Newsela’s mission is to unlock the written word for everyone. We’re an Instructional Content Platform that brings together engaging, accessible content with integrated assessments and insights to supercharge reading engagement and learning in every subject. Five years since our launch, Newsela is in 75% of US schools, in addition to being in over 180 countries. The result has been more engaged readers—and engaged readers are better learners.

As a UX Researcher on Newsela's user experience team, you will collaborate with designers, product managers, data analysts, engineers and other partners to deliver actionable insights that will guide Newsela’s approach to making user-centered products.

You know how to conduct high quality user experience research demonstrating both qualitative and quantitative methods. You are flexible but confident in identifying the best suited approach given the research questions at hand. You are able to distill research data into opportunities, quick wins and longer term themes that will craft the product’s future.

As a key member of Newsela’s Product team, you bring strong and clear communication skills as a consistent voice of our teachers and students. You unite with product teams throughout the development phases as well as serve a consultant role to different teams in the organization. You succinctly present user insights and are able to moderate working sessions to move ideas forward.

Responsibilities

• Contribute and develop the research discipline and UX best practices across the organization
• Partner with product managers, designers and engineers to guide product development and refinement
• Define research scope and execute user research to answer product questions
• Conduct classroom visits and conduct remote user research studies with teachers, administrators and students
• Plan and provide user research on products under development
• Work closely with data analysts to develop holistic approaches to meeting our external and internal users needs
• Share actionable findings and prioritized recommendations with the teams on a regular basis, making connections between teacher and student needs and Newsela’s business goals and priorities

The Ideal Candidate

• Has 3+ years’ experience conducting user experience research, employing methods such as user interviews, card sorting, journey mapping, participatory design, and usability testing
• Experience with lightweight design, prototyping and remote testing tools
• Bachelor’s Degree in Human Computer Interaction, Psychology, or a related field

Some Plusses

• Can demonstrate an in-depth understanding of a range of user research methods and a deep understanding of trends in Web and app design
• Passionate about learning and helping students learn.
• You believe teachers are underserved and passionate about the opportunity to support them in the classroom
• Comfortable with establishing lean processes for conducting research from recruiting to running remote user sessions.
• Able to handle multiple projects at a time.
• Works with our data team to support insights and pulling the occasional data report.
• Focused and have an eye for detail.
• Present with a user-centric point of view.

Newsela is strongly committed to the principle of equal opportunity for all individuals. Newsela will make all employment decisions without unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by law.