all levels of the company.

• Communicate and interface with cross-functional teams and leadership in a way that instill confidence in our work.

• Design and lead creative and strategic brainstorms and workshops 

• Work in partnership with product management and technology to define priorities and phased rollout plans. 

• Establish an insights-driven product culture where analytics drive efficient decision-making when used appropriately and in conjunction with human insights.

You are someone who​: 

• Is customer-obsessed about delivering best-in-class, human-centric end-to-end experiences 

• Is extremely entrepreneurial with a strong track record of moving fast and creating innovative customer B2C experiences

• Enjoys using your full-stack UX skills to rapidly bring ideas to life, including UX research and testing, information architecture, user flows, wireframing, designing, prototyping, front-end development

• Excels at analyzing information and synthesizing insights into compelling narratives

• Is a passionate expert in strategy, communication and concept development

• Relishes the opportunity to be a change agent of UX processes within a digitally transforming company

• Immerses yourself in the digital culture of daily life–not just your job

• Believes that great products are the result of true collaboration 

• Appreciates that the best outcomes are both a win for the customer and the financial health of the company 

• Able to flex to real time changes

• Knows how to have fun on the job -- we're lucky to be re-envisioning digital education for students everywhere

Experience we value: 

• 7+ years of UX strategy of large-scale, consumer-facing products

• Extensive experience leading the architecture and design of B2C experiences that users have loved

• Extensive experience closely partnering with product management to develop the strategy and rationale for features

• Extensive experience with prototyping as a means to explore and convey design solutions

• Expert on modern forms of design thinking, including lean UX and agile methodologies

• Record of strong stakeholder management and internal evangelism 

• Experience with content and video production is a plus

Education Requirement:

• Bachelor's Degree or higher