Beta-phase Recruitment – UX Designer

Coalition for Seamless Access

UX/UI Designer – at 0.5 FTE for the first six months (July – Dec 2019).

The Coalition for Seamless Access seeks an experienced UX Designer to design and usability test improvements to services that support the research community.  The Coalition will commence a beta phase starting in July of 2019 for the purpose of evaluating the main outcomes of the RA21 project – an identity provider persistence service and central identity provider discovery service.   The UX designer is expected to take a lead role in helping the team accomplish the goals of the beta phase through close collaboration with the development team and a diverse set of stakeholders from multiple organizations.

Main tasks:

  • Partner with stakeholders and early adopters to understand desired outcomes and validate the value and usability of design solutions.
  • Support rapid design iteration and usability testing.
  • Effectively convey interaction design elements and interactions to the development team, including mobile first visual design and css specifications as needed.  
  • Ensure solution meets accessibility standards.
  • Serve as the advocate for the end user by performing user research, conducting user task analysis, developing use cases, and communicating user needs to stakeholders.
  • Participate in regular design reviews and provide and receives constructive feedback.
  • Communicate designs, texting results and recommendations to stakeholders.
  • Design and help implement aspects of the branding, information site and other collateral for the Coalition.

Skills and experience:

  • 5 or more years of industry experience in interaction design, digital or web design or similar field.
  • Strong portfolio of work demonstrating experience applying user centered design, user analysis techniques, and responsive web design.
  • Fluent with design tools such as Sketch, Illustrator, Photoshop, XD.
  • Experience designing to meet WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards; ability to interpret and validate that a product meets global accessibility standards.
  • Ability to work effectively with remote teams.
  • Able to take complex information and communicate it clearly, concisely, and accurately.
  • Tech-savvy – ideally with experience in technologies relating to scholarly communications; experience with or understanding of identity management technologies a plus.
  • Fluent in English.
  • Excellent presentation skills.
  • Able and willing to travel occasionally – mainly US and Europe.

Employment conditions:

This position will be subject to a temporary consultancy contract with the International Association of STM Publishers (STM) against a fixed or not-to-exceed fee and will not entail an employment contract. The Seamless access Beta phase is likely to run for a full year, from Q3 2019 – Q2 2020. The first contract will be 6 months at 0.5 FTE, open to further extensions and possibly at a different work-factor as the project requires.

About the Coalition for Seamless Access:

The Coalition for Seamless Access has arisen from the RA21 project, the goal of which was to improve access to online scholarly resources by reducing barriers to access and authentication. The recommendations arising from the RA21 project have been submitted to NISO for adoption as Recommended Practices for Improved Access to Institutionally-Provided Information Resources.

To apply:

To apply, please email your resume and a cover letter highlighting your relevant skills and experience and how it applies to the role and requirements outlined, to Heather Flanagan (heather@ra21.org) no later than Friday 7 June 2019.

May 23, 2019