Lead User Experience (UX) Architect
Junior Achievement
About Junior Achievement USA®
Junior Achievement is education for what’s next. As a strategic partner working in collaboration with educators, employers, investors, leaders, and the communities they serve, we are dedicated to helping students achieve academically today and economically tomorrow. As a leader in experiential learning operating on a national scale with over a century of experience, we are driving toward lasting change. This means ensuring a generation of students has the transferable skills and competencies needed to navigate a rapidly changing world. By delivering career-connected learning, we are invested in accelerating economic mobility through education. By helping students become confident, capable, and connected today, we can ensure they have access to opportunity-filled futures tomorrow. Junior Achievement reaches more than 4.6 million students annually across nearly 100 U.S. markets, and is part of JA Worldwide, which serves over 19.9 million students in more than 100 countries. Learn more at www.ja.org.
Position Summary
Junior Achievement USA (JA USA) is seeking a Lead User Experience (UX) Architect, to lead the strategy, analysis, design, and documentation of user experiences across our evolving platform of learning products and services. The ideal candidate is passionate about user-centered design, experienced in leading complex digital projects, and adept at creating intuitive, accessible, and engaging experiences.
This role requires strong leadership and collaboration skills, as it involves mentoring UX team members and partnering with cross-functional stakeholders. The candidate must be skilled in usability testing, user research, and translating business goals into innovative design solutions that enhance adoption and engagement. This is a two-year grant-funded position.
A review of your work samples is required, with an emphasis on problem definition and solution strategies, utilizing the double diamond approach.
Essential Functions
- Partner with product owners, instructional designers, developers, visual designers, and curriculum leads to define UX strategy and develop prototypes to support rapid product development.
- Apply UX methodologies—such as user personas, task analysis, story mapping, customer journeys, and site maps—to design intuitive navigation, workflows, and interaction patterns.
- Define and document business requirements that align with product strategy, user needs, and technical, budget, and timeline constraints.
- Collaborate with content leads to define content strategies that support personalized user pathways.
- Grow and lead a UX team by recruiting, mentoring, and managing UX architects to support a growing product portfolio.
- Create wireframes and flow diagrams to illustrate user pathways and content interactions based on user profiles.
- Conduct and synthesize user research, including interviews and usability testing, to generate actionable insights and present findings to stakeholders.
- Utilize and expand upon predefined design standards; partner with interaction designers to develop new patterns as needed.
- Coordinate with technical architects to support metadata tagging and dashboard development that presents complex information clearly and accessibly.
Required Qualifications
- 6 - 8 years of experience in UX design, engagement strategy, project or education management, or business analysis.
- Demonstrated ability to create actionable business requirements (user stories, acceptance criteria, prototypes).
- Experience designing cohesive information architectures and navigation systems for complex digital products.
- Proficiency in developing user testing plans, scripts, and reports.
- Strong collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
- Experience mentoring, managing, or developing junior UX designers or team members.
- Skilled in planning, presenting, and building consensus with diverse stakeholders.
- Expertise in Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, InVision, or similar prototyping tools.
- Familiarity with Jira, Azure, ClickUp, or other Agile project management tools.
- Portfolio submission required, showcasing work that highlights problem definition and solution strategies using the double diamond approach.
Desired Qualifications
- Experience designing for educational environments across age groups (Pre-K to adult).
- Familiarity with learning technologies such as LMSs, LRSs, user management systems, and authentication tools.
- Understanding of how to incorporate AI to enhance workflows and user experiences.
- Experience with e-learning tools like Articulate Storyline and Rise.
- Awareness of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 ecosystem.
Benefits
JA USA’s health care benefits provide coverage when needed—focusing on programs that support and encourage healthy living and your overall well-being. We offer medical, dental, vision, life insurance, long-term disability, holidays, paid time off, and 401(k).
Our Commitment
At JA USA, we believe that our success is directly tied to our ability to foster an environment where all individuals have access to opportunities and can thrive. We are deeply committed to creating a workplace where inclusion and belonging are not just principles but lived experiences. This commitment drives us to attract, develop, retain, and promote a workforce that mirrors the communities we serve, bringing together a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and talents.
We embrace the unique contributions that every JA USA employee brings to our mission and encourage individuals from all backgrounds to join our team. By welcoming various voices, we continue to expand our understanding of the world, and we actively seek to elevate representation of different individual experiences and the perspectives they shape.
We are dedicated to fostering an environment where everyone feels respected, valued, and heard—where people can be their authentic selves and know that they belong. This is how we build a workplace where every individual can succeed, and where we work together to create lasting impact for the young people and communities we serve.
Additional Information
JA USA does not provide sponsorship for employment visas for this position. All candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for sponsorship, now or in the future.