Part-time User Design Specialist (100% Remote)

Our Customer is a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, they were created to expand access to higher education. Today, the membership association is made up of over 6,000 of the world’s leading educational institutions and is dedicated to promoting excellence and equity in education. Each year, our Customer helps more than seven million students prepare for a successful transition to college through programs and services in college readiness and college success—including the SAT, the Advanced Placement Program, and BigFuture. The organization also serves the education community through research and advocacy on behalf of students, educators, and schools.

We are seeking a User Design Specialist on a contract basis to help support our Customer’s business needs. This role is 100% remote.

The User Design Specialist supports research practices by executing participant recruitment, informed consent, screening, scheduling, and incentives. This role requires creative problem-solving and strategic judgment to ethically recruit participants across the student journey—from early childhood to post-secondary education. The position also contributes to shaping scalable, inclusive, collaborative, and ethical research operations, strengthening a culture of evidence-informed design within an innovation portfolio.

This is a part-time position – 20 hours per week, expected to last 3-6 months from the start date.

Responsibilities:

Own End-to-End Recruitment for Research

• Lead participant recruitment for various research methods (e.g., interviews, co-design, surveys, usability testing), including screening, informed consent, scheduling, and incentives.
• Draft accessible, plain-language consent and communication materials in collaboration with compliance stakeholders.
• Craft effective screeners and supporting materials to ensure inclusive and successful sessions.
• Conduct initial screening conversations to prepare and inform participants for innovative research methods.

Support and Advise Researchers

• Partner with user researchers and service designers to provide guidance on recruitment, logistics, study design, and resource planning.
• Develop and implement inclusive recruitment strategies, especially for underrepresented populations and communities beyond traditional pathways.
• Advise on recruitment and research practices that balance privacy requirements with opportunities for long-term community engagement.

Streamline and Standardize Research Operations

• Identify and implement lightweight, scalable processes that support inclusive, ethical, and collaborative research.
• Detect workflow gaps or friction in existing research practices and recommend improvements.
• Establish toolkits, templates, and repeatable processes for recruitment, planning, and data handling.
• Advise on and implement privacy, consent, and data protection procedures aligned with legal standards (e.g., FERPA).

Lay the Groundwork for Long-Term Research Infrastructure

• Evaluate research tools and vendor platforms (e.g., scheduling, transcription, incentives) and recommend fit-for-purpose solutions.
• Recommend and document sustainable practices that support equitable research at scale.
• Co-design an early iteration of a research repository with designers, including recommended tooling and strategies for future scaling and improvement.

Skills and Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in research operations, UX research, or related program management roles.
• Experience in research enablement, including documentation, templates, and internal workshops on best practices.
• Proven expertise across the research lifecycle: participant recruitment, panel management, and training teams on participant matching.
• Experience supporting qualitative and quantitative research methods across multiple teams with distinct user needs.
• Familiarity with data collection and analysis: note-taking in qualitative studies and preparing data for analysis.
• Proficiency with tools such as Airtable, Dovetail, Qualtrics, UserTesting, Dscout, or similar platforms.
• Strong project management and systems design skills with an ability to build scalable processes.
• Excellent organizational, collaboration, and communication skills.
• Creative, proactive, and entrepreneurial mindset, with a track record of introducing strategies that improve research practice.
• Deep respect for ethical research practices and user data privacy.
• Ability to operate in fast-paced, ambiguous environments with shifting priorities.
• Passion for expanding educational and career opportunities through mission-driven work.
• Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with openness to experimenting and adopting AI-driven solutions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• A learner’s mindset with commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, embracing feedback, and improving through iterative learning and user input.
• Drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing effectively, and benchmarking externally.
• Collaborative and empathetic approach: fostering trust, working across differences, and contributing to a culture of shared success.

Preferred:

• Experience working in or with mission-driven organizations, public education, or nonprofits.
• Experience supporting research involving youth, families, or vulnerable populations.
• Experience creating inclusive research frameworks and protocols.
• Background or interest in creative visual storytelling to bring research to life.

We offer a competitive salary range for this position. Most candidates who join our team are hired at the median of this range, ensuring fair and equitable compensation based on experience and qualifications.

An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.