About Niche

Niche is the leader in school search. Our mission is to make researching and enrolling in schools easy, transparent, and free. With in-depth profiles on every school and college in America, 140 million reviews and ratings, and powerful search tools, we help millions of people find the right school for them. We also help thousands of schools recruit more best-fit students, by highlighting what makes them great and making it easier to visit and apply.

Niche is all about finding where you belong, and that mission inspires how we operate every day. We want Niche to be a place where people truly enjoy working and can thrive professionally.

About the Role

We are looking for an analytical, empathetic, and creative UI/UX Designer who is excited to understand user needs. You're passionate about user research and gathering insights to inspire and inform your design as well as working together with other designers to transform those findings into impactful solutions. In this role, you will be a part of defining and creating a cohesive user experience throughout the full suite of Niche products, impacting the school and college search of millions of people each year. You’ll design creative solutions to complex problems and bring them to life as easy-to-use and delightful user flows and interfaces.

At Niche, UI/UX Designers are part of the Design team as well as cross-functional product teams, where you will collaborate with Designers, Researchers, Engineers, and Product Managers to take features from concept to launch—from creating user flows and wireframes to building user interface mockups and prototypes. A strong portfolio of successful UX and UI design is essential. This role reports directly to the Manager of UI/UX Design.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and other Niche designers to create, improve and develop Niche products to meet the needs of the business, our clients and users
• Help facilitate user research/testing that will generate insights to inspire and inform product and design decisions throughout the design process
• Prototype design flows, information architecture and interactions with low-fidelity wireframes and functional prototypes
• Work with other designers to create high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes to document and collaborate on ideas with engineers 
• Promote a collaborative culture open to new or different ideas. Seek out and incorporate input from other team members and participate in design discussions and critiques
• Contribute to the systems and tools used by the Design team to make our work and processes faster and higher quality
• Partner with developers to implement designs, working closely with them to navigate technical hurdles and practical details

What You Will Do

During the 1st Month:

• Attend onboarding sessions to better understand our internal processes and learn about the company
• Collaborate with various team members to learn about how your role fits within the team
• Partner with other designers to begin to understand our workflow, design system, and tooling
• Shadow design team members to learn more about how we collaborate with other areas of the business and how your role fits with cross-functional teams. 

Within 3 Months:

• Be a contributing member of a product team with support from other designers
• Build confidence to work with our design tools and start pairing on projects
• Collaborate with members of the Product Management team to gain expertise in our users and ensure work stays aligned to the product vision

Within 6 Months:

• Be the primary designer for a product team with support from other designers
• Working with more cross-functional teammates and represent the design perspective 
• Have a high-level understanding of most areas of Niche products

Within 12 Months:

• Be the primary designer for one or more product teams 
• You will have a detailed understanding of most product areas of the site as well as a high-level understanding of how UI/UX incorporates into all Niche products 
• Fully understand all Design tooling and process and start to help improve them 

What We Are Looking For

• 4+ years of experience as a UX Designer, UI Designer, Product Designer, or similar role
• BA in Graphic Design, Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Media or related creative field
• Strong awareness of user interface, accessibility, and interaction design best practices
• Demonstrated ability to generate multiple design solutions, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and incorporate team feedback to improve upon selected designs
• The ability to explain your work, process, and decisions and seek feedback to help you produce your best work
• An excellent sense of typography, layout, general design principles, and attention to detail
• Advanced knowledge of standard design tools (Photoshop, Adobe XD, InVision, Figma, etc.)
• Experience with HTML, CSS, Javascript, or other web languages preferred, but not required for the role

Why Niche?

• Full time, salaried position with competitive compensation
• Comprehensive health plan, including vision and dental, provided at no cost to the employee.
• 20 PTO days, 10 Paid Holidays, and 3 Volunteer Days Off per year
• Parental leave
• Stock options and 401(k) with company match
• Your ideas and work will make an immediate impact on our company and millions of users

Niche will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship now or in the future for this opening.

Candidates only. No recruiters or agencies, please. All of our open positions are located in our Pittsburgh, PA office and we are also open to remote candidates. Sorry, we do not offer relocation assistance.

Niche is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. Therefore, we provide employment opportunities without regard to age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law.

As interviews are being held remotely, if there are preparations we can make to help ensure you have a comfortable and positive interview experience, please let us know.